Protocol for in vivo CRISPR knockout screening of autophagy genes to identify breast cancer metastasis suppressors

Metastasis represents the primary cause of mortality among patients with breast cancer. Here, we present a protocol for utilizing an in vivo custom CRISPR-Cas9 knockout library to systematically investigate autophagy regulatory genes implicated in breast cancer metastasis to the lung in mice. We describe steps for library synthesis, cloning, and virus packaging and transfection. We then detail procedures for genome DNA collection and transplantation, followed by analysis of screening data. This protocol enables efficient identification of potential suppressors of breast cancer metastasis in vivo. For complete details on the use and execution of this protocol, please refer to Hao et al.¹.