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Repurposing CRISPR System for Transcriptional Activation

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RNA Activation

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 983))

Abstract

In recent years, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein 9 (Cas9) system has become the most popular one for genome editing. When the nuclease domains of Cas9 protein are mutated into deactivated form (dCas9), CRISPR/dCas9 still retains the ability to bind the targeted DNA sequence, but loses the endonuclease cleavage activity. Taking advantage of the characteristics of this engineered nuclease inactive Cas9, the CRISPR/dCas system has been repurposed into versatile RNA-guided, DNA-targeting platforms, such as genome imaging, gene regulation, and epigenetic modification. Specifically, fusion of dCas9 with activation domains allows specific and efficient transcriptional activation on a genome-wide scale among diverse organisms. The purpose of this chapter is to review most important the recently published literature on CRISPR/dCas9-based transcriptional activation systems. Compared with the conventional approaches for enhancement of the expression of specific genes of interest, CRISPR/Cas9-based system has emerged as a promising technology for genome regulation, allowing specificity, convenience, robustness, and scalability for endogenous gene activation.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Meng Chen & Lei Stanley Qi

  2. Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, San Francisco, CA, 94158, USA

    Meng Chen

  3. Department of Chemical and Systems Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Lei Stanley Qi

  4. ChEM-H, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Lei Stanley Qi

Authors
  1. Meng Chen
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Correspondence to Lei Stanley Qi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Bei**g, China

    Long-Cheng Li

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© 2017 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

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Chen, M., Qi, L.S. (2017). Repurposing CRISPR System for Transcriptional Activation. In: Li, LC. (eds) RNA Activation. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 983. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-4310-9_10

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