CRISPR vs COVID-19: How can Gene Editing Help Beat a Virus?

Straiton, Jennifer

doi:10.2144/btn-2020-0145

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…The major shortcoming of these methods is the off-target effects that led to the poor signaling and misinterpretation of results [17] . CRISPR/Cas13-based therapeutic platforms are more dependent on the high specificity and low off-target effects for clinical use [18] . To improve the specificity and avoid the off-target effects of CRISPR/Cas13 system, we need to design high-efficient and minimal off-target crRNAs.…”

Section: The Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

A one-step platform for screening high-efficient and minimal off-target CRISPR/Cas13 crRNAs to eradicate SARS-CoV-2 virus for treatment of COVID-19 patients

Gao

et al. 2022

Medical Hypotheses

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Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new respiratory illness caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and now spreads globally. Currently, therapeutics and effective treatment options remain scarce and there is no proven drug to treat COVID-19. Targeting the positive-sense RNA genome and viral mRNAs of SARS-CoV-2 to simultaneously degrade viral genome templates for replication and viral mRNAs for essential gene expression would be a strategy to completely realize virus elimination. Type VI CRISPR enzymes Cas13 have recently been identified as programmable RNA-guided, RNA-targeting Cas proteins with nuclease activity that allows for RNA cleavage and degradation. The precise viral RNA detection and antiviral application of the CRISPR/Cas13 system depend on high-efficient and minimal off-target crRNAs. Although a computer-based algorithm has been applied for the design of crRNAs targeting SRAS-CoV-2, the experimental screening system to identify optimal crRNA is not available. We develop a one-step experimental screening system to identify high-efficient crRNAs with minimal off-target effects for CRISPR/Cas13-based SARS-CoV-2 elimination. This platform provides the foundation for CRISPR/Cas13-based diagnostics and therapeutics for COVID-19. This platform is versatile and could also be applied for crRNAs screening for other RNA viruses.

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Section: The Hypothesismentioning

confidence: 99%

A one-step platform for screening high-efficient and minimal off-target CRISPR/Cas13 crRNAs to eradicate SARS-CoV-2 virus for treatment of COVID-19 patients

Gao

et al. 2022

Medical Hypotheses

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“…Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) CRISPR, which is a tool for gene editing, can be used as a COVID-19 treatment (Straiton 2020). Its editing tool can be applied to block SARS-CoV-2 replication and induce damage to the viral RNA.…”

Section: Non-pharmacological Approachesmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 and pulmonary fibrosis: therapeutics in clinical trials, repurposing, and potential development

2021

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In 2019, an unprecedented disease named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged and spread across the globe. Although the rapid transmission of COVID-19 has resulted in thousands of deaths and severe lung damage, conclusive treatment is not available. However, three COVID-19 vaccines have been authorized, and two more will be approved soon, according to a World Health Organization report on December 12, 2020. Many COVID-19 patients show symptoms of acute lung injury that eventually leads to pulmonary fibrosis. Our aim in this article is to present the relationship between pulmonary fibrosis and COVID-19, with a focus on angiotensin converting enzyme-2. We also evaluate the radiological imaging methods computed tomography (CT) and chest X-ray (CXR) for visualization of patient lung condition. Moreover, we review possible therapeutics for COVID-19 using four categories: treatments related and unrelated to lung disease and treatments that have and have not entered clinical trials. Although many treatments have started clinical trials, they have some drawbacks, such as short-term and small-group testing, that need to be addressed as soon as possible.

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“…Since then, scientists are putting tremendous efforts to use this technology in the detection/diagnosis and treatment of various diseases. Recently, researchers are recreating this technology by exploring more Cas protein orthologs such as Cas12 and Cas13 family nucleases, to detect and fight against the emerging deadly viruses SARS-CoV-2 by targeting the house-keeping genes of SARS-CoV-2, thus acting as an antiviral agent against COVID-19 (Yan et al 2019 ; Straiton 2020 ). Further discovery of Cas13d has helped the scientists to target and cleave ssRNA of SARS-CoV-2.…”

Section: Crispr System As An Antiviral Platformmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The large size of the CRISPR components often makes the in-cell delivery tedious. However, due to the small size of Cas13d, viral vectors are opted to deliver such CRISPR-based antivirals into the cells in vitro, but limitations like immunogenicity and duration of Cas protein expression still persist (Lino et al 2018 ; Freije et al 2019 ; Straiton 2020 ). Moreover, in vivo delivery of PACMAN using AAV vectors to the target tissues is still to be optimized to gain better insight into its mechanism, efficiency, fidelity, and toxicity.…”

Section: Crispr System As An Antiviral Platformmentioning

confidence: 99%

CRISPR detectives against SARS-CoV-2: a major setback against COVID-19 blowout

Gupta

Kazi

Dey

et al. 2021

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol

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The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 has brought the world to a standstill, and till date, effective treatments and diagnostics against this idiosyncratic pathogen are lacking. As compared to the standard WHO/CDC qPCR detection method, which consumes several hours for detection, CRISPR-based SHERLOCK, DETECTR, and FELUDA have emerged as rapid diagnostic tools for the detection of the RNA genome of SARS-CoV-2 within an hour with 100% accuracy, specificity, and sensitivity. These attributes of CRISPR-based detection technologies have taken themselves one step ahead of available detection systems and are emerging as an inevitable tool for quick detection of the virus. Further, the discovery of Cas13s nucleases and their orthologs has opened a new corridor for exploitation of Cas13s as an antiviral therapy against SARS-CoV-2 and other viral diseases. One such approach is Prophylactic Antiviral CRISPR in huMAN cells (PACMAN), which needs a long haul to bring into therapy. The approval of SHERLOCK as the first CRISPR-based SARS-CoV-2 test kit by the FDA, for emergency diagnosis of COVID-19 patients, has given positive hope to scientists that sooner human trials of CRISPR-based therapy will be ratified. In this review, we have extensively reviewed the present CRISPR-based approaches, challenges, and future prospects in the light of diagnostics and therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2. Key points • The discovery of Cas12 and Cas13 siblings allowed scientists to detect the viral genes. • Cas13d’s identification aided scientists in precisely cleaving the SARS-CoV-2 ssRNA. • CRISPR-Cas system acts as “molecular detector and antiviral proctor.”

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CRISPR vs COVID-19: How can Gene Editing Help Beat a Virus?

Abstract: [Formula: see text] Known to be a sturdy weapon in a scientist's arsenal, how has the gene editing tool CRISPR been applied in the fight against COVID-19?

Cited by 8 publications

References 6 publications

A one-step platform for screening high-efficient and minimal off-target CRISPR/Cas13 crRNAs to eradicate SARS-CoV-2 virus for treatment of COVID-19 patients

A one-step platform for screening high-efficient and minimal off-target CRISPR/Cas13 crRNAs to eradicate SARS-CoV-2 virus for treatment of COVID-19 patients

COVID-19 and pulmonary fibrosis: therapeutics in clinical trials, repurposing, and potential development

CRISPR detectives against SARS-CoV-2: a major setback against COVID-19 blowout

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