Suppressing the NHEJ pathway by DNA-PKcs inhibitor NU7026 prevents degradation of HBV cccDNA cleaved by CRISPR/Cas9

Sci Rep. 2019 Feb 12;9(1):1847. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-38526-6.

Abstract

Chronic hepatitis B is a severe liver disease caused by hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. Covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), a super-spiralized, double-stranded form of the HBV genome, is the major determinant of viral persistence. CRISPR/Cas9 nucleases have been recently shown to introduce double-stranded DNA breaks into HBV cccDNA. The inflicted damage results predominantly in erroneous repair of cccDNA by non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ). NHEJ has been suggested to enhance anti-HBV activity of CRISPR/Cas9 and increase cccDNA mutation. In this study, we assessed anti-HBV activity of CRISPR/Cas9 and cccDNA repair outcomes in an altered NHEJ/HR environment. NU7026, a strong inhibitor of NHEJ, prevented CRISPR/Cas9-mediated degradation of cccDNA and resulted in frequent on-target deletions. We conclude that CRISPR/Cas9 is a highly effective tool to degrade cccDNA and first demonstrate that inhibiting NHEJ impairs cccDNA degradation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Apoptosis
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems*
  • Catalytic Domain
  • Cell Survival
  • Chromones / pharmacology*
  • DNA End-Joining Repair / drug effects*
  • DNA Mutational Analysis
  • DNA, Circular / drug effects*
  • DNA, Viral / drug effects
  • DNA, Viral / genetics*
  • Gene Deletion
  • Genome, Viral
  • Hep G2 Cells
  • Hepatitis B virus
  • Hepatitis B, Chronic / metabolism
  • Hepatitis B, Chronic / virology*
  • High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing
  • Humans
  • Morpholines / pharmacology*
  • RNA, Guide, CRISPR-Cas Systems / genetics

Substances

  • 2-(morpholin-4-yl)benzo(h)chromen-4-one
  • Chromones
  • DNA, Circular
  • DNA, Viral
  • Morpholines
  • RNA, Guide, CRISPR-Cas Systems