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Sleeping Beauty transposon mutagenesis in rat spermatogonial stem cells

Nature Protocols volume 6, pages 1521–1535 (2011)Cite this article

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Abstract

We describe an experimental approach for generating mutant alleles in rat spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) using Sleeping Beauty (SB) transposon–mediated insertional mutagenesis. The protocol is based on mobilization of mutagenic gene-trap transposons from transfected plasmid vectors into the genomes of cultured stem cells. Cells with transposon insertions in expressed genes are selected on the basis of activation of an antibiotic-resistance gene encoded by the transposon. These gene-trap clones are transplanted into the testes of recipient males (either as monoclonal or polyclonal libraries); crossing of these founders with wild-type females allows the insertions to be passed to F1 progeny. This simple, economic and user-friendly methodological pipeline enables screens for functional gene annotation in the rat, with applicability in other vertebrate models where germ line–competent stem cells have been established. The complete protocol from transfection of SSCs to the genotyping of heterozygous F1 offspring that harbor genomic SB gene-trap insertions takes 5–6 months.

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Figure 1: Experimental pipeline for the generation of mutant rats by transposon mutagenesis in spermatogonial stem cells.
Figure 2: Transposon vector system for stable gene delivery.
Figure 3: Mutagenesis of genes by gene-trap transposon insertions.
Figure 4: Diagram summarizing key aspects of rat testicular anatomy and surgical materials used to transplant spermatogonial cell suspensions.
Figure 5: Generation of mutant rats by transplantation of spermatogonial stem cells harboring transposon insertions into the testes of recipient males.

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Acknowledgements

Work in the authors' laboratories has been supported by EU FP6 (INTHER) and EU FP7 (PERSIST and InduStem), and grants from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft SPP1230 'Mechanisms of gene vector entry and persistence', and from the Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung (NGFN-2, NGFNplus—ENGINE). Methods for experimental manipulation of rat spermatogonia in culture and for production of mutant rats using spermatogonia were supported by National Institutes of Health grants R21RR023958 from the National Center for Research Resources and RO1HD036022, RO1HD053889, RO1HD061575 from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to F.K. Hamra; and by the Cecil H. & Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, Berlin, Germany

    Zoltán Ivics & Zsuzsanna Izsvák

  2. University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

    Zoltán Ivics & Zsuzsanna Izsvák

  3. Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

    Gerardo Medrano, Karen M Chapman & F Kent Hamra

  4. Cecil H. & Ida Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, USA

    Gerardo Medrano, Karen M Chapman & F Kent Hamra

Authors
  1. Zoltán Ivics
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  2. Zsuzsanna Izsvák
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  3. Gerardo Medrano
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  4. Karen M Chapman
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  5. F Kent Hamra
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Contributions

F.K.H. and K.M.C. provided concepts on applications of mutant SSC libraries and the use of DAZL-deficient rats as recipient founders; established methods for in vitro culture, gene delivery, clonal selection and transplantation of rat SSC lines for production of mutant rats; supervised the project; and wrote the paper. G.M. produced and edited the movie of F.K.H. showing spermatogonial transplantation procedure. Z. Ivics and Z. Izsvák established SB gene-trap mutagenesis in cultured cells, provided the concept of applying transposon mutagenesis in SSCs, supervised the project and wrote the paper.

Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Zoltán Ivics, Zsuzsanna Izsvák or F Kent Hamra.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Supplementary information

Supplementary Video 1

Injection of transfected spermatogonial stem cells into the seminiferous tubules. (MOV 8220 kb)

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Ivics, Z., Izsvák, Z., Medrano, G. et al. Sleeping Beauty transposon mutagenesis in rat spermatogonial stem cells. Nat Protoc 6, 1521–1535 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2011.378

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