Multicolor CRISPR labeling of chromosomal loci in human cells

Abstract

Significance The detection of specific genes in fixed cells was first accomplished in 1969 by Gall and Pardue. The development of analogous methods applicable to living cells is now at hand. At the forefront of this advance (2013–2014), we and other investigators have used transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) conjugated with fluorescent proteins to tag genomic loci in live cells. More recently, the CRISPR/Cas9 system has provided a more flexible approach to targeting specific loci. In this paper, we describe the labeling of human genomic loci in live cells with three orthogonal CRISPR/Cas9 components, allowing multicolor detection of genomic loci with high spatial resolution, which provides an avenue for barcoding elements of the human genome in the living state.