Recent Advances in Improving Gene-Editing Specificity through CRISPR-Cas9 Nuclease Engineering

Xiaoqiang Huang; Dongshan Yang; Jifeng Zhang; Jie Xu; Y Eugene Chen

doi:10.3390/cells11142186

Recent Advances in Improving Gene-Editing Specificity through CRISPR-Cas9 Nuclease Engineering

Cells. 2022 Jul 13;11(14):2186. doi: 10.3390/cells11142186.

Authors

Xiaoqiang Huang¹, Dongshan Yang¹, Jifeng Zhang¹, Jie Xu¹, Y Eugene Chen¹

Affiliation

¹ Center for Advanced Models for Translational Sciences and Therapeutics, University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.

Abstract

CRISPR-Cas9 is the state-of-the-art programmable genome-editing tool widely used in many areas. For safe therapeutic applications in clinical medicine, its off-target effect must be dramatically minimized. In recent years, extensive studies have been conducted to improve the gene-editing specificity of the most popular CRISPR-Cas9 nucleases using different strategies. In this review, we summarize and discuss these strategies and achievements, with a major focus on improving the gene-editing specificity through Cas9 protein engineering.

Keywords: CRISPR–Cas9; gene editing; high fidelity; off-target; protein engineering; specificity.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

CRISPR-Associated Protein 9 / genetics
CRISPR-Cas Systems* / genetics
Endonucleases / genetics
Gene Editing*
Protein Engineering

Substances

CRISPR-Associated Protein 9
Endonucleases

Grants and funding

R42 GM122181/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States