scholarly journals Gene editing and CRISPR in the clinic: current and future perspectives

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew P. Hirakawa ◽  
Raga Krishnakumar ◽  
Jerilyn A. Timlin ◽  
James P. Carney ◽  
Kimberly S. Butler

Abstract Genome editing technologies, particularly those based on zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat DNA sequences)/Cas9 are rapidly progressing into clinical trials. Most clinical use of CRISPR to date has focused on ex vivo gene editing of cells followed by their re-introduction back into the patient. The ex vivo editing approach is highly effective for many disease states, including cancers and sickle cell disease, but ideally genome editing would also be applied to diseases which require cell modification in vivo. However, in vivo use of CRISPR technologies can be confounded by problems such as off-target editing, inefficient or off-target delivery, and stimulation of counterproductive immune responses. Current research addressing these issues may provide new opportunities for use of CRISPR in the clinical space. In this review, we examine the current status and scientific basis of clinical trials featuring ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR-based genome editing, the known limitations of CRISPR use in humans, and the rapidly developing CRISPR engineering space that should lay the groundwork for further translation to clinical application.

Genes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilayda Ates ◽  
Tanner Rathbone ◽  
Callie Stuart ◽  
P. Hudson Bridges ◽  
Renee N. Cottle

Impressive therapeutic advances have been possible through the advent of zinc-finger nucleases and transcription activator-like effector nucleases. However, discovery of the more efficient and highly tailorable clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and associated proteins (Cas9) has provided unprecedented gene-editing capabilities for treatment of various inherited and acquired diseases. Despite recent clinical trials, a major barrier for therapeutic gene editing is the absence of safe and effective methods for local and systemic delivery of gene-editing reagents. In this review, we elaborate on the challenges and provide practical considerations for improving gene editing. Specifically, we highlight issues associated with delivery of gene-editing tools into clinically relevant cells.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (16) ◽  
pp. 5665 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunny Ahmar ◽  
Sumbul Saeed ◽  
Muhammad Hafeez Ullah Khan ◽  
Shahid Ullah Khan ◽  
Freddy Mora-Poblete ◽  
...  

Genome editing is a relevant, versatile, and preferred tool for crop improvement, as well as for functional genomics. In this review, we summarize the advances in gene-editing techniques, such as zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like (TAL) effector nucleases (TALENs), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) associated with the Cas9 and Cpf1 proteins. These tools support great opportunities for the future development of plant science and rapid remodeling of crops. Furthermore, we discuss the brief history of each tool and provide their comparison and different applications. Among the various genome-editing tools, CRISPR has become the most popular; hence, it is discussed in the greatest detail. CRISPR has helped clarify the genomic structure and its role in plants: For example, the transcriptional control of Cas9 and Cpf1, genetic locus monitoring, the mechanism and control of promoter activity, and the alteration and detection of epigenetic behavior between single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) investigated based on genetic traits and related genome-wide studies. The present review describes how CRISPR/Cas9 systems can play a valuable role in the characterization of the genomic rearrangement and plant gene functions, as well as the improvement of the important traits of field crops with the greatest precision. In addition, the speed editing strategy of gene-family members was introduced to accelerate the applications of gene-editing systems to crop improvement. For this, the CRISPR technology has a valuable advantage that particularly holds the scientist’s mind, as it allows genome editing in multiple biological systems.


Author(s):  
T Tahir ◽  
Q Ali ◽  
MS Rashid ◽  
A Malik

Today we can use multiple of endonucleases for genome editing which has become very important and used in number of applications. We use sequence specific molecular scissors out of which, most important are mega nucleases, zinc finger nucleases, TALENS (Transcription Activator Like-Effector Nucleases) and CRISPR-Cas9 which is currently the most famous due to a number of reasons, they are cheap, easy to build, very specific in nature and their success rate in plants and animals is also high. Who knew that one day these CRISPR discovered as a part of immune system of bacteria will be this much worthwhile in the field of genetic engineering? This review interprets the science behind their mechanism and how several advancements were made with the passage of time to make them more efficient for the assigned job.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Seema Dua ◽  
Kamlesh Kumari Bajwa ◽  
Atul Prashar ◽  
Sonu Bansal ◽  
Madhuri Beniwal ◽  
...  

