Recent advances and applications of CRISPR-Cas9 in cancer immunotherapy

Zaoqu Liu; Meixin Shi; Yuqing Ren; Hui Xu; Siyuan Weng; Wenjing Ning; Xiaoyong Ge; Long Liu; Chunguang Guo; Mengjie Duo; Lifeng Li; Jing Li; Xinwei Han

doi:10.1186/s12943-023-01738-6

Recent advances and applications of CRISPR-Cas9 in cancer immunotherapy

Mol Cancer. 2023 Feb 16;22(1):35. doi: 10.1186/s12943-023-01738-6.

Authors

Zaoqu Liu^#^{1

2

3}, Meixin Shi^#¹, Yuqing Ren^#⁴, Hui Xu¹, Siyuan Weng¹, Wenjing Ning⁵, Xiaoyong Ge¹, Long Liu⁶, Chunguang Guo⁷, Mengjie Duo⁴, Lifeng Li⁸, Jing Li⁹, Xinwei Han^{10

11

12}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China.
² Interventional Institute of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China.
³ Interventional Treatment and Clinical Research Center of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China.
⁴ Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China.
⁵ Department of Emergency Center, Zhengzhou University People's Hospital, Zhengzhou, 450003, Henan, China.
⁶ Department of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China.
⁷ Department of Endovascular Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China.
⁸ Cancer Center, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China.
⁹ Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China. lijingerzzu@foxmail.com.
¹⁰ Department of Interventional Radiology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China. fcchanxw@zzu.edu.cn.
¹¹ Interventional Institute of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China. fcchanxw@zzu.edu.cn.
¹² Interventional Treatment and Clinical Research Center of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, 450052, Henan, China. fcchanxw@zzu.edu.cn.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

The incidence and mortality of cancer are the major health issue worldwide. Apart from the treatments developed to date, the unsatisfactory therapeutic effects of cancers have not been addressed by broadening the toolbox. The advent of immunotherapy has ushered in a new era in the treatments of solid tumors, but remains limited and requires breaking adverse effects. Meanwhile, the development of advanced technologies can be further boosted by gene analysis and manipulation at the molecular level. The advent of cutting-edge genome editing technology, especially clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR-Cas9), has demonstrated its potential to break the limits of immunotherapy in cancers. In this review, the mechanism of CRISPR-Cas9-mediated genome editing and a powerful CRISPR toolbox are introduced. Furthermore, we focus on reviewing the impact of CRISPR-induced double-strand breaks (DSBs) on cancer immunotherapy (knockout or knockin). Finally, we discuss the CRISPR-Cas9-based genome-wide screening for target identification, emphasis the potential of spatial CRISPR genomics, and present the comprehensive application and challenges in basic research, translational medicine and clinics of CRISPR-Cas9.

Keywords: CRISPR-Cas9; Cancer immunotherapy; Cellular therapy; Mechanism; NK/macrophage.

Publication types

Review
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

CRISPR-Cas Systems*
Gene Editing
Genetic Therapy
Humans
Immunotherapy
Neoplasms* / genetics
Neoplasms* / therapy