Specific High-Sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter UnLOCKing-Mediated Detection of Oncogenic BCR::ABL1 and EGFR Rearrangements

CRISPR J. 2023 Apr;6(2):140-151. doi: 10.1089/crispr.2022.0070. Epub 2023 Mar 13.

Abstract

Advances in molecular medicine have placed nucleic acid detection methods at the center of an increasing number of clinical applications. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based diagnostics have been widely adopted for their versatility, specificity, and sensitivity. However, recently reported clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-based methods have demonstrated equivalent to superior performance, with increased portability and reduced processing time and cost. In this study, we applied Specific High-Sensitivity Enzymatic Reporter UnLOCKing (SHERLOCK) technology to the detection of oncogenic rearrangements. We implemented SHERLOCK for the detection of BCR::ABL1 mRNA, a hallmark of chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), and EGFR DNA oncogenic alleles, frequently detected in glioblastoma and non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). SHERLOCK enabled rapid, sensitive, and variant-specific detection of BCR::ABL1 and EGFR alterations. Compared with the gold-standard PCR-based methods currently used in clinic, SHERLOCK achieved equivalent to greater sensitivity, suggesting it could be a new tool in CML and NSCLC, to detect low level of molecular residual disease.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • CRISPR-Cas Systems
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* / diagnosis
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung* / genetics
  • ErbB Receptors / genetics
  • Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl / genetics
  • Gene Editing
  • Humans
  • Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive* / diagnosis
  • Leukemia, Myelogenous, Chronic, BCR-ABL Positive* / genetics
  • Lung Neoplasms* / diagnosis
  • Lung Neoplasms* / genetics

Substances

  • Fusion Proteins, bcr-abl
  • ErbB Receptors
  • EGFR protein, human