AUTHOR=Zhang Xue , Zhao Lihua , Jin Runbing , Li Min , Li Mei-Shuang , Li Rongfeng , Liang Xiubin TITLE=CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated α-ENaC Knockout in a Murine Pancreatic β-Cell Line JOURNAL=Frontiers in Genetics VOLUME=12 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/genetics/articles/10.3389/fgene.2021.664799 DOI=10.3389/fgene.2021.664799 ISSN=1664-8021 ABSTRACT=

Many ion channels participate in controlling insulin synthesis and secretion of pancreatic β-cells. Epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) expressed in human pancreatic tissue, but the biological role of ENaC in pancreatic β-cells is still unclear. Here, we applied the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technique to knockout α-ENaC gene in a murine pancreatic β-cell line (MIN6 cell). Four single-guide RNA (sgRNA) sites were designed for the exons of α-ENaC. The sgRNA1 and sgRNA3 with the higher activity were constructed and co-transfected into MIN6 cells. Through processing a series of experiment flow included drug screening, cloning, and sequencing, the α-ENaC gene-knockout (α-ENaC−/−) in MIN6 cells were obtained. Compared with the wild-type MIN6 cells, the cell viability and insulin content were significantly increased in α-ENaC−/− MIN6 cells. Therefore, α-ENaC−/− MIN6 cells generated by CRISPR/Cas9 technology added an effective tool to study the biological function of α-ENaC in pancreatic β-cells.