1
|
Weber JA, Lang JF, Carrell EM, Alameh MG, Davidson BL. Temporal restriction of Cas9 expression improves CRISPR-mediated deletion efficacy and fidelity. MOLECULAR THERAPY. NUCLEIC ACIDS 2024; 35:102172. [PMID: 38978694 PMCID: PMC11229411 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtn.2024.102172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2023] [Accepted: 03/08/2024] [Indexed: 07/10/2024]
Abstract
Clinical application of CRISPR-Cas9 technology for large deletions of somatic mutations is inefficient, and methods to improve utility suffer from our inability to rapidly assess mono- vs. biallelic deletions. Here we establish a model system for investigating allelic heterogeneity at the single-cell level and identify indel scarring from non-simultaneous nuclease activity at gRNA cut sites as a major barrier to CRISPR-del efficacy both in vitro and in vivo. We show that non-simultaneous nuclease activity is partially prevented via restriction of CRISPR-Cas9 expression via inducible adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) or lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Inducible AAV-based expression of CRISPR-del machinery significantly improved mono- and biallelic deletion frequency in vivo, supporting the use of the Xon cassette over traditional constitutively expressing AAV approaches. These data depicting improvements to deletions and insight into allelic heterogeneity after CRISPR-del will inform therapeutic approaches for phenotypes that require either large mono- or biallelic deletions, such as autosomal recessive diseases or where mutant allele-specific gRNAs are not readily available, or in situations where the targeted sequence for excision is located multiple times in a genome.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jesse A Weber
- Raymond G. Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group, Biomedical Graduate Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Jonathan F Lang
- Raymond G. Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Group, Biomedical Graduate Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Ellie M Carrell
- Raymond G. Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh
- Penn Institute for RNA Innovation, University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| | - Beverly L Davidson
- Raymond G. Perelman Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Bouzidi MS, Dossani ZY, Di Benedetto C, Raymond KA, Desai S, Chavez LR, Betancur P, Pillai SK. High-resolution Inference of Multiplexed Anti-HIV Gene Editing using Single-Cell Targeted DNA Sequencing. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.01.24.576921. [PMID: 38328062 PMCID: PMC10849705 DOI: 10.1101/2024.01.24.576921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/09/2024]
Abstract
Gene therapy-based HIV cure strategies typically aim to excise the HIV provirus directly, or target host dependency factors (HDFs) that support viral persistence. Cure approaches will likely require simultaneous co-targeting of multiple sites within the HIV genome to prevent evolution of resistance, and/or co-targeting of multiple HDFs to fully render host cells refractory to HIV infection. Bulk cell-based methods do not enable inference of co-editing within individual viral or target cell genomes, and do not discriminate between monoallelic and biallelic gene disruption. Here, we describe a targeted single-cell DNA sequencing (scDNA-seq) platform characterizing the near full-length HIV genome and 50 established HDF genes, designed to evaluate anti-HIV gene therapy strategies. We implemented the platform to investigate the capacity of multiplexed CRISPR-Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complexes (Cas9-RNPs) to simultaneously 1) inactivate the HIV provirus, and 2) knockout the CCR5 and CXCR4 HDF (entry co-receptor) genes in microglia and primary monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs). Our scDNA-seq pipeline revealed that antiviral gene editing is rarely observed at multiple loci (or both alleles of a locus) within an individual cell, and editing probabilities across sites are linked. Our results demonstrate that single-cell sequencing is critical to evaluate the true efficacy and therapeutic potential of HIV gene therapy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mohamed S. Bouzidi
- Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Zain Y. Dossani
- Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | | | - Kyle A. Raymond
- Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Virology, Institut Pasteur, Université de Paris, CNRS UMR3569, Paris, France
| | | | - Leonard R. Chavez
- Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Rewrite Therapeutics, Berkeley, CA, USA
| | - Paola Betancur
- Department of Radiation Oncology, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Satish K. Pillai
- Vitalant Research Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Allen AG, Chung CH, Worrell SD, Nwaozo G, Madrid R, Mele AR, Dampier W, Nonnemacher MR, Wigdahl B. Assessment of anti-HIV-1 guide RNA efficacy in cells containing the viral target sequence, corresponding gRNA, and CRISPR/Cas9. Front Genome Ed 2023; 5:1101483. [PMID: 37124096 PMCID: PMC10134072 DOI: 10.3389/fgeed.2023.1101483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2022] [Accepted: 03/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/02/2023] Open
Abstract
The Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 gene editing system has been shown to be effective at inhibiting human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). Studies have not consistently used a trackable dual reporter system to determine what cells received the Cas9/gRNA to determine the overall knockdown of HIV. Some studies have used stably transduced cells under drug selection to accomplish this goal. Here a two-color system was used that allows tracking of viral protein expression and which cells received the CRISPR/Cas9 system. These experiments ensured that each gRNA used was a perfect match to the intended target to remove this variable. The data showed that gRNAs targeting the transactivation response element (TAR) region or other highly conserved regions of the HIV-1 genome were effective at stopping viral gene expression, with multiple assays demonstrating greater than 95 percent reduction. Conversely, gRNAs targeting conserved sites of the 5' portion of the U3 region were largely ineffective, demonstrating that the location of edits in the long terminal repeat (LTR) matter with respect to function. In addition, it was observed that a gRNA targeting Tat was effective in a T-cell model of HIV-1 latency. Taken together, these studies demonstrated gRNAs designed to highly conserved functional regions have near 100% efficacy in vitro in cells known to have received the Cas9/gRNA pair.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander G. Allen
