• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2022

The CRISPR system has revolutionized gene editing field. Cas9-mediated gene editing such as Indel induction or HDR enable targeted gene disruption or precise correction of mutation. Moreover, CRISPR-based new editing tools have been developed such as base editors. In this review, we focus on gene editing in human pluripotent stem cells, which is principal technique for gene correction therapy and disease modeling. Pluripotent stem cell-specific drug YM155 enabled selection of target gene-edited pluripotent stem cells. Also, we discussed base editing for treatment of congenital retina disease. Adenine base editor delivery as RNP form provide an approach for genetic disease treatment with safe and precise in vivo gene correction.

• BMB Reports
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.98-105
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• 2021

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system is a family of DNA sequences originally discovered as a type of acquired immunity in prokaryotes such as bacteria and archaea. In many CRISPR systems, the functional ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) are composed of CRISPR protein and guide RNAs. They selectively bind and cleave specific target DNAs or RNAs, based on sequences complementary to the guide RNA. The specific targeted cleavage of the nucleic acids by CRISPR has been broadly utilized in genome editing methods. In the process of genome editing of eukaryotic cells, CRISPR-mediated DNA double-strand breaks (DSB) at specific genomic loci activate the endogenous DNA repair systems and induce mutations at the target sites with high efficiencies. Two of the major endogenous DNA repair machineries are non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) and homology-directed repair (HDR). In case of DSB, the two repair pathways operate in competition, resulting in several possible outcomes including deletions, insertions, and substitutions. Due to the inherent stochasticity of DSB-based genome editing methods, it was difficult to achieve defined single-base changes without unanticipated random mutation patterns. In order to overcome the heterogeneity in DSB-mediated genome editing, novel methods have been developed to incorporate precise single-base level changes without inducing DSB. The approaches utilized catalytically compromised CRISPR in conjunction with base-modifying enzymes and DNA polymerases, to accomplish highly efficient and precise genome editing of single and multiple bases. In this review, we introduce some of the advances in single-base level CRISPR genome editing methods and their applications.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.10
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• pp.1583-1591
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• 2020

CRISPR/Cpf1 has emerged as a new CRISPR-based genome editing tool because, in comparison with CRIPSR/Cas9, it has a different T-rich PAM sequence to expand the target DNA sequence. Single-base editing in the microbial genome can be facilitated by oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis (ODM) followed by negative selection with the CRISPR/Cpf1 system. However, single point mutations aided by Cpf1 negative selection have been rarely reported in Corynebacterium glutamicum. This study aimed to introduce an amber stop codon in crtEb encoding lycopene hydratase, through ODM and Cpf1-mediated negative selection; deficiency of this enzyme causes pink coloration due to lycopene accumulation in C. glutamicum. Consequently, on using double-, triple-, and quadruple-base-mutagenic oligonucleotides, 91.5-95.3% pink cells were obtained among the total live C. glutamicum cells. However, among the negatively selected live cells, 0.6% pink cells were obtained using single-base-mutagenic oligonucleotides, indicating that very few single-base mutations were introduced, possibly owing to mismatch tolerance. This led to the consideration of various target-mismatched crRNAs to prevent the death of single-base-edited cells. Consequently, we obtained 99.7% pink colonies after CRISPR/Cpf1-mediated negative selection using an appropriate single-mismatched crRNA. Furthermore, Sanger sequencing revealed that single-base mutations were successfully edited in the 99.7% of pink cells, while only two of nine among 0.6% of pink cells were correctly edited. The results indicate that the target-mismatched Cpf1 negative selection can assist in efficient and accurate single-base genome editing methods in C. glutamicum.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.823-827
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• 2017

Genome editing using programmable nucleases such as CRISPR/Cas9 or Cpf1 has emerged as powerful tools for gene knock-out or knock-in in various organisms. While most genetic diseases are caused by point mutations, these genome-editing approaches are inefficient in inducing single-nucleotide substitutions. Recently, Cas9-linked cytidine deaminases, named base editors (BEs), have been shown to convert cytidine to uridine efficiently, leading to targeted single-base pair substitutions in human cells and organisms. Here, we first report on the generation of Xenopus laevis mutants with targeted single-base pair substitutions using this RNA-guided programmable deaminase. Injection of base editor 3 (BE3) ribonucleoprotein targeting the tyrosinase (tyr) gene in early embryos can induce site-specific base conversions with the rates of up to 20.5%, resulting in oculocutaneous albinism phenotypes without off-target mutations. We further test this base-editing system by targeting the tp53 gene with the result that the expected single-base pair substitutions are observed at the target site. Collectively, these data establish that the programmable deaminases are efficient tools for creating targeted point mutations for human disease modeling in Xenopus.

