Current Applications and Future Perspective of CRISPR/Cas9 in the Diagnosis and Treatment of COVID 19: A Review: CRISPR/Cas9 in the Diagnosis and Treatment of COVID 19

Amna  Mahmood; Malaika  Ajaz; Waleed  Rasool; Maleeha  Manzoor; Nida  Naeem

doi:10.54393/pbmj.v6i3.855

Authors

Amna Mahmood Department of Basic and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Malaika Ajaz Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Waleed Rasool Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Maleeha Manzoor Department of Basic and Applied Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan
Nida Naeem Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Central Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54393/pbmj.v6i3.855

Keywords:

Clustered-Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), CRISPR Associated Protein (Cas9), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-Cov-2), COVID-19, Genetic Engineering

Abstract

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, scientists have applied various techniques to diagnose and treat the viral disease. However, due to the limitations of other methods, they deployed Clustered-Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) protein (CRISPR/Cas) system that not just successfully diagnosed but also facilitated the therapeutic treatment of the COVID-19. CRISPR-Cas9 was first identified in the bacteria E. coli, which has a unique immune system for cutting the nucleic structures of invasive species. Scientists studied the bacterial system that led to the development of an identical model, generally called the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing system. It has a guide RNA (gRNA) and Cas9 proteins; gRNA identifies and leads cas9 protein to cleave the specific sequence. This technique has dynamic applications, such as the ability to correct mutations by cleaving the mutant cells and to detect and develop optimal treatments for viral diseases like severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV2). Apart from the extensive advantages of CRISPR-Cas technology, there are serious concerns regarding the commercialization of this technique. A rational suggestion would be to use it to resist a pandemic like COVID-19 rather than triggering another human race of genome enhancement. This article is aimed to review the background of CRISPR-Cas9, its mechanism as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool for COVID-19, whereas its limitations, future aspects, and ethical boundaries are discussed subsequently

References

Libman MD. Correspondence letter regarding 'is standby therapy for COVID-19 a practical option for travellers? Journal of Travel Medicine. 2023 Apr: taad042. doi: 10.1093/jtm/taad042.

Park SE. Epidemiology, virology, and clinical features of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; coronavirus disease-19). Pediatric Infection and Vaccine. 2020 Apr; 27(1): 1-10. doi: 10.14776/piv.2020.27.e9.

Waris A, Atta UK, Ali M, Asmat A, Baset AJ. COVID-19 outbreak: current scenario of Pakistan. New Microbes and New Infections. 2020 May; 35: 100681. doi: 10.1016/j.nmni.2020.100681.

Chan KG, Ang GY, Yu CY, Yean CY. Harnessing CRSIPR-Cas to combat COVID-19: From diagnostics to therapeutics. Life. 2021 Nov; 11(11): 1210. doi: 10.3390/life11111210.

Redman M, King A, Watson C, King D. What is CRSIPR/Cas9? Archives of Disease in Childhood-Education and Practice. 2016 Aug; 101(4): 213-5. doi: 10.1136/archdischild-2016-310459.

He X and Zeng XX. Immunotherapy and CRSIPR Cas Systems: Potential Cure of COVID-19? Drug Design, Development and Therapy. 2022 Mar; 16: 951-72. doi: 10.2147/DDDT.S347297.

Rajan A, Shrivastava S, Kumar A, Singh AK, Arora PK. CRSIPR-Cas system: from diagnostic tool to potential antiviral treatment. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology. 2022 Sep; 106(18): 5863-77. doi: 10.1007/s00253-022-12135-2.

Ebrahimi S, Khanbabaei H, Abbasi S, Fani M, Soltani S, Zandi M, Najafimemar Z. CRSIPR-Cas system: A promising diagnostic tool for COVID-19. Avicenna Journal of Medical Biotechnology. 2022 Jan; 14(1): 3-9. doi: 10.18502/ajmb.v14i1.8165.

Li Y, Liang J, Deng B, Jiang Y, Zhu J, Chen L, et al. Applications and Prospects of CRSIPR/Cas9-Mediated Base Editing in Plant Breeding. Current Issues in Molecular Biology. 2023 Feb; 45(2): 918-35. doi: 10.3390/cimb45020059.

Chekani-Azar S, Gharib Mombeni E, Birhan M, Yousefi M. CRSIPR/Cas9 gene editing technology and its application to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), a review. Journal of Life Science and Biomedicine. 2020 Jan; 10(1): 1-9. doi: 10.29252/scil.2020.jlsb1.

Hernandez-Garcia A, Morales-Moreno MD, Valdés-Galindo EG, Jimenez-Nieto EP, Quezada A. Diagnostics of COVID-19 Based on CRSIPR–Cas Coupled to Isothermal Amplification: A Comparative Analysis and Update. Diagnostics. 2022 Jun; 12(6): 1434. doi: 10.3390/diagnostics12061434.

Lotfi M and Rezaei N. CRSIPR/Cas13: A potential therapeutic option of COVID-19. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy. 2020 Nov; 131: 110738. doi: 10.1016/j.biopha.2020.110738.

Sun Q, Wang Y, Dong N, Shen L, Zhou H, Hu Y, et al. Application of CRSIPR/Cas9-based genome editing in studying the mechanism of pandrug resistance in Klebsiella pneumoniae. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy. 2019 Jul; 63(7): e00113-19. doi: 10.1128/AAC.00113-19.

Hillary VE and Ceasar SA. A Review on the Mechanism and Applications of CRSIPR/Cas9/Cas12/Cas13/Cas14 Proteins Utilized for Genome Engineering. Molecular Biotechnology. 2023 Mar; 65(3): 311-25. doi: 10.1007/s12033-022-00567-0.

Asmamaw M and Zawdie B. Mechanism and Applications of CRSIPR/Cas-9-Mediated Genome Editing. Biologics. 2021 Aug; 15: 353-361. doi: 10.2147/BTT.S326422.

Devaraju N, Rajendiran V, Ravi NS, Mohankumar KM. Genome Engineering of Hematopoietic Stem Cells Using CRSIPR/Cas9 System. Stem Cell Assays: Methods in Molecular Biology. 2022 May; 2429: 307-331. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1979-7_20.

Nafian F, Nafian S, Kamali Doust Azad B, Hashemi M. CRSIPR-based diagnostics and microfluidics for COVID-19 point-of-care testing: a review of main applications. Molecular Biotechnology. 2023 Apr; 65(4): 497-508. doi: 10.1007/s12033-022-00570-5.

Li PY, Li SQ, Gao SG, Dong DY. A one-step platform for screening high-efficient and minimal off-target CRSIPR/Cas13 crRNAs to eradicate SARS-CoV-2 virus for treatment of COVID-19 patients. Medical Hypotheses. 2022 Feb; 159: 110754. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2021.110754.

Ding R, Long J, Yuan M, Jin Y, Yang H, Chen M, et al. CRSIPR/Cas system: a potential technology for the prevention and control of COVID-19 and emerging infectious diseases. Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. 2021 Apr; 11: 639108. doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.639108.

Bhattacharjee G, Gohil N, Khambhati K, Mani I, Maurya R, Karapurkar JK, et al. Current approaches in CRSIPR-Cas9 mediated gene editing for biomedical and therapeutic applications. Journal of Controlled Release. 2022 Feb; 343: 703-23. doi: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2022.02.005.

Gonzalez MN, Massa GA, Andersson M, Storani L, Olsson N, Decima Oneto CA, et al. CRSIPR/Cas9 Technology for Potato Functional Genomics and Breeding. Methods in Molecular Biology. 2023 Mar; 2653: 333-61. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3131-7_21.