Inducing multiple nicks promotes interhomolog homologous recombination to correct heterozygous mutations in somatic cells

Autor: Akiko Tomita, Hiroyuki Sasanuma, Tomoo Owa, Yuka Nakazawa, Mayuko Shimada, Takahiro Fukuoka, Tomoo Ogi, Shinichiro Nakada
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Nature Communications, Vol 14, Iss 1, Pp 1-20 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2041-1723
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-41048-5
Popis: Abstract CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing has great potential utility for treating genetic diseases. However, its therapeutic applications are limited by unintended genomic alterations arising from DNA double-strand breaks and random integration of exogenous DNA. In this study, we propose NICER, a method for correcting heterozygous mutations that employs multiple nicks (MNs) induced by Cas9 nickase and a homologous chromosome as an endogenous repair template. Although a single nick near the mutation site rarely leads to successful gene correction, additional nicks on homologous chromosomes strongly enhance gene correction efficiency via interhomolog homologous recombination (IH-HR). This process partially depends on BRCA1 and BRCA2, suggesting the existence of several distinct pathways for MN-induced IH-HR. According to a genomic analysis, NICER rarely induces unintended genomic alterations. Furthermore, NICER restores the expression of disease-causing genes in cells derived from genetic diseases with compound heterozygous mutations. Overall, NICER provides a precise strategy for gene correction.
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