Viruses 2016, 8(3), 72; doi:10.3390/v8030072
CRISPR-Cas9 as a Powerful Tool for Efficient Creation of Oncolytic Viruses
1
Centre for Molecular Oncology, Barts Cancer Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London EC1M 6BQ, UK
2
National Centre for International Research in Cell and Gene Therapy, Sino-British Research Centre for Molecular Oncology, Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou 450052, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: E. Antonio Chiocca
Received: 7 September 2015 / Revised: 10 February 2016 / Accepted: 10 February 2016 / Published: 7 March 2016
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Oncolytic Viruses)
Abstract
The development of oncolytic viruses has led to an emerging new class of cancer therapeutics. Although the safety profile has been encouraging, the transition of oncolytic viruses to the clinical setting has been a slow process due to modifications. Therefore, a new generation of more potent oncolytic viruses needs to be exploited, following our better understanding of the complex interactions between the tumor, its microenvironment, the virus, and the host immune response. The conventional method for creation of tumor-targeted oncolytic viruses is based on homologous recombination. However, the creation of new mutant oncolytic viruses with large genomes remains a challenge due to the multi-step process and low efficiency of homologous recombination. The CRISPR-associated endonuclease Cas9 has hugely advanced the potential to edit the genomes of various organisms due to the ability of Cas9 to target a specific genomic site by a single guide RNA. In this review, we discuss the CRISPR-Cas9 system as an efficient viral editing method for the creation of new oncolytic viruses, as well as its potential future applications in the development of oncolytic viruses. Further, this review discusses the potential of off-target effects as well as CRISPR-Cas9 as a tool for basic research into viral biology. View Full-TextKeywords:
Oncolytic virus; CRISPR-Cas9; homologous recombination; Vaccinia virus; adenovirus; Herpes simplex virus
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Yuan, M.; Webb, E.; Lemoine, N.R.; Wang, Y. CRISPR-Cas9 as a Powerful Tool for Efficient Creation of Oncolytic Viruses. Viruses 2016, 8, 72.
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