New gene scissors reduce cancer cell proliferation by 30%...Presents the possibility of precision cancer treatment
Jan 21, 2025
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Gene scissors are a gene editing technology that removes a truncated gene by cutting a specific nucleotide sequence of a gene, adds a gene to the area, or corrects it with a new gene.
Recently, gene correction technology based on CRISPR systems is rapidly developing, and the demand for gene editing tools with high efficiency and precision is increasing rapidly. CRISPR system is a technology that uses ribonucleic acid (RNA) and enzyme proteins to find and cut specific DNA parts of animals and plants. Compared to existing genome editing techniques, it has the advantage of being able to easily and accurately find the desired gene and correct the gene.
In particular, for gene correction to be successful, it is important to effectively deliver the gene scissors into the cell, which is closely related to the size of the CRISPR system. Consequently, the existing Cas12f1, a small-sized CRISPR system, is approximately 2.6-fold smaller than SpCas9, suggesting important possibilities in gene therapy studies. However, conventional Cas12f1 had limitations in showing low gene editing activity in mammalian cells.
To address these limitations, Professor Kim Kyung-mi's team at the ancient medical school developed eCas12f1 gene scissors that improved Cas protein and guide RNA. eCas12f1 showed the ability to exert a similar level of gene editing activity to SpCas9 even in genes that showed low editing efficiency.
In addition, the research team succeeded in reducing the proliferation of cancer cells to 18.2% by cutting PLK1, a cell cycle-related gene, from breast cancer cell lines using eCas12f1. Moreover, we targeted BRAF gene mutations in skin cancer cell lines to induce gene cleavage only in cancer cells without affecting normal cells. As a result, it demonstrated its potential as a cancer-targeting therapeutic agent by reducing cell proliferation by 30.3%.
Professor Kim Kyung-mi of the Department of Physiology at the University of Korea said "By fusing deaminase or transcriptional regulator into eCas12f1, it can also be effectively used to edit adenosine bases and regulate gene expression." "ECas12f1 will be used in various fields such as the development of gene therapy drugs and biotechnology application research in the future, based on its small size and strong gene editing ability."
On the other hand, the study was published in the international journal Nature Communications under the title 'Enhanced Genome Editing Activity and Applications of Enhanced Miniature CRISPR-Cas12f1'.
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This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