To cater the exponential growth of human population, need to improve food production and quality through modern biotechnology with limited recourses in a way that has minimal impact on the environment. The selective breeding and genomic selection have attended the momentum gain in livestock productivity. Recent advancement in genome-editing technologies offers exciting prospects for the production of healthy and prolific livestock. Genome editing involves altering genetic material by manipulation, addition, or removal of certain deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences at a specific locus in a way that does not occur naturally. The major genome editors are zinc finger nucleases, transcription-activator-like endonucleases, and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats associated protein nine systems which are proficient of cutting the nuclear DNA precisely at a predetermined position. This review provides an update on the use of genome editing systems to modify the genes related to reproduction of farm animal vis-à-vis human, update knowledge on the underlying mechanism and discusses new opportunities to produce genetically modified farm animals.


2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (5) ◽  
pp. 894-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eva Vermersch ◽  
Charlène Jouve ◽  
Jean-Sébastien Hulot

Abstract Cardiovascular diseases are among the main causes of morbidity and mortality in Western countries and considered as a leading public health issue. Therefore, there is a strong need for new disease models to support the development of novel therapeutics approaches. The successive improvement of genome editing tools with zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and more recently with clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated 9 (Cas9) has enabled the generation of genetically modified cells and organisms with much greater efficiency and precision than before. The simplicity of CRISPR/Cas9 technology made it especially suited for different studies, both in vitro and in vivo, and has been used in multiple studies evaluating gene functions, disease modelling, transcriptional regulation, and testing of novel therapeutic approaches. Notably, with the parallel development of human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), the generation of knock-out and knock-in human cell lines significantly increased our understanding of mutation impacts and physiopathological mechanisms within the cardiovascular domain. Here, we review the recent development of CRISPR–Cas9 genome editing, the alternative tools, the available strategies to conduct genome editing in cardiovascular cells with a focus on its use for correcting mutations in vitro and in vivo both in germ and somatic cells. We will also highlight that, despite its potential, CRISPR/Cas9 technology comes with important technical and ethical limitations. The development of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing for cardiovascular diseases indeed requires to develop a specific strategy in order to optimize the design of the genome editing tools, the manipulation of DNA repair mechanisms, the packaging and delivery of the tools to the studied organism, and the assessment of their efficiency and safety.


Author(s):  
Hongyi Li ◽  
Yang Yang ◽  
Weiqi Hong ◽  
Mengyuan Huang ◽  
Min Wu ◽  
...  

AbstractBased on engineered or bacterial nucleases, the development of genome editing technologies has opened up the possibility of directly targeting and modifying genomic sequences in almost all eukaryotic cells. Genome editing has extended our ability to elucidate the contribution of genetics to disease by promoting the creation of more accurate cellular and animal models of pathological processes and has begun to show extraordinary potential in a variety of fields, ranging from basic research to applied biotechnology and biomedical research. Recent progress in developing programmable nucleases, such as zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)–Cas-associated nucleases, has greatly expedited the progress of gene editing from concept to clinical practice. Here, we review recent advances of the three major genome editing technologies (ZFNs, TALENs, and CRISPR/Cas9) and discuss the applications of their derivative reagents as gene editing tools in various human diseases and potential future therapies, focusing on eukaryotic cells and animal models. Finally, we provide an overview of the clinical trials applying genome editing platforms for disease treatment and some of the challenges in the implementation of this technology.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaetano Naso ◽  
Anastasia Petrova

