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CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of CD47 causes hemolytic anemia with splenomegaly in C57BL/6 mice

Laboratory Animal Research volume 34, pages 302–310 (2018)Cite this article

Abstract

CD47 (integrin-associated protein), a multi-spanning transmembrane protein expressed in all cells including red blood cells (RBCs) and leukocytes, interacts with signal regulatory protein α (SIRPα) on macrophages and thereby inhibits phagocytosis of RBCs. Recently, we generated a novel C57BL/6J CD47 knockout (CD47-/- hereafter) mouse line by employing a CRISPR/Cas9 system at Center for Mouse Models of Human Disease, and here report their hematological phenotypes. On monitoring their birth and development, CD47-/- mice were born viable with a natural male-to-female sex ratio and normally developed from birth through puberty to adulthood without noticeable changes in growth, food/water intake compared to their age and sex-matched wild-type littermates up to 26 weeks. Hematological analysis revealed a mild but significant reduction of RBC counts and hemoglobin in 16 week-old male CD47-/- mice which were aggravated at the age of 26 weeks with increased reticulocyte counts and mean corpuscular volume (MCV), suggesting hemolytic anemia. Interestingly, anemia in female CD47-/- mice became evident at 26 weeks, but splenomegaly was identified in both genders of CD47-/- mice from the age of 16 weeks, consistent with development of hemolytic anemia. Additionally, helper and cytotoxic T cell populations were considerably reduced in the spleen, but not in thymus, of CD47-/- mice, suggesting a crucial role of CD47 in proliferation of T cells. Collectively, these findings indicate that our CD47-/- mice have progressive hemolytic anemia and splenic depletion of mature T cell populations and therefore may be useful as an in vivo model to study the function of CD47.

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  1. These authors contributed equally to this work

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Translational Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, 101 Daehakro, Jongno-gu, Seoul, 03080, Korea

    Joo-Il Kim, Hyun-Jin Lim, Kang-Min Han & Byeong-Cheol Kang

  2. Department of Experimental Animal Research, Biomedical Research Institute, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea

    Joo-Il Kim, Jin-Sung Park, Jina Kwak, Hyun-Jin Lim, Soo-Kyung Ryu, Euna Kwon & Byeong-Cheol Kang

  3. Department of Pathology, Dongguk University Ilsan Hospital, Goyang, Korea

    Kang-Min Han

  4. College of Medicine Severance Biomedical Science Institute, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

    Ki-Taek Nam

  5. Department of Biochemistry, Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea

    Han-Woong Lee

  6. Biomedical Center for Animal Resource and Development, Seoul National University, College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

    Byeong-Cheol Kang

  7. Designed Animal and Transplantation Research Institute, Institute of Green Bio Science Technology, Seoul National University, Pyeongchang-gun, Korea

    Byeong-Cheol Kang

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  1. Joo-Il Kim
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  2. Jin-Sung Park
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  3. Jina Kwak
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  9. Han-Woong Lee
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  10. Byeong-Cheol Kang
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Correspondence to Byeong-Cheol Kang.

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Kim, JI., Park, JS., Kwak, J. et al. CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of CD47 causes hemolytic anemia with splenomegaly in C57BL/6 mice. Lab Anim Res 34, 302–310 (2018). https://doi.org/10.5625/lar.2018.34.4.302

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.5625/lar.2018.34.4.302

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Laboratory Animal Research

ISSN: 2233-7660