Efficient Designer Nuclease-Based Homologous Recombination Enables Direct PCR Screening for Footprintless Targeted Human Pluripotent Stem Cells

Genetic engineering of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) via customized designer nucleases has been shown to be significantly more efficient than conventional gene targeting, but still typically depends on the introduction of additional genetic selection elements. In our study, we demonstrate the efficient nonviral and selection-independent gene targeting in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). Our high efficiencies of up to 1.6% of gene-targeted hiPSCs, accompanied by a low background of randomly inserted transgenes, eliminated the need for antibiotic or fluorescence-activated cell sorting selection, and allowed the use of short donor oligonucleotides for footprintless gene editing. Gene-targeted hiPSC clones were established simply by direct PCR screening. This optimized approach allows targeted transgene integration into safe harbor sites for more predictable and robust expression and enables the straightforward generation of disease-corrected, patient-derived iPSC lines for research purposes and, ultimately, for future clinical applications.