Precise genome editing using CRISPR typically requires delivery of guide RNAs, Cas9 endonuclease, and DNA repair templates. Both microinjection and electroporation effectively deliver these components into mouse zygotes provided the DNA template is an oligonucleotide of only a few hundred base pairs. However, electroporation completely fails with longer double-stranded DNAs leaving microinjection as the only delivery option. Here, we overcome this limitation by first injecting all CRISPR components, including long plasmid-sized DNA templates, into the sub-zona pellucida space. There they are retained, supporting subsequent electroporation. We show that this simple and well-tolerated method achieves intracellular reagent concentrations sufficient to effect precise gene edits.

Myelin is composed of plasma membrane spirally wrapped around axons and compacted into dense sheaths by myelin-associated proteins. Myelin is elaborated by neuroepithelial derived oligodendrocytes in the central nervous system (CNS) and by neural crest derived Schwann cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS). While some myelin proteins accumulate in only one lineage, myelin basic protein ( Mbp ) is expressed in both. Overlapping the Mbp gene is Golli , a transcriptional unit that is expressed widely both within and beyond the nervous system. A super-enhancer domain within the Golli/Mbp locus contains multiple enhancers shown previously to drive reporter construct expression specifically in oligodendrocytes or Schwann cells. In order to determine the contribution of each enhancer to the Golli/Mbp expression program, and to reveal if functional interactions occur among them, we derived mouse lines in which they were deleted, either singly or in different combinations, and relative mRNA accumulation was measured at key stages of early development and at maturity. Although super-enhancers have been shown previously to facilitate interaction among their component enhancers, the enhancers investigated here demonstrated largely additive relationships. However, enhancers demonstrating autonomous activity strictly in one lineage, when missing, were found to significantly reduce output in the other, thus revealing cryptic “stealth” activity. Further, in the absence of a key oligodendrocyte enhancer, Golli accumulation was markedly and uniformly attenuated in all cell types investigated. Our observations suggest a model in which enhancer-mediated DNA-looping and potential super-enhancer properties underlie Golli/Mbp regulatory organization.

Myelin is composed of plasma membrane spirally wrapped around axons and compacted into dense sheaths by myelin associated proteins. In the central nervous system (CNS), myelin is elaborated by neuroepithelial derived oligodendrocytes and in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) by neural crest derived Schwann cells.While some myelin proteins are unique to only one lineage, myelin basic protein (Mbp) is expressed in both.Overlapping the Mbp gene is Golli, a transcriptional unit that is expressed widely both within and beyond the nervous system. A super-enhancer domain within the Golli/Mbp locus contains multiple enhancers shown previously to drive reporter construct expression specifically in oligodendrocytes or Schwann cells. In order to determine the contribution of each enhancer to the Golli/Mbp expression program and examine if interactions among these enhancers occur, we derived mouse lines in which enhancers were deleted, either singly or in different combinations, and relative mRNA accumulation was measured at key stages of development.Although super-enhancers have been shown to facilitate interaction among their component enhancers, the enhancers investigated here demonstrated functions that were largely additive. However, enhancers demonstrating autonomous activity strictly in one cell lineage, when missing, were found to significantly reduce output in the other thus revealing cryptic "stealth" activity. Further, Golli accumulation in all cell types investigated was markedly and uniformly attenuated by the absence of a key oligodendrocyte enhancer. Our observations expose a novel level of enhancer interaction and are consistent with a model in which enhancermediated DNA looping underlies higher-order Golli/Mbp regulatory organization. AUTHOR SUMMARYThe control of transcription is mediated through regulatory sequences that engage in a lineage and developmentally contextual manner. The Golli/Mbp locus gives rise to several mRNAs and while Mbp mRNAs accumulate exclusively in the two glial cell types that elaborate myelin, Golli mRNAs accumulate in diverse cell types both within and beyond the nervous system. To determine how the different Golli/Mbp enhancers distribute their activities and to reveal if they operate as autonomous agents or have functionally significant interactions with each other we derived multiple enhancer knock-out lines. Comparing the developmental accumulation of Mbp and Golli mRNAs revealed that the autonomous targeting capacity of multiple enhancers accurately predicted their in-situ contributions. Also, they acted in a largely additive manner indicating significant individual autonomy that can be accounted for by a simple chromatin looping model. Unexpectedly, we also uncovered cryptic "stealth" activity emanating from these same enhancers in lineages where they show no autonomous targeting capacity thus providing new insight into the control of lineage specific gene expression.

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We investigated the application of blind source separation, robust principal component analysis (BSS-rPCA) for myelin water imaging in a panel of mice exhibiting varied myelination profiles. BSS-rPCA exhibited sensitivity to myelin as evidenced by region of interest (ROI) analysis of several white matter tracts as a function of hypomyelinating genotype. By combining BSS-rPCA with estimates of neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI)-derived axon water fraction (AWF) maps, we conclude that BSS-rPCA is sensitive to variations in myelin content in the presence of stable axon density.