CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated ATF6B Gene Editing Enhances Membrane Protein Production in HEK293T Cells

This study aims to enhance membrane protein production in HEK293T cells through genetic modification. HEK293T cells are used for recombinant protein and viral vector production due to their human origin and post-translational modification capabilities. This study explores enhancing membrane protein production in these cells by deleting the C-terminal of the ATF6B gene using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. The objective of this research is to investigate the effect of C-terminal deletion of the ATF6B gene on membrane protein production in HEK293T cells using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. To identify effective gene targets, sgRNAs were initially designed against multiple UPR-related genes, including ATF6A, IRE1A, IRE1B, PERK, and ATF6B. Among them, ATF6B was selected as the primary target for further investigation due to its superior editing efficiency. The efficiency of sgRNAs was evaluated using the T7E1 assay, and sequencing was performed to verify gene editing patterns. Membrane proteins were extracted from both ATF6B C-terminally deleted (ATF6B-ΔC) and wild-type (WT) cell lines for comparison. Flow cytometry was employed to assess membrane protein production by analyzing GFP expression in Membrane-GFP-expressing cells. HEK293T cells with C-terminally deleted ATF6B (ATF6B-ΔC) significantly increased membrane protein production by approximately 40 ± 17.6% compared to WT cells (<i>p</i> < 0.05). Sequencing revealed 11, 14, 1, and 10 bp deletions in the ATF6B-ΔC edited cells, which disrupted exon sequences, induced exon skipping, and introduced premature stop codons, suppressing normal protein expression. Flow cytometry confirmed a 23.9 ± 4.2% increase in GFP intensity in ATF6B-ΔC cells, corroborating the enhanced membrane protein production. These findings suggest that CRISPR-Cas9-mediated C-terminal deletion of the ATF6B gene can effectively enhance membrane protein production in HEK293T cells by activating the unfolded protein response pathway and improving the cell's capacity to manage misfolded proteins. This strategy presents significant potential for the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, where efficient membrane protein production is essential for drug development and various applications.