gRNA vectors were constructed using Uracil-Specific Excision Reagent (USER) friendly cloning as previously described (Ronda et al., 2014 (link)). The CHO codon-optimized dCas9 cassette was generated from a synthesized CHO codon-optimized wild-type Cas9 (GeneArt, Thermo Fisher Scientific) as previously described (Xiong et al., 2019 (link)). The CHO codon-optimized dCas9 was then fused to a VPR domain cloned from a AAV_NLS-SaCas9-NLS-VPR vector (a gift from George Church (Addgene plasmid #68496)). The construct is here referred to as VPR_dCas9 and available at Addgene (Addgene Plasmid #134601). The plasmid construct and sequence are listed in Supplementary Figure S3. All plasmids were purified using NucleoBond Xtra Midi EF (Macherey-Nagel) according to manufacturer’s protocol and verified by Sanger sequencing.