Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide and continues to be a major social and economic burden. Conventional anticancer drug discovery, which focuses on cytotoxic molecules and targeted therapies, such as small molecule inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies and immune checkpoint inhibitors, has changed the prognosis and cancer treatment landscape. Nevertheless, it has been challenging to achieve long-lasting response in cancer treatment due to tumor intra-heterogeneity and its relation to resistance to targeted therapy limiting the dosing, reducing the efficacy of targeted therapies, prolonging drug use and compromising cancer treatment outcomes. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new therapeutic approaches and effective ways to control and reverse the process of carcinogenesis.
Recently, CRISPR-Cas9 mediated gene editing technology has been shown to be a precise, potent and versatile tool to screen the anticancer drug target and accelerate the cancer drug discovery process in a high-efficient and oriented manner through various gene manipulations, such as gene knock-in (gain-of-function using cDNA expression), gene knock-out (loss-of-function, mainly includes inhibition of gene expression by using for example siRNA/shRNA-based transcript degradation/blocking) and active/inactive transcriptional modification.
In this Research Topic, we aim to provide an overview of the latest discoveries, highlight future directions, stimulate scientific debate, and consolidate recent knowledge, address the knowledge gaps and current progress of the applications of genome engineering technologies based on the CRISPR-associated RNA-guided endonuclease Cas 9 in cancer-related drug discovery. We invite researchers and clinicians to contribute with their manuscripts that explore the use of CRISPR-Cas9 in the context of cancer drug target discovery and its clinical application as a tool for cancer treatment.
We aim to collect Original Research, Reviews, Mini-reviews, Clinical trials and Perspective articles that focus on the role of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing in cancer drug discovery and development.
We welcome manuscripts on, but not limited to, the following themes:
• CRISPR/Cas9 in drug screening, focusing on CRISPR/Cas9 mediated gene knock-out (siRNA/shRNA and CRISPR-Cas9 genetic screens analysis), gene knock-in, and transcriptional modification.
• CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing using targeted molecules (e.g. nanoparticles, small molecule drugs, liposomes, peptides) for cancer therapy.
• How CRISPR/Cas9 can affect the next generation of drugs?
• CRISPR/Cas9 for overcoming drug resistance in cancer.
• CRISPR/Cas9 library screening for cancer drug target discovery.
• CRISPR/Cas9-based cancer immunotherapy.
• Implication of CRISPR/Cas9 in cancer drug target and validation through construction of transgenic animal models.
• CRISPR/Cas9 and cancer drug discovery in human clinical trials.
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 the scope of this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
Keywords:
Cancer drug discovery, Drug sensitivity/Resistance, Cancer treatment, Gain-of-function/Loss-of-function, Immune therapy, CRISPR/Cas9
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
Cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide and continues to be a major social and economic burden. Conventional anticancer drug discovery, which focuses on cytotoxic molecules and targeted therapies, such as small molecule inhibitors, monoclonal antibodies and immune checkpoint inhibitors, has changed the prognosis and cancer treatment landscape. Nevertheless, it has been challenging to achieve long-lasting response in cancer treatment due to tumor intra-heterogeneity and its relation to resistance to targeted therapy limiting the dosing, reducing the efficacy of targeted therapies, prolonging drug use and compromising cancer treatment outcomes. Therefore, there is an urgent need for new therapeutic approaches and effective ways to control and reverse the process of carcinogenesis.
Recently, CRISPR-Cas9 mediated gene editing technology has been shown to be a precise, potent and versatile tool to screen the anticancer drug target and accelerate the cancer drug discovery process in a high-efficient and oriented manner through various gene manipulations, such as gene knock-in (gain-of-function using cDNA expression), gene knock-out (loss-of-function, mainly includes inhibition of gene expression by using for example siRNA/shRNA-based transcript degradation/blocking) and active/inactive transcriptional modification.
In this Research Topic, we aim to provide an overview of the latest discoveries, highlight future directions, stimulate scientific debate, and consolidate recent knowledge, address the knowledge gaps and current progress of the applications of genome engineering technologies based on the CRISPR-associated RNA-guided endonuclease Cas 9 in cancer-related drug discovery. We invite researchers and clinicians to contribute with their manuscripts that explore the use of CRISPR-Cas9 in the context of cancer drug target discovery and its clinical application as a tool for cancer treatment.
We aim to collect Original Research, Reviews, Mini-reviews, Clinical trials and Perspective articles that focus on the role of the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing in cancer drug discovery and development.
We welcome manuscripts on, but not limited to, the following themes:
• CRISPR/Cas9 in drug screening, focusing on CRISPR/Cas9 mediated gene knock-out (siRNA/shRNA and CRISPR-Cas9 genetic screens analysis), gene knock-in, and transcriptional modification.
• CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing using targeted molecules (e.g. nanoparticles, small molecule drugs, liposomes, peptides) for cancer therapy.
• How CRISPR/Cas9 can affect the next generation of drugs?
• CRISPR/Cas9 for overcoming drug resistance in cancer.
• CRISPR/Cas9 library screening for cancer drug target discovery.
• CRISPR/Cas9-based cancer immunotherapy.
• Implication of CRISPR/Cas9 in cancer drug target and validation through construction of transgenic animal models.
• CRISPR/Cas9 and cancer drug discovery in human clinical trials.
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 the scope of this section and will not be accepted as part of this Research Topic.
Keywords:
Cancer drug discovery, Drug sensitivity/Resistance, Cancer treatment, Gain-of-function/Loss-of-function, Immune therapy, CRISPR/Cas9
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.