TALEN Editing of APP Gene in WiCell WA09 (H9) Cells to directly express amyloid beta proteins

We used TALEN editing to insert a direct expression cassette of either Abeta42 or Abeta 40 eliminating any requirement for amyloidogenic processing of APP to produce Abeta. WiCell WA09 human embryonic stem cells were edited to directly express Abeta42 or Abeta40 under control of the normal APP transcriptional regulatory DNA. Two independently isolated clones were screened, verified by qRT-PCR for insertions and used to assess Alzheimer's like phenotypes in differentiated neurons.