CRISPR-Cas9 has become a powerful and popular gene editing tool. However, successful application of this tool in the lab can still be quite daunting to many newcomers to molecular biology, mostly because it is a relatively lengthy process involving multiple steps with variations of each step. Here, we provide a reliable, stepwise, and newcomer-friendly protocol to knock out a target gene in wild-type human fibroblasts. This protocol involves sgRNA design using CRISPOR, construction of an "all-in-one" vector expressing both sgRNA and Cas9 using Golden Gate cloning, streamlined production of high-titer lentiviruses in 1 week after molecular cloning, and transduction of cells to generate a knockout cell pool. We further introduce a protocol for lentiviral transduction of ex vivo mouse embryonic salivary epithelial explants. In summary, our protocol is useful for new researchers to apply CRISPR-Cas9 to generate stable gene knockout cells and tissue explants using lentivirus. Published 2023. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.
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