CRISPR JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-10-10DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2024.0032
Ethel Webi, Hussein M Abkallo, George Obiero, Paul Ndegwa, Shengsong Xie, Shuhong Zhao, Vishvanath Nene, Lucilla Steinaa
{"title":"Genome Editing in Apicomplexan Parasites: Current Status, Challenges, and Future Possibilities.","authors":"Ethel Webi, Hussein M Abkallo, George Obiero, Paul Ndegwa, Shengsong Xie, Shuhong Zhao, Vishvanath Nene, Lucilla Steinaa","doi":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0032","DOIUrl":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0032","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) technology has revolutionized genome editing across various biological systems, including the Apicomplexa phylum. This review describes the status, challenges, and applications of CRISPR-Cas9 editing technology in apicomplexan parasites, such as <i>Plasmodium</i>, <i>Toxoplasma</i>, <i>Theileria</i>, <i>Babesia</i>, and <i>Cryptosporidium</i>. The discussion encompasses successfully implemented CRISPR-Cas9-based techniques in these parasites, highlighting the achieved milestones, from precise gene modifications to genome-wide screening. In addition, the review addresses the challenges hampering efficient genome editing, including the parasites' complex life cycles, multiple intracellular stages, and the lack of robust genetic tools. It further explores the ethical and policy considerations surrounding genome editing and the future perspectives of CRISPR-Cas applications in apicomplexan parasites.</p>","PeriodicalId":54232,"journal":{"name":"CRISPR Journal","volume":" ","pages":"310-326"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142480623","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CRISPR JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2024.0082.correx
{"title":"Correction to: <i>Give Cas a Chance: An Actionable Path to a Platform for CRISPR Cures</i>, by Fyodor D. Urnov [DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2024.0082].","authors":"","doi":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0082.correx","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1089/crispr.2024.0082.correx","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54232,"journal":{"name":"CRISPR Journal","volume":"7 6","pages":"406"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142840375","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CRISPR JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-01-02DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2023.0040
Raffaele M Iannuzzi, Ichcha Manipur, Clare Pacini, Fiona M Behan, Mario R Guarracino, Mathew J Garnett, Aurora Savino, Francesco Iorio
{"title":"Benchmark Software and Data for Evaluating CRISPR-Cas9 Experimental Pipelines Through the Assessment of a Calibration Screen.","authors":"Raffaele M Iannuzzi, Ichcha Manipur, Clare Pacini, Fiona M Behan, Mario R Guarracino, Mathew J Garnett, Aurora Savino, Francesco Iorio","doi":"10.1089/crispr.2023.0040","DOIUrl":"10.1089/crispr.2023.0040","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Genome-wide genetic screens using CRISPR-guide RNA libraries are widely performed in mammalian cells to functionally characterize individual genes and for the discovery of new anticancer therapeutic targets. As the effectiveness of such powerful and precise tools for cancer pharmacogenomics is emerging, tools and methods for their quality assessment are becoming increasingly necessary. Here, we provide an R package and a high-quality reference data set for the assessment of novel experimental pipelines through which a single calibration experiment has been executed: a screen of the HT-29 human colorectal cancer cell line with a commercially available genome-wide library of single-guide RNAs. This package and data allow experimental researchers to benchmark their screens and produce a quality-control report, encompassing several quality and validation metrics. The R code used for processing the reference data set, for its quality assessment, as well as to evaluate the quality of a user-provided screen, and to reproduce the figures presented in this article is available at https://github.com/DepMap-Analytics/HT29benchmark. The reference data is publicly available on FigShare.</p>","PeriodicalId":54232,"journal":{"name":"CRISPR Journal","volume":" ","pages":"355-365"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139075824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CRISPR JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-10-31DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2024.0030
Adam A Pérez, Guelaguetza Vazquez-Meves, Margaret E Hunter
