Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated enzyme (Cas) is a natural defense system adopted by many bacteria and archaea to counteract recombination by foreign external nucleic acids. To date, CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing has become one of the most promising tools since it is easily programmable and highly multiplexable. Therefore, it is not only used in studying and treating single-gene disorders but also in molecular oncology. As a modular system composed of a ribonucleoprotein complex, several modifications were provided in the last years to generate more precise and efficient machinery to inhibit or avoid off-target effects and maximize the editing process. Moreover, novel delivery systems can be applied to generate genetically modified models and perform in vitro studies of cancer mechanisms to translate this practice into the clinical setup for better treatment outcomes.
Through this Research Topic, we aimed to focus the attention on all the possible CRISPR-related advancements in cancer research: from the challenges to routinely employ CRISPR/Cas in clinical practice to new applications for the discovery of pivotal progression-related genes, from new platforms such as CAR-T cells to the generation of new genetically modified animal models. Here we will also discuss the main issues of such a system and their probable solutions including, off-target effects, immune system reactivity, and the cell endogenous regulation of the CRISPR machinery.
We welcome Original Research Articles and Review Articles focusing on improving the current knowledge in the CRISPR field and introducing novel and innovative applications in cancer research and therapy.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated enzyme (Cas) is a natural defense system adopted by many bacteria and archaea to counteract recombination by foreign external nucleic acids. To date, CRISPR/Cas9-based genome editing has become one of the most promising tools since it is easily programmable and highly multiplexable. Therefore, it is not only used in studying and treating single-gene disorders but also in molecular oncology. As a modular system composed of a ribonucleoprotein complex, several modifications were provided in the last years to generate more precise and efficient machinery to inhibit or avoid off-target effects and maximize the editing process. Moreover, novel delivery systems can be applied to generate genetically modified models and perform in vitro studies of cancer mechanisms to translate this practice into the clinical setup for better treatment outcomes.
Through this Research Topic, we aimed to focus the attention on all the possible CRISPR-related advancements in cancer research: from the challenges to routinely employ CRISPR/Cas in clinical practice to new applications for the discovery of pivotal progression-related genes, from new platforms such as CAR-T cells to the generation of new genetically modified animal models. Here we will also discuss the main issues of such a system and their probable solutions including, off-target effects, immune system reactivity, and the cell endogenous regulation of the CRISPR machinery.
We welcome Original Research Articles and Review Articles focusing on improving the current knowledge in the CRISPR field and introducing novel and innovative applications in cancer research and therapy.
Please note: manuscripts consisting solely of bioinformatics or computational analysis of public genomic or transcriptomic databases which are not accompanied by validation (independent cohort or biological validation in vitro or in vivo) are out of scope for this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
