RECQL5-IN-1

CRISPR-Cas9 HDR knock-in uses a guide RNA to direct Cas9 to a genomic target adjacent to a PAM, where Cas9 creates a double-strand break; if a donor DNA template with homology to the cut region is present, cellular HDR can copy the donor sequence into the genome, producing a precise substitution, tag, reporter, or insertion rather than an indel. The readout is the fraction of alleles or cells carrying the intended donor-derived edit, measured by junction PCR, restriction-fragment analysis, Sanger sequencing, amplicon deep sequencing, flow cytometry for reporter knock-in, or clone genotyping; NHEJ indels and partial or non-HDR insertions are measured in parallel because they compete with or confound precise HDR outcomes.

Cytotoxicity assays are usually based on the assessment of cell membrane damage, which can also be indirectly detected by measuring cell viability. Detection methods include MTT assay, CKK-8 assay, LDH assay and ATP assay, etc.

Live/dead viability and cytotoxicity staining assays are based on the simultaneous detection of intracellular esterase activity in metabolically active (viable) cells and membrane integrity loss in non-viable cells. In commonly used dual-staining approaches, membrane-permeant fluorogenic substrates are converted by intracellular esterases into fluorescent products in live cells, while impermeant DNA-binding dyes selectively enter cells with compromised plasma membranes and label nucleic acids in dead or dying cells, enabling discrimination between viable and non-viable populations by fluorescence microscopy or flow cytometry.

The following protocol uses the MTT colorimetric assay as a classic literature-established method for assessing cell viability/metabolic activity in cultured mammalian cells. MTT[3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] is reduced by metabolically active cells to a colored formazan product; the amount of formazan is quantified spectrophotometrically and provides an indirect measure of metabolically active viable cells. Importantly, MTT reduction reflects cellular oxidoreductase/metabolic activity rather than an absolute direct count of living cells, so changes in cellular metabolism can alter the signal independently of cell number.