{"title":"Early Detection of Wildlife Disease Pathogens Using CRISPR-Cas System Methods.","authors":"Adam A Pérez, Guelaguetza Vazquez-Meves, Margaret E Hunter","doi":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0030","DOIUrl":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0030","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Wildlife diseases are a considerable threat to human health, conservation, and the economy. Surveillance is a critical component to mitigate the impact of animal diseases in these sectors. To monitor human diseases, CRISPR-Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-CRISPR-associated protein) biosensors have proven instrumental as diagnostic tools capable of detecting unique DNA and RNA sequences related to their associated pathogens. However, despite the significant advances in the general development of CRISPR-Cas biosensors, their use to support wildlife disease management is lagging. In some cases, wildlife diseases of concern could be rapidly surveyed using these tools with minimal technical, operational, or cost requirements to end users. This review explores the potential to further leverage this technology to advance wildlife disease monitoring and highlights how concerted standardization of protocols can help to ensure data reliability.</p>","PeriodicalId":54232,"journal":{"name":"CRISPR Journal","volume":" ","pages":"327-342"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142548921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CRISPR JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-09-23DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2024.0053
Benjamin G Gowen, Prachi Khekare, Shannon R McCawley, Kory Melton, Craig Soares, Jean Chan, Vihasi Jani, Pierre Boivin, Ashil Bans, Weng-In Leong, Aaron J Cantor, Jack Walleshauser, Peter B Otoupal, Rina J Mepani, Adam P Silverman, Mary Haak-Frendscho, Spencer C Wei
{"title":"Identification of a Guide RNA Targeting an Ultraconserved Element for Evaluation of Cas9 Genome Editors Across Mammalian Species.","authors":"Benjamin G Gowen, Prachi Khekare, Shannon R McCawley, Kory Melton, Craig Soares, Jean Chan, Vihasi Jani, Pierre Boivin, Ashil Bans, Weng-In Leong, Aaron J Cantor, Jack Walleshauser, Peter B Otoupal, Rina J Mepani, Adam P Silverman, Mary Haak-Frendscho, Spencer C Wei","doi":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0053","DOIUrl":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0053","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":54232,"journal":{"name":"CRISPR Journal","volume":" ","pages":"306-309"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142300796","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CRISPR JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-10-22DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2024.0052
Christopher J Cotter, Cong T Trinh
{"title":"CRISPR-GRIT: Guide RNAs with Integrated Repair Templates Enable Precise Multiplexed Genome Editing in the Diploid Fungal Pathogen <i>Candida albicans</i>.","authors":"Christopher J Cotter, Cong T Trinh","doi":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0052","DOIUrl":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0052","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p><i>Candida albicans,</i> an opportunistic fungal pathogen, causes severe infections in immunocompromised individuals. Limited classes and overuse of current antifungals have led to the rapid emergence of antifungal resistance. Thus, there is an urgent need to understand fungal pathogen genetics to develop new antifungal strategies. Genetic manipulation of <i>C. albicans</i> is encumbered by its diploid chromosomes requiring editing both alleles to elucidate gene function. Although the recent development of CRISPR-Cas systems has facilitated genome editing in <i>C. albicans</i>, large-scale and multiplexed functional genomic studies are still hindered by the necessity of cotransforming repair templates for homozygous knockouts. Here, we present CRISPR-GRIT (<u>G</u>uide <u>R</u>NAs with <u>I</u>ntegrated Repair <u>T</u>emplates), a repair template-integrated guide RNA design for expedited gene knockouts and multiplexed gene editing in <i>C. albicans</i>. We envision that this method can be used for high-throughput library screens and identification of synthetic lethal pairs in both <i>C. albicans</i> and other diploid organisms with strong homologous recombination machinery.</p>","PeriodicalId":54232,"journal":{"name":"CRISPR Journal","volume":" ","pages":"385-394"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142512851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CRISPR JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-11-08DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2024.0001
Aysegul Ates, Cihan Tastan, Safak Ermertcan
{"title":"CRISPR-Cas9-Mediated Targeting of Multidrug Resistance Genes in Methicillin-Resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i>.","authors":"Aysegul Ates, Cihan Tastan, Safak Ermertcan","doi":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0001","DOIUrl":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Antibiotic resistance poses a global health crisis limiting the efficacy of available therapeutic agents. We explored CRISPR-Cas-based antimicrobials to combat multidrug resistance in methicillin-resistant <i>Staphylococcus aureus</i> (MRSA), targeting methicillin (<i>mec</i>A), gentamicin (<i>aac</i>A), and ciprofloxacin (<i>grl</i>A, <i>grl</i>B) resistance genes. Engineered CRISPR plasmids with specific single-guide RNAs were electroporated into MRSA strains. Real-time polymerase chain reaction assessed gene expression changes, while antibiotic susceptibility tests (ASTs) evaluated resistance status. Results showed a 1.5-fold decrease in <i>mec</i>A, a 5.5-fold decrease in <i>grl</i>A, a 6-fold decrease in <i>grl</i>B, and a 4-fold decrease in <i>aac</i>A expression. ASTs demonstrated the reversal of resistance to beta-lactam, quinolone, and aminoglycoside antibiotics. Western blot analysis revealed a 70% decrease in penicillin-binding protein 2a expression. Sanger sequencing confirmed point mutations in the <i>grl</i>B and <i>aac</i>A genes. Our findings highlight the potential of CRISPR-Cas9 technology to restore antibiotic efficacy against multidrug-resistant pathogens.