A Programmable Platform Enabling Targeted Chromosome Substitution and Cross-Species Stability Profiling
Abstract
Chromosome substitution strains (CSS) are critical tools for dissecting complex traits, although iterative breeding steps and intraspecific compatibility requirements limit conventional approaches. Here, we developed an optimized TEAM platform for chromosome replacement combing CRISPR/Cas9–mediated chromosome elimination with microcell-mediated chromosome transfer (MMCT). Using this approach, we substituted the endogenous mouse Y chromosome (chrY) with either the mouse or human Y chromosome. Intraspecies substitutions yielded karyotypically stable embryonic stem cells that supported development into adult males. By contrast, in interspecies CSS, human chrY displayed severe instability and progressive DNA damage. Despite partial transcription of human chrY genes, recipient animals exhibited systemic inflammation, high rates of neonatal death, and poor growth. Reduced CENP-A levels were observed at human chrY centromeres, leading to segregation errors, micronuclei formation, and widespread chromosome rearrangements. This technology enables programmable construction of chromosome substitution models for investigating chromosomal function, genome evolution, and synthetic karyotype design in mammals.
Metrics
DOI:
Submission ID:
Downloads
Additional Files
Supplemental File(s)
- Table S1. Summary of embryo transfer and new born.xlsx
- Table S2. Primers used for T7 transcription, genotyping, real-time PCR, ddPCR and sgRNA.xlsx
- Table S3. The DEGs between C57XYH GFP plus mice and male C57 mice.xlsx
- Table S4. GO enrichment analysis of DEGs between C57 XYH GFP plus mice and male C57 mice.xlsx
Posted
How to Cite
Declaration of Competing Interests
The authors declare no competing interests to disclose.
Copyright
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.