CRISPR applications for Duchenne muscular dystrophy: From animal models to potential therapies

First published: 31 July 2022CRISPR gene-editing technology creates precise and permanent modifications to DNA. It has significantly advanced our ability to generate animal disease models for use in biomedical research and also has potential to revolutionize the treatment of genetic disorders. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a monogenic muscle-wasting disease that could potentially benefit from the development of CRISPR therapy. It is commonly associated with mutations that disrupt the reading frame of the DMD gene that encodes dystrophin, an essential scaffolding protein that stabilizes striated muscles and protects them from contractile-induced damage. CRISPR enables the rapid generation of various animal models harboring mutations that closely simulates the wide variety of mutations observed in DMD patients. These models provide a platform for the testing of sequence-specific interventions like CRISPR therapy that aim to reframe or skip DMD mutations to restore functional dystrophin expression.Yu C. J. Chey, Jayshen Arudkumar, Annemieke Aartsma-Rus, Fatwa Adikusuma, Paul Q. Thoma

CRISPR applications for Duchenne muscular dystrophy: From animal models to potential therapies

CRISPR gene-editing technology creates precise and permanent modifications to DNA. It has significantly advanced our ability to generate animal disease models for use in biomedical research and also has potential to revolutionize the treatment of genetic disorders. Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a monogenic muscle-wasting disease that could potentially benefit from the development of CRISPR therapy. It is commonly associated with mutations that disrupt the reading frame of the DMD gene that encodes dystrophin, an essential scaffolding protein that stabilizes striated muscles and protects them from contractile-induced damage. CRISPR enables the rapid generation of various animal models harboring mutations that closely simulates the wide variety of mutations observed in DMD patients. These models provide a platform for the testing of sequence-specific interventions like CRISPR therapy that aim to reframe or skip DMD mutations to restore functional dystrophin expression. This article is categorized under: Congenital Diseases > Genetics/Genomics/Epigenetic

Optimized nickase- and nuclease-based prime editing in human and mouse cells

Precise genomic modification using prime editing (PE) holds enormous potential for research and clinical applications. In this study, we generated all-inone prime editing (PEA1) constructs that carry all the components required for PE, along with a selection marker. We tested these constructs (with selection) in HEK293T, K562, HeLa and mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells. We discovered that PE efficiency in HEK293T cells was much higher than previously observed, reaching up to 95% (mean 67%). The efficiency in K562 and HeLa cells, however, remained low. To improve PE efficiency in K562 and HeLa, we generated a nuclease prime editor and tested this system in these cell lines as well as mouse ES cells. PE-nuclease greatly increased prime editing initiation, however, installation of the intended edits was often accompanied by extra insertions derived from the repair template. Finally, we show that zygotic injection of the nuclease prime editor can generate correct modifications in mouse fetuses with up to 100% efficiency.Fatwa Adikusuma, Caleb Lushington, Jayshen Arudkumar, Gelshan I. Godahewa, Yu C.J. Chey, Luke Gierus, Sandra Piltz, Ashleigh Geiger, Yatish Jain, Daniel Reti, Laurence O.W. Wilson, Denis C. Bauer, and Paul Q. Thoma