Generation of induced pluripotent cells by CRISPR activation

1. A method of generating a population of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) comprising:

(a) targeting at least one endogenous gene locus using at least two single guide RNA (sgRNAs) in a population of non-iPSCs; and

(b) remodeling the at least one endogenous gene locus in the non-iPSCs using a CRISPR activation system and the at least two sgRNAs;

thereby generating the population of iPSCs;

wherein the at least one endogenous gene locus comprises Oct4, and wherein a first sgRNA of the at least two sgRNAs targets an Oct4 promoter and a second sgRNA of the at least two sgRNAs targets an Oct4 enhancer; and

wherein the number of iPSCs in the population of iPSCs is increased as compared to remodeling without the second sgRNA.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein

(a) the at least one endogenous gene locus further comprises Sox2, Klf4, c-Myc, Nr5a2, Glis1, Cebpa, Lin28, Nanog, or any combination thereof;

(b) the at least one endogenous gene locus further comprises a combination of Sox2, Klf4, c-Myc, Lin28, and Nanog;

(c) the at least one endogenous gene locus further comprises Sox2; and/or

(d) the at least two sgRNAs further target Sox2 promoter, Klf4 promoter, c-Myc promoter, Lin28 promoter, Nanog promoter, EEA-motif, or a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein

(a) the sgRNA targeting the Oct4 promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-6, 57, and 58;

(b) the sgRNA targeting the Oct4 enhancer comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 7-11;

(c) the sgRNA targeting the Sox2 promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 12-21, and 59;

(d) the sgRNA targeting the Klf4 promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 22-31, and 60;

(e) the sgRNA targeting the c-Myc promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 32-41, and 61;

(f) the sgRNA targeting the Nr5a2 gene comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 42-45;

(g) the sgRNA targeting the Glisl gene comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 46-50;

(h) the sgRNA targeting the Cebpa gene comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 51-56;

(i) the sgRNA targeting the Lin28 promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to SEQ ID NO: 62;

(j) the sgRNA targeting the Nanog promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to SEQ ID NO: 63; and/or

(k) the sgRNA targeting the EEA-motif comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to SEQ ID NO: 64.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CRISPR activation system comprises

(a) deactivated CRISPR-associated nuclease fused with at least one transcriptional activator; and optionally

(b) a tandem array of peptides that links deactivated CRISPR-associated nuclease to the at least one transcriptional activator.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein

(a) the CRISPR activation system comprises deactivated Cas9 (dCas9);

(b) the tandem array of peptide is a SunTag array; and/or

(c) the at least one transcriptional activator comprises herpes simplex VP16, a tetramer of VP16 (VP64), or p65.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the CRISPR activation system comprises the tandem array of peptides that links deactivated CRISPR-associated nuclease to the at least one transcriptional activator.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the population of non-iPSCs comprise:

(a) a fibroblast, a skin cell, a cord blood cell, a peripheral blood cell, or a renal epithelial cell;

(b) a mammalian cell; and/or

(c) a human cell.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising

(c) contacting the population of non-iPSCs with small molecules comprising a TGFβR inhibitor, a GSK3 inhibitor, a MEK inhibitor and a ROCK inhibitor; and optionally

(d) contacting the generated population of iPSCs with small molecules comprising a GSK3 inhibitor, a MEK inhibitor and a ROCK inhibitor, but not a TGFβR inhibitor.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the remodeling of the endogenous gene locus yields a 100-fold or greater level of gene expression in comparison to without the remodeling.

10. A method of generating a population of iPSCs comprising:

(a) targeting at least two endogenous loci using of a Sox2 promoter targeting sgRNA, an Oct4 promoter targeting sgRNA, and an Oct4 enhancer targeting sgRNA in a population of non-iPSCs, and

(b) remodeling the at least two endogenous gene loci using a CRISPR activation system and the Sox2 promoter targeting sgRNA, the Oct4 promoter targeting sgRNA, and the Oct4 enhancer targeting sgRNA; thereby generating the population of iPSCs;

wherein the number of iPSCs in the population of iPSCs is increased as compared to remodeling without the Oct4 enhancer targeting sgRNA.

11. A method of generating a population of iPSCs comprising:

(a) targeting at least one endogenous gene locus using at least two sgRNAs in a population of non-iPSCs, and

(b) remodeling the at least one endogenous gene locus in the non-iPSCs using a CRISPR activation system and the at least two sgRNAs to generate the population of iPSCs;

wherein the at least one endogenous gene locus comprises Oct4, and wherein a first sgRNA of the at least two sgRNAs targets an Oct4 promoter and a second sgRNA of the at least two sgRNAs targets an Oct4 enhancer,

wherein the number of iPSCs in the population of iPSCs is increased as compared to remodeling without the second sgRNA, and

wherein the CRISPR activation system comprises:

(1) a dCas9;

(2) a SunTag array fused to the dCas9; and

(3) at least one acetyltransferase activity domain of p300 (p300core) attached to the SunTag array.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein

(a) the at least one endogenous gene locus further comprises Sox2, Klf4, c-Myc, Nanog, Lin28, Nr5a2, Glis1, Cebpa, or any combination thereof;

(b) the sgRNA targeting the Oct4 promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 1-6, 57, and 58;

(c) the sgRNA targeting the Oct4 enhancer comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 7-11;

(d) the at least two sgRNAs further target Sox2 promoter, and the sgRNA targeting the Sox2 promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 12-21, and 59;

(e) the at least two sgRNAs further target Klf4 promoter, and the sgRNA targeting the Klf4 promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 22-31 and 60;

(f) the at least two sgRNAs further target c-Myc promoter, and the sgRNA targeting the c-Myc promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 32-41, and 61;

(g) the at least two sgRNAs further target Nr5a2 gene, and the sgRNA targeting the Nr5a2 promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 42-45;

(h) the at least two sgRNAs further target Glisl gene, and the sgRNA targeting the Glis1 promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 46-50;

(i) the at least two sgRNAs further target Cebpa gene, and the sgRNA targeting the Cebpa promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to any one of SEQ ID NOs: 51-56;

(j) the at least two sgRNAs further target Lin28 promoter, and the sgRNA targeting the Lin28 promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to SEQ ID NO: 62;

(k) the at least two sgRNAs further target Nanog promoter, and the sgRNA targeting the Nanog promoter comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to SEQ ID NO: 63; and/or

(l) the at least two sgRNAs further target EEA-motif, and the sgRNA targeting the EEA-motif comprises an RNA sequence corresponding to SEQ ID NO: 64.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein

(a) the population of non-iPSCs comprise a fibroblast, a skin cell, a cord blood cell, a peripheral blood cell, or a renal epithelial cell;

(b) the population of non-iPSCs comprise a mammalian cell; and/or

(c) the population of non-iPSCs comprise a human cell.