</p>","PeriodicalId":54232,"journal":{"name":"CRISPR Journal","volume":" ","pages":"374-384"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142607408","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CRISPR JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-11-18DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2024.0018
Siyuan Liu, Yingdi Zhao, Qiqin Mo, Yadong Sun, Hanhui Ma
{"title":"Engineering CjCas9 for Efficient Base Editing and Prime Editing.","authors":"Siyuan Liu, Yingdi Zhao, Qiqin Mo, Yadong Sun, Hanhui Ma","doi":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0018","DOIUrl":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0018","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The CRISPR-Cas9 system has been applied for clinical applications of gene therapy. Most CRISPR-based gene therapies are derived from <i>Streptococcus pyogenes</i> Cas9, which is challenging to package into a single adeno-associated virus vector and limits its clinical applications. <i>Campylobacter jejuni</i> Cas9 (CjCas9) is one of the smallest Cas9 proteins. CjCas9-mediated base editing (CjBE) efficiency varies across genomic sites, while CjCas9-mediated prime editing (CjPE) efficiency is less than 5% on average. Here we developed enhanced cytosine base editors (enCjCBEs) and adenine base editors (enCjABEs) by engineered CjCas9<sup>P47K</sup>. We demonstrated the robust C-to-T conversion (70% on average) by enCjCBE or A-to-G conversion (76% on average) by enCjABE. Meanwhile, we applied the CjCas9<sup>P47K</sup> variant to generate enhanced CjPE (enCjPE), which increases the editing efficiency 17-fold at the <i>PRNP</i> site over wild-type CjPE. Fusing nonspecific DNA binding protein Sso7d to enCjCas9 and MS2 stem-loop RNA aptamer to the 3-terminal of cognate pegRNA resulted in 12% editing efficiency on average with a 24-fold increase over wild-type CjPE, and we termed it SsenCjPE. The SsenCjPE can also be combined with hMLH1dn to further increase the editing efficiency and MMLV RTaseΔRnH to reduce size. Finally, we introduced an additional mutation D829R into SsenCjPE and generated SsenCjPE-M2 with a 61-fold increase of PE efficiency over wild-type at the <i>PRNP</i> site. In summary, enCjBEs, SsenCjPEs, or SsenCjPE-M2 are compact Cas9-derived BE or prime editors in biological research or biomedical applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":54232,"journal":{"name":"CRISPR Journal","volume":" ","pages":"395-405"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142649684","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
CRISPR JournalPub Date : 2024-12-01Epub Date: 2024-09-30DOI: 10.1089/crispr.2024.0047
Kotaro Kamata, Nils Birkholz, Marijn Ceelen, Robert D Fagerlund, Simon A Jackson, Peter C Fineran
{"title":"Repurposing an Endogenous CRISPR-Cas System to Generate and Study Subtle Mutations in Bacteriophages.","authors":"Kotaro Kamata, Nils Birkholz, Marijn Ceelen, Robert D Fagerlund, Simon A Jackson, Peter C Fineran","doi":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0047","DOIUrl":"10.1089/crispr.2024.0047","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>While bacteriophage applications benefit from effective phage engineering, selecting the desired genotype after subtle modifications remains challenging. Here, we describe a two-phase endogenous CRISPR-Cas-based phage engineering approach that enables selection of small defined edits in <i>Pectobacterium carotovorum</i> phage ZF40. We designed plasmids containing sequences homologous to ZF40 and a mini-CRISPR array. The plasmids allowed genome editing through homologous recombination and counter-selection against non-recombinant phage genomes using an endogenous type I-E CRISPR-Cas system. With this technique, we first deleted target genes and subsequently restored loci with modifications. This two-phase approach circumvented major challenges in subtle phage modifications, including inadequate sequence distinction for CRISPR-Cas counter-selection and the requirement of a protospacer-adjacent motif, limiting sequences that can be modified. Distinct 20-bp barcodes were incorporated through engineering as differential target sites for programmed CRISPR-Cas activity, which allowed quantification of phage variants in mixed populations. This method aids studies and applications that require mixtures of similar phages.</p>","PeriodicalId":54232,"journal":{"name":"CRISPR Journal","volume":" ","pages":"343-354"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2024-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142332259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}