Genetic and epigenetic control of gene expression by CRISPR-Cas systems

Albert Lo; Lei Qi

doi:10.12688/f1000research.11113.1

Genetic and epigenetic control of gene expression by CRISPR-Cas systems

F1000Res. 2017 May 25:6:F1000 Faculty Rev-747. doi: 10.12688/f1000research.11113.1. eCollection 2017.

Authors

Albert Lo¹, Lei Qi^{1

2

3}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
² Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.
³ ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA.

Abstract

The discovery and adaption of bacterial clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-CRISPR-associated (Cas) systems has revolutionized the way researchers edit genomes. Engineering of catalytically inactivated Cas variants (nuclease-deficient or nuclease-deactivated [dCas]) combined with transcriptional repressors, activators, or epigenetic modifiers enable sequence-specific regulation of gene expression and chromatin state. These CRISPR-Cas-based technologies have contributed to the rapid development of disease models and functional genomics screening approaches, which can facilitate genetic target identification and drug discovery. In this short review, we will cover recent advances of CRISPR-dCas9 systems and their use for transcriptional repression and activation, epigenome editing, and engineered synthetic circuits for complex control of the mammalian genome.

Keywords: CRISPR; Cas; dcas.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

R01 DA036858/DA/NIDA NIH HHS/United States