Versatile electroporation protocols enable reproducible CRISPR-RNP delivery across multiple primary mouse cells of the hematopoietic lineage

Abstract

Genetic engineering of primary hematopoietic cells is essential for mechanistic immunology studies, however the development of cell-based therapies yet remains constrained by two major factors: the fragility of many primary lineages and challenges of viral delivery platforms that are costly, time-intensive, and biologically confounding. Here, we optimized scalable, non-viral CRISPR-Cas9 electroporation workflows using the ExPERT platform across three primary mouse hematopoietic cell types: OT-I CD8 T cells, bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs), and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). In activated OT-I CD8 T cells, two electroporation programs supported high-efficiency mRNA and RNP delivery with minimal impact on cell viability or proliferative capacity, with subtle activation-state-dependent sensitivity at higher energy settings. Extending optimization to myeloid and stem cell lineages, we found that BMDMs maintained high viability following electroporation, and a high-performing electroporation program supported robust RNP delivery and efficient target gene knockout while preserving macrophage differentiation. In HSCs, the same program enabled consistent RNP delivery, sustained viability, and reproducible gene knockout. Together, these findings establish ExPERT electroporation as a robust, reproducible, and modular platform for non-viral genome editing across primary mouse hematopoietic lineages, lowering barriers to rapid genetic perturbation for both discovery and translational applications.