Ferrari: Lecture XI Flashcards
Genome Editing: Applications of a Powerful Tool
What are the editing tools of the CRIPSR/Cas9 system?
Cas9 protein and gRNA in the presence of sgRNA
Cas9 protein needs to be in the cells or tissues we want to edit
What 3 ways can use the CRISPR/Cas9 delivery system?
viral or plasmid vectors
mRNA delivery
protein delivery
Describe the delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 through viral or plasmid vectors:
the sgRNA and the Cas9 proteins are delivered by the same or 2 different vectors
protein and RNA can combine in target cells if they are encoded by 2 different vectors
vectors can derive from Adeno-associated (AAV) or lentiviruses (most powerful tools used for cell editing)
Describe the delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 through mRNA delivery:
the Cas9 mRNA and the sgRNA are chemically synthesized in vitro and the preferred way to deliver mRNA s are through nanoparticles, which can be targeted to specific cells
the mRNA encodes for Cas9
sgRNA are modified
Describe the delivery of CRISPR/Ca9 through protein delivery:
used to deliver Cas9 and sgRNA
What is an example of monogenic diseases that can be treated with gene editing?
diseases that are rare, and in some cases severe
cystic fibrosis (CF)
Huntington’s Disease
Cardiomyopathies
SMA
β-thalassemia
Describe cycstic fibrosis (CF)
severe autosomal recessive disease with no causable treatment except for lung transplant
causative agent is CFTR and the tissue that can be targeted uing gene editing is in the lungs
frequency: 1/2500 individuals
What is an important thing for the treatment of genetic diseases using gene therapy?
known what are the causative agents
What are some considerations to take when using the CRISPR/Cas9 system?
specificity of CRISPR/Cas-9 is dictated by the PAM sequence
a lot of work was done in cancer cell lines
we can have an unintended mutation
human pluripotent stem cell is another cell lineage that can be used for studies
low-rate of off-target effects were detected in studies of mice-zygotes
Why are tripronuclear zygotes used?
there are limitations as to what can be done with human embryos, so a similar embryos tissue is used
What is 3PN?
a kind of in vitro fertilization product
Describe 3PNs:
1 oocyte nucleus and 2 sperm nuclei
they are discarded if they occur in nature
can be used for research and they are destroyed after the manipulations
Can gene addition and gene editing be done on germ-line cells?
NO because if the organism is fertile, the modifications on the germ line can be transmitted to offspring
What cells can gene therapy and gene editing be done on?
somatic cell lines ONLY
A Chinese group studied CRISPR work in human cells. Since human embryos cannot be used, what did they use?
tripronuclear zygotes
The chinese group used tripronuclear zygotes to investigate _____
specific editing and the off-target activity of the CRISPR/Cas system
What was the target gene investigated by the Chinese group?
HBB (human beta-globin gene)
What is TOPO cloning?
a molecular biology technique in which DNA fragments are cloned to specific vectors without the requirement for DNA ligases
What can in silico analysis help us predict?
off-target cleavage in the analysed samples or in the whole genome
What does HBB gene encode?
beta-globin
What is the target site of CRISPR/Cas9?
HBB
Why would there be a rate of 100% INDELs in HBB?
HBB is the target site of CRISPR/Cas9
What were the conclusions of the Chinese experiment?
system can cleave the endogenous gene efficiently
The repair gene of HDR can be either ___ or ___.
endogenous homologous gene
exogenous DNA sequence
Is there a possibility to have spontaneous HDR even if we don’t provide the DNA template?
yes
What characterizes hypertrophic cardiopyopathy?
hypertrophy of the right ventricle
myofibrillar disarray
myocardial stiffness leading to heart failure
What kind of mutation is present in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?
dominant mutation
What is the biological material used to analyze hypertrophic cardiomyopathy?
oocytes and sperm