Genome-wide CRISPR Screening of Chondrocyte Maturation Newly Implicates Multiple Genes in Longitudinal Skeletal Growth and Height-GWAS Associated Loci [GPLC_sorted_RNAseq]

The current study pairs human height GWAS data with CRISPR-based genome-wide knock out (KO) screens using an in vitro assay of chondrocyte proliferation and maturation to identify genes and gene pathways of biological relevance to human growth plate maturation. Our CRISPR screen detects relevant candidates for regulating human growth plate maturation, illustrating the value of functional studies in tissues of biological relevance as orthogonal data sets to refine likely causal genes from large-scale human genetic studies. WT GPLCs were grown for 4 days or 15 days in culture, and FACS sorted for the cell surface marker of chondrocyte maturation, CD200. RNAseq was performed to compare these timepoints and groups