Abstract Genodermatoses constitute a clinically heterogeneous group of devastating genetic skin disorders. Currently, therapy options are largely limited to symptomatic treatments and although significant advances have been made in ex vivo gene therapy strategies, various limitations remain. However, the recent technical transformation of the genome editing field promises to overcome the hurdles associated with conventional gene addition approaches. In this review, we discuss the need for developing novel treatments and describe the current status of gene editing for genodermatoses, focusing on a severe blistering disease called epidermolysis bullosa (EB), for which significant progress has been made. Initial research utilized engineered nucleases such as transcription activator-like effector nucleases and meganucleases. However, over the last few years, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) have upstaged older generation gene editing tools. We examine different strategies for CRISPR/Cas9 application that can be employed depending on the type and position of the mutation as well as the mode of its inheritance. Promising developments in the field of base editing opens new avenues for precise correction of single base substitutions, common in EB and other genodermatoses. We also address the potential limitations and challenges such as safety concerns and delivery efficiency. This review gives an insight into the future of gene editing technologies for genodermatoses.


F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 2153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cia-Hin Lau ◽  
Yousin Suh

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has shown promising therapeutic efficacy with a good safety profile in a wide range of animal models and human clinical trials. With the advent of clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-based genome-editing technologies, AAV provides one of the most suitable viral vectors to package, deliver, and express CRISPR components for targeted gene editing. Recent discoveries of smaller Cas9 orthologues have enabled the packaging of Cas9 nuclease and its chimeric guide RNA into a single AAV delivery vehicle for robust in vivo genome editing. Here, we discuss how the combined use of small Cas9 orthologues, tissue-specific minimal promoters, AAV serotypes, and different routes of administration has advanced the development of efficient and precise in vivo genome editing and comprehensively review the various AAV-CRISPR systems that have been effectively used in animals. We then discuss the clinical implications and potential strategies to overcome off-target effects, immunogenicity, and toxicity associated with CRISPR components and AAV delivery vehicles. Finally, we discuss ongoing non-viral-based ex vivo gene therapy clinical trials to underscore the current challenges and future prospects of CRISPR/Cas9 delivery for human therapeutics.


2019 ◽  
Vol 88 (1) ◽  
pp. 191-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daesik Kim ◽  
Kevin Luk ◽  
Scot A. Wolfe ◽  
Jin-Soo Kim

Programmable nucleases and deaminases, which include zinc-finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, CRISPR RNA-guided nucleases, and RNA-guided base editors, are now widely employed for the targeted modification of genomes in cells and organisms. These gene-editing tools hold tremendous promise for therapeutic applications. Importantly, these nucleases and deaminases may display off-target activity through the recognition of near-cognate DNA sequences to their target sites, resulting in collateral damage to the genome in the form of local mutagenesis or genomic rearrangements. For therapeutic genome-editing applications with these classes of programmable enzymes, it is essential to measure and limit genome-wide off-target activity. Herein, we discuss the key determinants of off-target activity for these systems. We describe various cell-based and cell-free methods for identifying genome-wide off-target sites and diverse strategies that have been developed for reducing the off-target activity of programmable gene-editing enzymes.


Life ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 366
Author(s):  
Pin Lyu ◽  
Luxi Wang ◽  
Baisong Lu

The discovery of designer nucleases has made genome editing much more efficient than before. The designer nucleases have been widely used for mechanistic studies, animal model generation and gene therapy development. However, potential off-targets and host immune responses are issues still need to be addressed for in vivo uses, especially clinical applications. Short term expression of the designer nucleases is necessary to reduce both risks. Currently, various delivery methods are being developed for transient expression of designer nucleases including Zinc Finger Nuclease (ZNF), Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nuclease (TALEN) and Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats/CRISPR-associated (CRISPR/Cas). Recently, virus-like particles are being used for gene editing. In this review, we will talk through commonly used genome editing nucleases, discuss gene editing delivery tools and review the latest literature using virus-like particles to deliver gene editing effectors.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document