Establishment of a congenital tooth agenesis related gene MSX1 knockout human embryonic stem cell lines by CRISPR-Cas9 technology.

Human MSX1 gene is mapped to chromosome 4 and encodes a 303aa homeobox protein MSX1. MSX1 expression appears during early tooth development of vertebrate embryogenesis. Mutations in this protein are related to human tooth anomalie, cleft lip and palate and congenital ectodermal dysplasia syndrome. Most of the confirmed pathogenic mutations are located in exon2 encoded homeobox domain. Here, we report the establishment of MSX1 gene knockout human embryonic stem (hES) cell lines by CRISPR-Cas9 technology. These cell lines provide good materials for further studies of the roles MSX1 plays in human tooth development and congenital tooth agenesis.