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Lesch-Nyhan syndrome (LNS) is inherited as an X-linked recessive genetic disorder caused by mutations in hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyl transferase 1 (HPRT1). Patients with LNS show various clinical phenotypes, including hyperuricemia, gout, devastating behavioral abnormality, intellectual disability, and self-harm. Although uric acid overproduction can be modulated with the xanthine oxidase inhibitor allopurinol, there exists no treatment for behavioral and neurological manifestations of LNS. In the current study, CRISPR-mediated base editors (BEs) and prime editors (PEs) were utilized to generate LNS-associated disease models and correct the disease models for therapeutic approach. Cytosine BEs (CBEs) were used to induce c.430C>T and c.508C>T mutations in HAP1 cells, and then adenine BEs (ABEs) were used to correct these mutations without DNA cleavage. PEs induced a c.333_334ins(A) mutation, identified in a Korean patient with LNS, in HAP1 cells, which was corrected in turn by PEs. Furthermore, improved PEs corrected the same mutation in LNS patient-derived fibroblasts by up to 14% without any unwanted mutations. These results suggest that CRISPR-mediated BEs and PEs would be suggested as a potential therapeutic strategy of this extremely rare, devastating genetic disease.

Genome editing: Novel editors for CRISPR-Cas9 technology Tiny genome editors that can fit inside a single delivery system could potentially improve the efficiency and specificity of the editing technology known as CRISPR-Cas9. This technology is used to edit parts of the genome and shows promise for disease therapeutics. Cas9 is a bacterial enzyme that acts as molecular scissors to edit DNA and is guided to the correct DNA region by specific RNA segments (gRNAs). Yongsub Kim at the University of Ulsan in Seoul, South Korea, and co-workers used one of the smallest known Cas9 enzymes, sourced from Campylobactor jejuni, to create two ‘base editors’ (BEs), capable of specific base substitutions. Results suggest the BEs are highly efficient, covering more potential targets than previous Cas9-based BEs. One of the BEs can be packaged, alongside two gRNAs, into a single viral vector for targeted delivery.

TNF-α plays a crucial role in cancer initiation and progression by enhancing cancer cell proliferation, survival, and migration. Even though the known functional role of AWP1 (zinc finger AN1 type-6, ZFAND6) is as a key mediator of TNF-α signaling, its potential role in the TNF-α-dependent responses of cancer cells remains unclear. In our current study, we found that an AWP1 knockdown using short hairpin RNAs increases the migratory potential of non-aggressive MCF-7 breast cancer cells with no significant alteration of their proliferation in response to TNF-α. A CRISPR/Cas9-mediated AWP1 knockout in MCF-7 cells led to mesenchymal cell type morphological changes and an accelerated motility. TNF-α administration further increased this migratory capacity of these AWP1-depleted cells through the activation of NF-κB accompanied by increased epithelial-mesenchymal transition-related gene expression. In particular, an AWP1 depletion augmented the expression of Nox1, reactive oxygen species (ROS) generating enzymes, and ROS levels and subsequently promoted the migratory potential of MCF-7 cells mediated by TNF-α. These TNF-α-mediated increases in the chemotactic migration of AWP1 knockout cells were completely abrogated by an NF-κB inhibitor and a ROS scavenger. Our results suggest that a loss-of-function of AWP1 alters the TNF-α response of non-aggressive breast cancer cells by potentiating ROS-dependent NF-κB activation.

Cas9 and Cpf1 have both been adapted for genome engineering, editing and gene expression regulation. Here the authors design a fusion guide RNA that can interact with both proteins for multiple and orthogonal genome manipulation.

The originally published version of this Article contained an error in the spelling of the author Da-eun Kim, which was incorrectly given as Da-Eun Kim. Furthermore, in Figure 1a, the Cas9 protein was positioned incorrectly during typesetting. These errors have now been corrected in both the PDF and HTML versions of the Article.