• BMB Reports
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.19-29
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• 2024

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), a multicopy genome found in mitochondria, is crucial for oxidative phosphorylation. Mutations in mtDNA can lead to severe mitochondrial dysfunction in tissues and organs with high energy demand. MtDNA mutations are closely associated with mitochondrial and age-related disease. To better understand the functional role of mtDNA and work toward developing therapeutics, it is essential to advance technology that is capable of manipulating the mitochondrial genome. This review discusses ongoing efforts in mitochondrial genome editing with mtDNA nucleases and base editors, including the tools, delivery strategies, and applications. Future advances in mitochondrial genome editing to address challenges regarding their efficiency and specificity can achieve the promise of therapeutic genome editing.

• Molecules and Cells
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.4-9
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• 2023

The advent of the CRISPR-Cas genome editing platform has greatly enhanced the capabilities of researchers in many areas of biology. Its use has also been turned to the development of therapies for genetic diseases and to the enhancement of cell therapies. This review describes some recent advances in these areas.

• BMB Reports
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.2-11
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• 2024

Advancements in gene and cell therapy have resulted in novel therapeutics for diseases previously considered incurable or challenging to treat. Among the various contributing technologies, genome editing stands out as one of the most crucial for the progress in gene and cell therapy. The discovery of CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) and the subsequent evolution of genetic engineering technology have markedly expanded the field of target-specific gene editing. Originally studied in the immune systems of bacteria and archaea, the CRISPR system has demonstrated wide applicability to effective genome editing of various biological systems including human cells. The development of CRISPR-based base editing has enabled directional cytosine-to-thymine and adenine-to-guanine substitutions of select DNA bases at the target locus. Subsequent advances in prime editing further elevated the flexibility of the edit multiple consecutive bases to desired sequences. The recent CRISPR technologies also have been actively utilized for the development of in vivo and ex vivo gene and cell therapies. We anticipate that the medical applications of CRISPR will rapidly progress to provide unprecedented possibilities to develop novel therapeutics towards various diseases.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.203-207
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• 1998

NAD4 as a gene encoding NADH dehydrogenase subunit 4 in the micodhondrion from maize has been cloned using RT-PCR and sequenced for examining RNA edited sites. Analysis of mt cDNA sequences showed the typical RNA editing patterns and unusual base changes as well;RNA editing from cDNA sequences occured base change from c to U in most cases, however transitions from t to g and G to A were also observed. Even though those editings appared to be occurred randomly, RNA edited sites showed mostly in exon 1 and exon 4 regions, when compared with NAD4 cDNA from wheat, locations of edited sites did not consistent with each other suggesting that the phenomenon of RNA editing occured randomly not site-specific manner.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.885-895
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• 2019

Plant biotechnologists have long dreamed of technologies to manipulate genes in plants at will. This dream has come true partly through the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9 technology, which now has been used to edit genes in several important crops. However, there are many restrictions in editing a gene precisely using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology because CRISPR/Cas9 may cause deletions or additions in some regions of the target gene. Several other technologies have been developed for gene targeting and precision editing. Among these, base editors might be the most practically and efficiently used compared to others. Base editors are tools which are able to cause a transition from cytosine into thymine, or from adenine into guanine very precisely on specific sequences. Cytosine base editors basically consist of nCas9, cytosine deaminase, and uracil DNA glycosylase inhibitor (UGI). Adenine base editors consist of nCas9 and adenine deaminase. These were first developed for human cells and have since also been applied successfully to crops. Base editors have been successfully applied for productivity improvement, fortification and herbicide resistance of crops. Thus, base editor technologies start to open a new era for precision gene editing or breeding in crops and might result in revolutionary changes in crop breeding and biotechnology.

• BMB Reports
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.475-481
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• 2019

The evolution of genome editing technology based on CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats) system has led to a paradigm shift in biological research. CRISPR/Cas9-guide RNA complexes enable rapid and efficient genome editing in mammalian cells. This system induces double-stranded DNA breaks (DSBs) at target sites and most DNA breakages induce mutations as small insertions or deletions (indels) by non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) repair pathway. However, for more precise correction as knock-in or replacement of DNA base pairs, using the homology-directed repair (HDR) pathway is essential. Until now, many trials have greatly enhanced knock-in or substitution efficiency by increasing HDR efficiency, or newly developed methods such as Base Editors (BEs). However, accuracy remains unsatisfactory. In this review, we summarize studies to overcome the limitations of HDR using the CRISPR system and discuss future direction.