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Center for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Cheng-Han Chung
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Center for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Stephen D. Worrell
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Center for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Glad Nwaozo
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Center for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Rebekah Madrid
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Center for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Anthony R. Mele
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Center for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Will Dampier
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Center for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Michael R. Nonnemacher
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Center for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Brian Wigdahl
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Center for Molecular Virology and Gene Therapy, Institute for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Xun J, Zhang X, Guo S, Lu H, Chen J. Editing out HIV: application of gene editing technology to achieve functional cure. Retrovirology 2021; 18:39. [PMID: 34922576 PMCID: PMC8684261 DOI: 10.1186/s12977-021-00581-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/06/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 03/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) successfully suppresses human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) replication and improves the quality of life of patients living with HIV. However, current HAART does not eradicate HIV infection because an HIV reservoir is established in latently infected cells and is not recognized by the immune system. The successful curative treatment of the Berlin and London patients following bone marrow transplantation inspired researchers to identify an approach for the functional cure of HIV. As a promising technology, gene editing-based strategies have attracted considerable attention and sparked much debate. Herein, we discuss the development of different gene editing strategies in the functional cure of HIV and highlight the potential for clinical applications prospects. ![]()
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jingna Xun
- Scientific Research Center, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, 2901 Caolang Road, Shanghai, 201508, China.,State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Xinyu Zhang
- Scientific Research Center, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, 2901 Caolang Road, Shanghai, 201508, China
| | - Shuyan Guo
- Shanghai Foreign Language School, Shanghai International Studies University, Shanghai, China
| | - Hongzhou Lu
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, 2901 Caolang Road, Shanghai, 201508, China
| | - Jun Chen
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, Shanghai Public Health Clinical Center, Fudan University, 2901 Caolang Road, Shanghai, 201508, China.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Panfil AR, Green PL, Yoder KE. CRISPR Genome Editing Applied to the Pathogenic Retrovirus HTLV-1. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2020; 10:580371. [PMID: 33425776 PMCID: PMC7785941 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2020.580371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
CRISPR editing of retroviral proviruses has been limited to HIV-1. We propose human T-cell leukemia virus type 1 (HTLV-1) as an excellent model to advance CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technologies against actively expressing and latent retroviral proviruses. HTLV-1 is a tumorigenic human retrovirus responsible for the development of both leukemia/lymphoma (ATL) and a neurological disease (HAM/TSP). The virus immortalizes and persists in CD4+ T lymphocytes that survive for the lifetime of the host. The most important drivers of HTLV-1-mediated transformation and proliferation are the tax and hbz viral genes. Tax, transcribed from the plus-sense or genome strand, is essential for de novo infection and cellular immortalization. Hbz, transcribed from the minus-strand, supports proliferation and survival of infected cells in both its protein and mRNA forms. Abrogating the function or expression of tax and/or hbz by genome editing and mutagenic double-strand break repair may disable HTLV-1-infected cell growth/survival and prevent immune modulatory effects and ultimately HTLV-1-associated disease. In addition, the HTLV-1 viral genome is highly conserved with remarkable sequence homogeneity, both within the same host and even among different HTLV isolates. This offers more focused guide RNA targeting. In addition, there are several well-established animal models for studying HTLV-1 infection in vivo as well as cell immortalization in vitro. Therefore, studies with HTLV-1 may provide a better basis to assess and advance in vivo genome editing against retroviral infections.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amanda R Panfil
- Department of Veterinary Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.,Center for Retrovirus Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Patrick L Green
- Department of Veterinary Biosciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.,Center for Retrovirus Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Kristine E Yoder
- Center for Retrovirus Research, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States.,Department of Cancer Biology and Genetics, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, United States
