Production of CRISPRi-engineered primary human mammary epithelial cells with baboon envelope pseudotyped lentiviral vectors

Abstract

Summary: Primary human mammary epithelial cells (pHMECs) are known to be remarkably difficult to engineer genetically. Here, we present a protocol for efficient transduction of pHMECs using a baboon retroviral envelope glycoprotein for pseudotyping of lentiviral vectors (BaEV-LVs). We describe the preparation of the BaEV-LVs, the isolation of pHMECs from breast samples, and the subsequent transduction of pHMECs. We also detail the use of CRISPRi technology to efficiently silence gene expression in pHMECs, which can then be used for functional assays.For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Richart et al. (2022).1 : Publisher’s note: Undertaking any experimental protocol requires adherence to local institutional guidelines for laboratory safety and ethics.

Keywords

• Cell Biology
• Cell isolation
• Flow Cytometry/Mass Cytometry
• Cancer
• Molecular Biology
• Gene Expression