CDK8-mediated transcriptional reprogramming is essential for an extensive gene expression. Constitutive knockouts of the cdk8 gene are lethal at the morula stage. For modeling transcriptional reprogramming in an adult organism, we investigated the possibility to attenuate the CDK8 kinase activity with a F97G mutation in exon 3 of the cdk8 gene. According to preliminary experimental data, this mutation should lead to a decrease in CDK8 kinase activity. To edit the genome of laboratory mice, the CRISPR/Cas9 technology was used, in which the introduction of a double-stranded gap occurred at a distance of 128 nucleotide pairs from the planned site of the introduced mutation. To introduce the mutation, a matrix for homologous repair was used as part of plasmid DNA, with homologous arms 903 and 484 bp in the 5'-3' region from the point of double-stranded rupture, respectively. As a result, mice with site-specific target mutations in exon 3 of the cdk8 gene were obtained. We for the first time demonstrated a high efficacy of the mutation 128 bp apart from the site of double-strand break. Viable animals with the F97G mutation in the catalytic domain of CDK8 kinase were obtained for the first time. The resulting cdk8 mutant mice will be used in subsequent studies to simulate the processes involving transcription reprogramming.
Keywords: CDK8 protein kinase; CRISPR/Cas9; genetically modified animals; mammalian genome editing.