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Abrogation of PRRSV infectivity by CRISPR-Cas13b-mediated viral RNA cleavage in mammalian cells. Sci Rep 2020; 10:9617. [PMID: 32541822 PMCID: PMC7295971 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-66775-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Accepted: 05/27/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
CRISPR/Cas9 enables dsDNA viral genome engineering. However, the lack of RNA targeting activities limits the ability of CRISPR/Cas9 to combat RNA viruses. The recently identified class II type VI CRISPR/Cas effectors (Cas13) are RNA-targeting CRISPR enzymes that enable RNA cleavage in mammalian and plant cells. We sought to knockdown the viral RNA of porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) directly by exploiting the CRISPR/Cas13b system. Effective mRNA cleavage by CRISPR/Cas13b-mediated CRISPR RNA (crRNA) targeting the ORF5 and ORF7 genes of PRRSV was observed. To address the need for uniform delivery of the Cas13b protein and crRNAs, an all-in-one system expressing Cas13b and duplexed crRNA cassettes was developed. Delivery of a single vector carrying double crRNAs enabled the simultaneous knockdown of two PRRSV genes. Transgenic MARC-145 cells stably expressing the Cas13b effector and crRNA mediated by lentiviral-based transduction showed a robust ability to splice the PRRSV genomic RNA and subgenomic RNAs; viral infection was almost completely abrogated by the combination of double crRNAs simultaneously targeting the ORF5 and ORF7 genes. Our study indicated that the CRISPR/Cas13b system can effectively knockdown the PRRSV genome in vitro and can potentially be used as a potent therapeutic antiviral strategy.
Collapse
|
7
|
Abstract
The full length of HIV/R7/E−/GFP integrated in the J-Lat 10.6 cell line was sequenced in this study. The single copy of the integrated virus, including the breakpoints from the human chromosome to the provirus, was amplified by two separate PCRs. A 10,200-bp genome sequence was acquired, analyzed, and deposited in GenBank. The full length of HIV/R7/E−/GFP integrated in the J-Lat 10.6 cell line was sequenced in this study. The single copy of the integrated virus, including the breakpoints from the human chromosome to the provirus, was amplified by two separate PCRs. A 10,200-bp genome sequence was acquired, analyzed, and deposited in GenBank.
Collapse
|
8
|
Lee H, Yoon DE, Kim K. Genome editing methods in animal models. Anim Cells Syst (Seoul) 2020; 24:8-16. [PMID: 32158611 PMCID: PMC7048190 DOI: 10.1080/19768354.2020.1726462] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Genetically engineered animal models that reproduce human diseases are very important for the pathological study of various conditions. The development of the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system has enabled a faster and cheaper production of animal models compared with traditional gene-targeting methods using embryonic stem cells. Genome editing tools based on the CRISPR-Cas9 system are a breakthrough technology that allows the precise introduction of mutations at the target DNA sequences. In particular, this accelerated the creation of animal models, and greatly contributed to the research that utilized them. In this review, we introduce various strategies based on the CRISPR-Cas9 system for building animal models of human diseases and describe various in vivo delivery methods of CRISPR-Cas9 that are applied to disease models for therapeutic purposes. In addition, we summarize the currently available animal models of human diseases that were generated using the CRISPR-Cas9 system and discuss future directions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hyunji Lee
- Center for Genome Engineering, Institute for Basic Science, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Da Eun Yoon
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Department of Physiology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Kyoungmi Kim
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea.,Department of Physiology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Kevadiya BD, Ottemann B, Mukadam IZ, Castellanos L, Sikora K, Hilaire JR, Machhi J, Herskovitz J, Soni D, Hasan M, Zhang W, Anandakumar S, Garrison J, McMillan J, Edagwa B, Mosley RL, Vachet RW, Gendelman HE. Rod-shape theranostic nanoparticles facilitate antiretroviral drug biodistribution and activity in human immunodeficiency virus susceptible cells and tissues. Am J Cancer Res 2020; 10:630-656. [PMID: 31903142 PMCID: PMC6929995 DOI: 10.7150/thno.39847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2019] [Accepted: 10/06/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Human immunodeficiency virus theranostics facilitates the development of long acting (LA) antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) by defining drug-particle cell depots. Optimal drug formulations are made possible based on precise particle composition, structure, shape and size. Through the creation of rod-shaped particles of defined sizes reflective of native LA drugs, theranostic probes can be deployed to measure particle-cell and tissue biodistribution, antiretroviral activities and drug retention. Methods: Herein, we created multimodal rilpivirine (RPV) 177lutetium labeled bismuth sulfide nanorods (177LuBSNRs) then evaluated their structure, morphology, configuration, chemical composition, biological responses and adverse reactions. Particle biodistribution was analyzed by single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT/CT) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) imaging. Results: Nanoformulated RPV and BSNRs-RPV particles showed comparable physicochemical and cell biological properties. Drug-particle pharmacokinetics (PK) and biodistribution in lymphoid tissue macrophages proved equivalent, one with the other. Rapid particle uptake and tissue distribution were observed, without adverse reactions, in primary blood-derived and tissue macrophages. The latter was seen within the marginal zones of spleen. Conclusions: These data, taken together, support the use of 177LuBSNRs as theranostic probes as a rapid assessment tool for PK LA ARV measurements.
Collapse
|
10
|
Bellizzi A, Ahye N, Jalagadugula G, Wollebo HS. A Broad Application of CRISPR Cas9 in Infectious Diseases of Central Nervous System. J Neuroimmune Pharmacol 2019; 14:578-594. [PMID: 31512166 PMCID: PMC6898781 DOI: 10.1007/s11481-019-09878-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/03/2019] [Accepted: 08/26/2019] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Virus-induced diseases or neurological complications are huge socio-economic burden to human health globally. The complexity of viral-mediated CNS pathology is exacerbated by reemergence of new pathogenic neurotropic viruses of high public relevance. Although the central nervous system is considered as an immune privileged organ and is mainly protected by barrier system, there are a vast majority of neurotropic viruses capable of gaining access and cause diseases. Despite continued growth of the patient population and a number of treatment strategies, there is no successful viral specific therapy available for viral induced CNS diseases. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a clear alternative treatment strategy that can effectively target neurotropic viruses of DNA or RNA genome. To address this need, rapidly growing gene editing technology based on CRISPR/Cas9, provides unprecedented control over viral genome editing and will be an effective, highly specific and versatile tool for targeting CNS viral infection. In this review, we discuss the application of this system to control CNS viral infection and associated neurological disorders and future prospects. Graphical Abstract CRISPR/Cas9 technology as agent control over CNS viral infection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Anna Bellizzi
- Center for Neurovirology, Department of Neuroscience, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Room 756 MERB, 3500 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA
| | - Nicholas Ahye
- Center for Neurovirology, Department of Neuroscience, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Room 756 MERB, 3500 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA
| | - Gauthami Jalagadugula
- Center for Neurovirology, Department of Neuroscience, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Room 756 MERB, 3500 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA
| | - Hassen S Wollebo
- Center for Neurovirology, Department of Neuroscience, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Room 756 MERB, 3500 N. Broad Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Valenti MT, Serena M, Carbonare LD, Zipeto D. CRISPR/Cas system: An emerging technology in stem cell research. World J Stem Cells 2019; 11:937-956. [PMID: 31768221 PMCID: PMC6851009 DOI: 10.4252/wjsc.v11.i11.937] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2019] [Revised: 08/12/2019] [Accepted: 09/11/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The identification of new and even more precise technologies for modifying and manipulating the genome has been a challenge since the discovery of the DNA double helix. The ability to modify selectively specific genes provides a powerful tool for characterizing gene functions, performing gene therapy, correcting specific genetic mutations, eradicating diseases, engineering cells and organisms to achieve new and different functions and obtaining transgenic animals as models for studying specific diseases. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 technology has recently revolutionized genome engineering. The application of this new technology to stem cell research allows disease models to be developed to explore new therapeutic tools. The possibility of translating new systems of molecular knowledge to clinical research is particularly appealing for addressing degenerative diseases. In this review, we describe several applications of CRISPR/Cas9 to stem cells related to degenerative diseases. In addition, we address the challenges and future perspectives regarding the use of CRISPR/Cas9 as an important technology in the medical sciences.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maria Teresa Valenti
- Department of Medicine, Section of Internal Medicine D, University of Verona, Verona 37134, Italy.
| | - Michela Serena
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QU, United Kingdom
| | - Luca Dalle Carbonare
- Department of Medicine, Section of Internal Medicine D, University of Verona, Verona 37134, Italy
| | - Donato Zipeto
- Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Verona 37134, Italy
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Liu W, Yang C, Liu Y, Jiang G. CRISPR/Cas9 System and its Research Progress in Gene Therapy. Anticancer Agents Med Chem 2019; 19:1912-1919. [PMID: 31633477 DOI: 10.2174/1871520619666191014103711] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2019] [Revised: 05/05/2019] [Accepted: 09/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Genome editing refers to changing the genome sequence of an organism by knockout, insertion, and site mutation, resulting in changes in the genetic information of the organism. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/ CRISPR-associated protein-9 nuclease (Cas9) system is a genome editing technique developed by the acquired immune system in the microbes, such as bacteria and archaebacteria, which targets and edits genome sequences according to the principle of complementary base pairing. This technique can be used to edit endogenous genomic DNA sequences in organisms accurately and has been widely used in fields, such as biotechnology, cancer gene therapy, and dermatology. In this review, we summarize the history, structure, mechanism, and application of CRISPR/Cas9 in gene therapy and dermatological diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Wenlou Liu
- Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221002, China
| | - Chunsheng Yang
- Department of Dermatology, The Affiliated Huai'an Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, The Second People's Hospital of Huai'an, No. 62, Huaihai Road(S.), Huai'an 223002, China
| | - Yanqun Liu
- Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221002, China
| | - Guan Jiang
- Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221002, China
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Jacobson JM, Khalili K. Toward the Cure of HIV-1 Infection: Lessons Learned and Yet to be Learned as New Strategies are Developed. AIDS Rev 2019; 20:220-225. [PMID: 30548022 DOI: 10.24875/aidsrev.18000027] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Here, we review the progress that has been made in achieving a cure of HIV-1 infection. To date, this has only occurred in one person after he received allogeneic stem cell transplants from a CCR5 ∆32 homozygous donor in addition to chemotherapy and radiation to treat his acute myelocytic leukemia. The general consensus is that achieving a sustained remission of infection in the absence of antiretroviral therapy will involve a combination of strategies that involve both the targeting of the latent proviral genome and the induction of more effective anti-HIV-1 immune responses. Efforts to reverse HIV-1 proviral DNA integration in the host cell genome and those to enhance anti-HIV immunity have been disappointing thus far. The lack of clinically validated assays to measure both effects has hampered the development of effective therapies. We suggest the consideration of genome editing as a new approach to reduce the latently integrated proviral genome. In addition, new approaches to therapeutic immunization, alterations of immunoregulatory pathways, anti-HIV-1 antibodies, and anti-HIV-1 chimeric antigen receptor T lymphocytes are in development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey M Jacobson
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Translational AIDS Research, Philadelphia, USA
- Department of Medicine. Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA
| | - Kamel Khalili
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Translational AIDS Research, Philadelphia, USA
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Yin L, Hu S, Mei S, Sun H, Xu F, Li J, Zhu W, Liu X, Zhao F, Zhang D, Cen S, Liang C, Guo F. CRISPR/Cas9 Inhibits Multiple Steps of HIV-1 Infection. Hum Gene Ther 2018; 29:1264-1276. [PMID: 29644868 DOI: 10.1089/hum.2018.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
CRISPR/Cas9 is an adaptive immune system where bacteria and archaea have evolved to resist the invading viruses and plasmid DNA by creating site-specific double-strand breaks in DNA. This study tested this gene editing system in inhibiting human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection by targeting the viral long terminal repeat and the gene coding sequences. Strong inhibition of HIV-1 infection by Cas9/gRNA was observed, which resulted not only from insertions and deletions (indels) that were introduced into viral DNA due to Cas9 cleavage, but also from the marked decrease in the levels of the late viral DNA products and the integrated viral DNA. This latter defect might have reflected the degradation of viral DNA that has not been immediately repaired after Cas9 cleavage. It was further observed that Cas9, when solely located in the cytoplasm, inhibits HIV-1 as strongly as the nuclear Cas9, except that the cytoplasmic Cas9 does not act on the integrated HIV-1 DNA and thus cannot be used to excise the latent provirus. Together, the results suggest that Cas9/gRNA is able to target and edit HIV-1 DNA both in the cytoplasm and in the nucleus. The inhibitory effect of Cas9 on HIV-1 is attributed to both the indels in viral DNA and the reduction in the levels of viral DNA.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lijuan Yin
- 1 MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for AIDS Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Siqi Hu
- 1 MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for AIDS Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Shan Mei
- 1 MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for AIDS Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Hong Sun
- 1 MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for AIDS Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Fengwen Xu
- 1 MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for AIDS Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Jian Li
- 1 MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for AIDS Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Weijun Zhu
- 1 MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for AIDS Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Xiaoman Liu
- 1 MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for AIDS Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Fei Zhao
- 1 MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for AIDS Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Di Zhang
- 1 MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for AIDS Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Shan Cen
- 2 Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Chen Liang
- 3 McGill University AIDS Centre , Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada
| | - Fei Guo
- 1 MOH Key Laboratory of Systems Biology of Pathogens, Institute of Pathogen Biology, and Center for AIDS Research, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Wang Z, Wang W, Cui YC, Pan Q, Zhu W, Gendron P, Guo F, Cen S, Witcher M, Liang C. HIV-1 Employs Multiple Mechanisms To Resist Cas9/Single Guide RNA Targeting the Viral Primer Binding Site. J Virol 2018; 92:e01135-18. [PMID: 30068653 PMCID: PMC6158435 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.01135-18] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 07/26/2018] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) gene-editing technology has been used to inactivate viral DNA as a new strategy to eliminate chronic viral infections, including HIV-1. This utility of CRISPR-Cas9 is challenged by the high heterogeneity of HIV-1 sequences, which requires the design of the single guide RNA (sgRNA; utilized by the CRISPR-Cas9 system to recognize the target DNA) to match a specific HIV-1 strain in an HIV patient. One solution to this challenge is to target the viral primer binding site (PBS), which HIV-1 copies from cellular tRNA3 Lys in each round of reverse transcription and is thus conserved in almost all HIV-1 strains. In this study, we demonstrate that PBS-targeting sgRNA directs Cas9 to cleave the PBS DNA, which evokes deletions or insertions (indels) and strongly diminishes the production of infectious HIV-1. While HIV-1 escapes from PBS-targeting Cas9/sgRNA, unique resistance mechanisms are observed that are dependent on whether the plus or the minus strand of the PBS DNA is bound by sgRNA. Characterization of these viral escape mechanisms will inform future engineering of Cas9 variants that can more potently and persistently inhibit HIV-1 infection.IMPORTANCE The results of this study demonstrate that the gene-editing complex Cas9/sgRNA can be programmed to target and cleave HIV-1 PBS DNA, and thus, inhibit HIV-1 infection. Given that almost all HIV-1 strains have the same PBS, which is copied from the cellular tRNA3 Lys during reverse transcription, PBS-targeting sgRNA can be used to inactivate HIV-1 DNA of different strains. We also discovered that HIV-1 uses different mechanisms to resist Cas9/sgRNAs, depending on whether they target the plus or the minus strand of PBS DNA. These findings allow us to predict that a Cas9 variant that uses the CCA sequence as the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) should more strongly and persistently suppress HIV-1 replication. Together, these data have identified the PBS as the target DNA of Cas9/sgRNA and have predicted how to improve Cas9/sgRNA to achieve more efficient and sustainable suppression of HIV-1 infection, therefore improving the capacity of Cas9/sgRNA in curing HIV-1 infection.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhen Wang
- Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Wenzhou Wang
- Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Ya Cheng Cui
- Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Qinghua Pan
- Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada
| | - Weijun Zhu
- Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China
| | - Patrick Gendron
- Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer, University of Montreal, Montreal, Canada
| | - Fei Guo
- Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China
| | - Shan Cen
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Science, Beijing, China
| | - Michael Witcher
- Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Oncology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Chen Liang
- Lady Davis Institute, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Medicine, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Castro-Gonzalez S, Colomer-Lluch M, Serra-Moreno R. Barriers for HIV Cure: The Latent Reservoir. AIDS Res Hum Retroviruses 2018; 34:739-759. [PMID: 30056745 PMCID: PMC6152859 DOI: 10.1089/aid.2018.0118] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Thirty-five years after the identification of HIV-1 as the causative agent of AIDS, we are still in search of vaccines and treatments to eradicate this devastating infectious disease. Progress has been made in understanding the molecular pathogenesis of this infection, which has been crucial for the development of the current therapy regimens. However, despite their efficacy at limiting active viral replication, these drugs are unable to purge the latent reservoir: a pool of cells that harbor transcriptionally inactive, but replication-competent HIV-1 proviruses, and that represent the main barrier to eradicate HIV-1 from affected individuals. In this review, we discuss advances in the field that have allowed a better understanding of HIV-1 latency, including the diverse cell types that constitute the latent reservoir, factors influencing latency, tools to study HIV-1 latency, as well as current and prospective therapeutic approaches to target these latently infected cells, so a functional cure for HIV/AIDS can become a reality.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sergio Castro-Gonzalez
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
| | - Marta Colomer-Lluch
- IrsiCaixa AIDS Research Institute, Hospital Germans Trias i Pujol, Badalona, Spain
| | - Ruth Serra-Moreno
- Department of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Roychoudhury P, De Silva Feelixge H, Reeves D, Mayer BT, Stone D, Schiffer JT, Jerome KR. Viral diversity is an obligate consideration in CRISPR/Cas9 designs for targeting the HIV reservoir. BMC Biol 2018; 16:75. [PMID: 29996827 PMCID: PMC6040082 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-018-0544-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2018] [Accepted: 06/21/2018] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND RNA-guided CRISPR/Cas9 systems can be designed to mutate or excise the integrated HIV genome from latently infected cells and have therefore been proposed as a curative approach for HIV. However, most studies to date have focused on molecular clones with ideal target site recognition and do not account for target site variability observed within and between patients. For clinical success and broad applicability, guide RNA (gRNA) selection must account for circulating strain diversity and incorporate the within-host diversity of HIV. RESULTS We identified a set of gRNAs targeting HIV LTR, gag, and pol using publicly available sequences for these genes and ranked gRNAs according to global conservation across HIV-1 group M and within subtypes A-C. By considering paired and triplet combinations of gRNAs, we found triplet sets of target sites such that at least one of the gRNAs in the set was present in over 98% of all globally available sequences. We then selected 59 gRNAs from our list of highly conserved LTR target sites and evaluated in vitro activity using a loss-of-function LTR-GFP fusion reporter. We achieved efficient GFP knockdown with multiple gRNAs and found clustering of highly active gRNA target sites near the middle of the LTR. Using published deep-sequence data from HIV-infected patients, we found that globally conserved sites also had greater within-host target conservation. Lastly, we developed a mathematical model based on varying distributions of within-host HIV sequence diversity and enzyme efficacy. We used the model to estimate the number of doses required to deplete the latent reservoir and achieve functional cure thresholds. Our modeling results highlight the importance of within-host target site conservation. While increased doses may overcome low target cleavage efficiency, inadequate targeting of rare strains is predicted to lead to rebound upon cART cessation even with many doses. CONCLUSIONS Target site selection must account for global and within host viral genetic diversity. Globally conserved target sites are good starting points for design, but multiplexing is essential for depleting quasispecies and preventing viral load rebound upon therapy cessation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Daniel Reeves
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, USA
| | - Bryan T Mayer
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, USA
| | - Daniel Stone
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, USA
| | - Joshua T Schiffer
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, USA
- Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, USA
- Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Keith R Jerome
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Darcis G, Das AT, Berkhout B. Tackling HIV Persistence: Pharmacological versus CRISPR-Based Shock Strategies. Viruses 2018; 10:v10040157. [PMID: 29596334 PMCID: PMC5923451 DOI: 10.3390/v10040157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2018] [Revised: 03/26/2018] [Accepted: 03/28/2018] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Jan Svoboda studied aspects of viral latency, in particular with respect to disease induction by avian RNA tumor viruses, which were later renamed as part of the extended retrovirus family. The course of retroviral pathogenesis is intrinsically linked to their unique property of integrating the DNA copy of the retroviral genome into that of the host cell, thus forming the provirus. Retroviral latency has recently become of major clinical interest to allow a better understanding of why we can effectively block the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) in infected individuals with antiviral drugs, yet never reach a cure. We will discuss HIV-1 latency and its direct consequence—the formation of long-lasting HIV-1 reservoirs. We next focus on one of the most explored strategies in tackling HIV-1 reservoirs—the “shock and kill” strategy—which describes the broadly explored pharmacological way of kicking the latent provirus, with subsequent killing of the virus-producing cell by the immune system. We furthermore present how the clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and associated protein (Cas) system can be harnessed to reach the same objective by reactivating HIV-1 gene expression from latency. We will review the benefits and drawbacks of these different cure strategies.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gilles Darcis
- Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Infectious Diseases Department, Liège University Hospital, 4000 Liege, Belgium.
| | - Atze T Das
- Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| | - Ben Berkhout
- Laboratory of Experimental Virology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Genome modification of CXCR4 by Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 renders cells resistance to HIV-1 infection. Retrovirology 2017; 14:51. [PMID: 29141633 PMCID: PMC5688617 DOI: 10.1186/s12977-017-0375-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2017] [Accepted: 11/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The CRISPR/Cas9 system has been widely used for genome editing in mammalian cells. CXCR4 is a co-receptor for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) entry, and loss of CXCR4 function can protect cells from CXCR4 (X4)-tropic HIV-1 infection, making CXCR4 an important target for HIV-1 gene therapy. However, the large size of the CRISPR/SpCas9 system presents an obstacle to its efficient delivery into primary CD4+ T cells. Recently, a small Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 (SaCas9) has been developed as a genome editing tool can address this question. Therefore, it provides a promising strategy for HIV-1 gene therapy if it is used to target CXCR4. RESULTS Here, we employed a short version of Cas9 from Staphylococcus aureus (SaCas9) for targeting CXCR4. We demonstrated that transduction of lenti-virus expressing SaCas9 and selected single-guided RNAs of CXCR4 in human CD4+ T cell lines efficiently induced the editing of the CXCR4 gene, making these cell lines resistant to X4-tropic HIV-1 infection. Moreover, we efficiently transduced primary human CD4+ T cells using adeno-associated virus-delivered CRISPR/SaCas9 and disrupted CXCR4 expression. We also showed that CXCR4-edited primary CD4+ T cells proliferated normally and were resistant to HIV-1 infection. CONCLUSIONS Our study provides a basis for possible application of CXCR4-targeted genome editing by CRISPR/SaCas9 in HIV-1 gene therapy.
Collapse
|
20
|
Huang Z, Nair M. A CRISPR/Cas9 guidance RNA screen platform for HIV provirus disruption and HIV/AIDS gene therapy in astrocytes. Sci Rep 2017; 7:5955. [PMID: 28729655 PMCID: PMC5519727 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-06269-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2017] [Accepted: 06/08/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
HIV/AIDS remains a major health threat despite significant advances in the prevention and treatment of HIV infection. The major reason is the inability of existing treatments to eradicate the multiple HIV reservoirs in the human body, including astrocytes in the human brain. CRISPR/Cas9 system is an emerging gene-editing technique with the potential to eliminate or disrupt HIV provirus in HIV reservoir cells, which may lead to a complete cure of HIV/AIDS. The key components of CRISPR/Cas9 are guide RNAs (gRNAs) which determine specific sequence targeting of DNAs. This study established a novel, simple and quick screening method to identify gRNA candidates for targeting HIV provirus in astrocytes. Briefly, stable astrocytes clones with an integrated fluorescent HIV reporter and Cas9 expression gene were generated. Various gRNAs were screened for their efficiencies against HIV provirus in these cells. Moreover, these gRNAs and Cas9 protein were successfully tested on HIV latent astrocytes without Cas9 expression to mimic clinical conditions. HIV provirus gene-editing were confirmed by cell genomic DNA PCR and fluorescent marker expression analysis. In the future, the established transgenic cells can be used for other gene-editing studies and is well-suited for high-throughput screen application.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zaohua Huang
- Department of Immunology, Institute of NeuroImmune Pharmacology, Centre for Personalized Nanomedicine, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, 33199, USA
| | - Madahavan Nair
- Department of Immunology, Institute of NeuroImmune Pharmacology, Centre for Personalized Nanomedicine, Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, 33199, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Current application of CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technique to eradication of HIV/AIDS. Gene Ther 2017; 24:377-384. [PMID: 28471431 DOI: 10.1038/gt.2017.35] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2016] [Revised: 01/25/2017] [Accepted: 02/01/2017] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) remains a major health hazard despite significant advances in prevention and treatment of HIV infection. The major reason for the persistence of HIV/AIDS is the inability of existing treatments to clear or eradicate the multiple HIV reservoirs that exist in the human body. To suppress the virus replication and rebound, HIV/AIDS patients must take life-long antiviral medications. The clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 (Cas9) system is an emerging gene-editing technique with the potential to eliminate or disrupt HIV-integrated genomes or HIV-infected cells from multiple HIV reservoirs, which could result in the complete cure of HIV/AIDS. Encouraging progress has already been reported for the application of the CRISPR/Cas9 technique to HIV/AIDS treatment and prevention, both in vitro in human patient cells and in vivo in animal model experiments. In this review, we will summarize the most recent progress in the application of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technique to HIV/AIDS therapy and elimination. Future directions and trends of such applications are also discussed.
Collapse
|
22
|
Novel AIDS therapies based on gene editing. Cell Mol Life Sci 2017; 74:2439-2450. [PMID: 28210784 DOI: 10.1007/s00018-017-2479-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2016] [Revised: 01/20/2017] [Accepted: 01/30/2017] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
HIV/AIDS remains a major public health issue. In 2014, it was estimated that 36.9 million people are living with HIV worldwide, including 2.6 million children. Since the advent of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), in the 1990s, treatment has been so successful that in many parts of the world, HIV has become a chronic condition in which progression to AIDS has become increasingly rare. However, while people with HIV can expect to live a normal life span with cART, lifelong medication is required and cardiovascular, renal, liver, and neurologic diseases are still possible, which continues to prompt research for a cure for HIV. Infected reservoir cells, such as CD4+ T cells and myeloid cells, allow persistence of HIV as an integrated DNA provirus and serve as a potential source for the re-emergence of virus. Attempts to eradicate HIV from these cells have focused mainly on the so-called "shock and kill" approach, where cellular reactivation is induced so as to trigger the purging of virus-producing cells by cytolysis or immune attack. This approach has several limitations and its usefulness in clinical applications remains to be assessed. Recent advances in gene-editing technology have allowed the use of this approach for inactivating integrated proviral DNA in the genome of latently infected cells or knocking out HIV receptors. Here, we review this strategy and its potential to eliminate the latent HIV reservoir resulting in a sterile cure of AIDS.
Collapse
|
23
|
White MK, Hu W, Khalili K. Gene Editing Approaches against Viral Infections and Strategy to Prevent Occurrence of Viral Escape. PLoS Pathog 2016; 12:e1005953. [PMID: 27930735 PMCID: PMC5145235 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Martyn K. White
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neurovirology and Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Wenhui Hu
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neurovirology and Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| | - Kamel Khalili
- Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neurovirology and Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States of America
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
|