CRISPR-Cas9-induced IGF1 gene activation as a tool for enhancing muscle differentiation via multiple isoform expression.

ABSTRACT: Muscle wasting, or muscle atrophy, can occur with age, injury, and disease; it affects the quality of life and complicates treatment. Insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1) is a key positive regulator of muscle mass. The IGF1/Igf1 gene encodes multiple protein isoforms that differ in tissue expression, potency, and function, particularly in cellular proliferation and differentiation, as well as in systemic versus localized signaling. Genome engineering is a novel strategy for increasing gene expression and has the potential to recapitulate the diverse biology seen in IGF1 signaling through the overexpression of multiple IGF1 isoforms. Using a CRISPR-Cas9 gene activation approach, we showed that the expression of multiple IGF1 or Igf1 mRNA variants can be increased in human and mouse skeletal

SUBMITTER: Roberston MJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6956731 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature