纳米粒子在CRISPR/Cas9基因治疗中的应用

CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑技术已成为基因治疗领域最有前景的工具。在临床应用中,对CRISPR/Cas9进行安全有效的递送一直是亟待解决的问题。纳米粒子,如脂基纳米粒子、聚合物纳米粒子、纳米金颗粒以及生物膜类纳米粒子等,因其生物相容性、安全性和可设计性等特点有望为基因治疗带来新的突破。文中首先对纳米粒子的特性和基因治疗中CRISPR/Cas9的发展进行了概述,然后详细归纳了纳米粒子在递送不同形式的CRISPR/Cas9中的应用,最后对纳米粒子介导的基因治疗的递送在未来面临的挑战和安全性等方面作出总结论述。     

Mosaicism in CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing

The CRISPR/Cas9 system is a rapid, simple, and often extremely efficient gene editing method. This method has been used in a variety of organisms and cell types over the past several years. However, using this technology for generating gene-edited animals involves a number of obstacles. One such obstacle is mosaicism, which is common in founder animals. This is especially the case when the CRISPR/Cas9 system is used in embryos. Here we review the pros and cons of mosaic mutations of gene-edited animals caused by using the CRISPR/Cas9 system in embryos. Furthermore, we will discuss the mechanisms underlying mosaic mutations resulting from the CRISPR/Cas9 system, as well as the possible strategies for reducing mosaicism. By developing ways to overcome mosaic mutations when using CRISPR/Cas9, genotyping for germline gene disruptions should become more reliable. This achievement will pave the way for using the CRISPR technology in the research and clinical applications where mosaicism is an issue.     

CRISPR/Cas9与心血管疾病

CRISPR(clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9(CRISPR-associated proteins)作为一种新型基因组编辑技术,为解释疾病的发生机制和治疗疾病提供了新方法。来自Ⅱ型原核CRISPR系统的CRISPR/Cas9能够通过单链向导RNA(single guide RNA, sgRNA)将Cas9核酸酶靶定到特定的基因组序列发挥作用。已经被成功用来进行基因编辑构建疾病模型,以进行相关领域的功能研究和疾病的治疗。CRISPR/Cas9技术正在迅速的应用于生物医学研究的各个领域,包括心血管领域,它促进了人们对电生理、心肌病、心律失常以及其他心血管疾病的更多了解,已经创建了靶向很多基因的细胞和动物模型,为新一类疗法打开了大门。本综述介绍了CRISPR/Cas9的作用原理、优点和局限性,以及在心血管疾病中的应用进展。     

A CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing system for Rhodococcus ruber TH

Rhodococcus spp. are organic solvent-tolerant strains with strong adaptive abilities and diverse metabolic activities, and are therefore widely utilized in bioconversion, biosynthesis and bioremediation. However, due to the high GC-content of the genome (~70%), together with low transformation and recombination efficiency, the efficient genome editing of Rhodococcus remains challenging. In this study, we report for the first time the successful establishment of a CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing system for R. ruber. With a bypass of the restriction-modification system, the transformation efficiency of R. ruber was enhanced by 89-fold, making it feasible to obtain enough colonies for screening of mutants. By introducing a pair of bacteriophage recombinases, Che9c60 and Che9c61, the editing efficiency was improved from 1% to 75%. A CRISPR/Cas9-mediated triple-plasmid recombineering system was developed with high efficiency of gene deletion, insertion and mutation. Finally, this new genome editing method was successfully applied to engineer R. ruber for the bio-production of acrylamide. By deletion of a byproduct-related gene and in-situ subsititution of the natural nitrile hydratase gene with a stable mutant, an engineered strain R. ruber THY was obtained with reduced byproduct formation and enhanced catalytic stability. Compared with the use of wild-type R. ruber TH, utilization of R. ruber THY as biocatalyst increased the acrylamide concentration from 405 g/L to 500 g/L, reduced the byproduct concentration from 2.54 g/L to 0.5 g/L, and enhanced the number of times that cells could be recycled from 1 batch to 4 batches.     

Chromosome engineering in zygotes with CRISPR/Cas9

Deletions, duplications, and inversions of large genomic regions covering several genes are an important class of disease causing variants in humans. Modeling these structural variants in mice requires multistep processes in ES cells, which has limited their availability. Mutant mice containing small insertions, deletions, and single nucleotide polymorphisms can be reliably generated using CRISPR/Cas9 directly in mouse zygotes. Large structural variants can be generated using CRISPR/Cas9 in ES cells, but it has not been possible to generate these directly in zygotes. We now demonstrate the direct generation of deletions, duplications and inversions of up to one million base pairs by zygote injection. genesis 54:78–85, 2016. © 2016 The Authors. genesis Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

基于新的CRISPR/Cas9技术实现斑马鱼LHX9基因的快速编辑及对F0突变体性腺发育的初筛

目的:CRISPR/Cas9系统在斑马鱼的反向遗传学中的到了广泛应用,但突变基因的表型观察往往需要在突变鱼系的F1中进行,费时较长。LHX9作为LIM家族的一种转录因子,在胚胎早期的泌尿生殖嵴中有广泛分布;且LHX9基因敲除的小鼠存在性腺发育不良。本研究拟通过一种新的CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑技术,采用四条sgRNA对LHX9基因进行VASA转基因斑马鱼的基因敲除,以观察该基因缺陷对斑马鱼性腺发育的影响。方法:利用新的CRISPR/Cas9技术,设计四条针对斑马鱼LHX9基因3号外显子的20bp的sgRNA,通过非克隆体外转录得到靶位点的四条sgRNA。将以上靶位点的四条sgRNA与Cas9核酸酶蛋白同时注射入单细胞期的斑马鱼胚胎内,利用PCR鉴定突变型类型和突变比例。通过对LHX9基因突变体的VASA转基因斑马鱼进行荧光观察,发现LHX9基因缺陷的斑马鱼性腺发育的情况。结果:靶向Exon 3的四条sgRNA可成功编辑斑马鱼LHX9基因,敲除效率高达82%,Sanger测序发现产生10种不同的移码突变类型。通过该方法对VASA转基因斑马鱼的LHX9基因进行编辑,发现LHX9基因突变导致dph6的的斑马鱼原始生殖细胞增殖和迁移受到影响。结论:基于4条sgRNA注射的CRISPR/Cas9技术,可以快速地产生具有突变表型的G0斑马鱼,具有应用潜力。LHX9基因敲除导致原始生殖细胞的发育和迁移受到影响,提示该基因参与了斑马鱼早期性腺的发育。     

CRISPR/Cas9 system in Plasmodium falciparum using the centromere plasmid

The CRISPR/Cas9 nuclease system is a powerful method to genetically modify the human malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. Currently, this method is carried out by co-transfection with two plasmids, one containing the Cas9 nuclease gene, and another encoding the sgRNA and the donor template DNA. However, the efficiency of modification is currently low owing to the low frequency of these plasmids in the parasites. To improve the CRISPR/Cas9 nuclease system for P. falciparum, we developed a novel method using the transgenic parasite, PfCAS9, which stably expresses the Cas9 nuclease using the centromere plasmid. To examine the efficiency of genetic modification using the PfCAS9 parasite, we performed site-directed mutagenesis of kelch13 gene, which is considered to be involved in artemisinin resistance. Our results demonstrated that the targeted mutation could be introduced with almost 100% efficiency when the transfected PfCAS9 parasites were treated with two drugs to maintain both the centromere plasmid containing the Cas9 nuclease and the plasmid having the sgRNA. Therefore, the PfCAS9 parasite is a useful parasite line for the genetic modification of P. falciparum.     

CRISPR/Cas9基因组定点编辑中脱靶现象的研究进展

近年来, CRISPR定点编辑技术发展迅猛, 在动物、植物和微生物中均得到广泛应用。其中, 备受关注的脱靶现象也是研究的热点, 迄今已取得了重要进展。该文介绍了脱靶现象的产生原理及体内和体外检测脱靶现象的方法, 评价了通过改进sgRNA设计和优化CRISPR系统等来降低脱靶率的方法。在植物基因组定点编辑过程中, 应适时检测脱靶现象, 提高脱靶检测的精确度和准确度。     

CRISPR/Cas9技术在小麦育种中的应用进展

小麦（Triticum aestivum L.）是世界上主要的农作物之一,在粮食安全供应中发挥重要作用。在过去的几十年,由于小麦基因组复杂和遗传转化困难,导致小麦的基础和应用研究落后于其他谷类作物。2014年小麦基因组编辑取得了显著进展,进而促进了小麦生物技术的发展。综述了CRISPR/Cas9技术在小麦育种中的研究进展,简单介绍了CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑技术的发现、原理和优缺点,指出小麦基因编辑过程中农杆菌介导的遗传转化较粒子轰击法可降低转基因沉默频率,未来将成为基因编辑过程中主流的遗传转化方式;优化sgRNA的启动子、选择同源保守序列做为靶点可以提高基因编辑效率;新开发的碱基编辑器和prime editor需引入更多突变类型。展望了进一步提高小麦基因编辑效率和安全性的可行性,以期为未来小麦育种工作提供参考。     

CRISPR/Cas9技术在微生物研究中的应用进展

CRISPR(Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas(CRISPR associated proteins)系统是在细菌和古生菌中发现的一种RNA指导的降解入侵病毒或质粒DNA的适应性免疫系统。由II型CRISPR/Cas系统改造而成的CRISPR/Cas9技术已经被开发成一种强大的基因组编辑和表达调控工具,并且广泛应用于基因功能研究、代谢工程和合成生物学等领域。本文从CRISPR/Cas9系统的发现过程、分类、作用原理、在微生物研究中的应用进展等方面进行总结,并展望了该技术的应用前景。     

CRISPR/Cas9 screening using unique molecular identifiers

Loss‐of‐function screening by CRISPR/Cas9 gene knockout with pooled, lentiviral guide libraries is a widely applicable method for systematic identification of genes contributing to diverse cellular phenotypes. Here, Random Sequence Labels (RSLs) are incorporated into the guide library, which act as unique molecular identifiers (UMIs) to allow massively parallel lineage tracing and lineage dropout screening. RSLs greatly improve the reproducibility of results by increasing both the precision and the accuracy of screens. They reduce the number of cells needed to reach a set statistical power, or allow a more robust screen using the same number of cells.     

基于CRISPR/Cas9的蛹虫草无抗性标记转化技术的构建

传统的真菌遗传改造方法需要抗性标记,但目前可使用的抗性标记基因非常有限,导致蛹虫草遗传改造面临着抗性基因数量不足的问题,且尚未能实现多个目的基因的连续敲入或敲除,因此在蛹虫草中建立高效的无抗性标记转化技术显得尤为重要。本研究利用CRISPR/Cas9技术对蛹虫草的Cmura5基因进行编辑,通过内源5S-1、5S-2和U6启动子对gRNA进行转录,结果表明使用U6启动子对Cmura5基因的编辑效率达到了100%。在尿嘧啶缺陷型菌株Cmura5^-中,回补野生型Cmura5基因可实现正向选择,即野生型菌株可以在基础培养基上生长。利用设计的同源臂对Cmura5基因进行回收,可以实现反向选择,即野生型在含有5-氟乳清酸培养基中生长受到抑制。以尿嘧啶缺陷型Cmura5^-为出发菌株,利用无抗性标记转化技术,导入一个重组质粒效率为75%;连续导入2个重组质粒效率为80%;连续导入3个重组质粒效率为100%;连续导入4个重组质粒效率为50%,平均转化效率为75.7%,每一轮的标记回收率均在100%,实现了4个外源基因在蛹虫草中同时表达。     

CRISPR/Cas9在肿瘤治疗中的研究进展

CRISPR/Cas9技术自从出现以来便迅速应用于肿瘤研究。在肿瘤发生的机理研究中,CRISPR/Cas9可用于研究单核苷酸突变、染色体异位等因素在肿瘤发生中的作用机制,同时也可以用于肿瘤细胞中功能缺陷基因的筛选。在肿瘤治疗方法的研究中,CRISPR/Cas9主要用于诱发机制比较清晰且诱因为病毒的肿瘤类型,例如鼻咽癌、宫颈癌等,通过对相应病毒的基因进行编辑从而抑制其致癌作用。利用CRISPR/Cas9技术还可以加速新肿瘤治疗靶点基因的发现。尽管发展和应用十分迅速,但是CRISPR/Cas9在肿瘤研究和治疗中的作用仍然受多种因素的限制,包括Cas9和sgRNA的输送效率、脱靶效应以及安全性和成本等。对CRISPR/Cas9在肿瘤研究中的应用进展进行了综述,以期为肿瘤发生、转移机制和肿瘤治疗等方面的研究提供参考。     

CRISPR/Cas9基因组编辑技术在癌症研究中的应用

CRISPR/cas9基因组编辑技术因其设计简单以及操作容易,使其在基因编辑的研究中越来越受到欢迎。利用该技术,科研人员可以实现在碱基的水平对基因组进行定点修饰。CRISPR系统现已经被广泛地应用到多个物种的基因组编辑以及癌症的相关研究中。本文在最新研究进展的基础上,结合对癌症研究及基因组编辑技术的理解,对CRISPR/Cas9技术在癌症研究中的应用进行了综述。