Guide RNA-mediated CRISPR–Cas nucleases are a powerful technology for the engineering of mammalian genomes. CRISPR–Cas9-dependent editing of mutated genes that cause Huntington disease and fragile X syndrome was recently achieved in cell-based models, heralding the first step towards developing this technology into viable therapeutics for neurological diseases.
References
Jinek, M. et al. A programmable dual-RNA-guided DNA endonuclease in adaptive bacterial immunity. Science 337, 816–821 (2012).
Cong, L. et al. Multiplex genome engineering using CRISPR/Cas systems. Science 339, 819–823 (2013).
Santoro, M. R., Bray, S. M. & Warren, S. T. Molecular mechanisms of fragile X syndrome: a twenty-year perspective. Annu. Rev. Pathol. 7, 219–245 (2012).
Park, C.-Y. et al. Reversion of FMR1 methylation and silencing by editing the triplet repeats in fragile X iPSC-derived neurons. Cell Rep. 13, 234–241 (2015).
Xie, N. et al. Reactivation of FMR1 by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion of the expanded CGG-repeat of the fragile X chromosome. PLoS ONE 11, e0165499 (2016).
Shin, J. W. et al. Permanent inactivation of Huntington's disease mutation by personalized allele-specific CRISPR/Cas9. Hum. Mol. Genet. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/hmg/ddw286 (2016).
Cox, D. B., Platt, R. J. & Zhang, F. Therapeutic genome editing: prospects and challenges. Nat. Med. 21, 121–131 (2015).
Foust, K. D. et al. Therapeutic AAV9-mediated suppression of mutant SOD1 slows disease progression and extends survival in models of inherited ALS. Mol. Ther. 21, 2148–2159 (2013).
Rahdar, M. et al. Synthetic CRISPR RNA–Cas9-guided genome editing in human cells. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 112, E7110–E7117 (2015).
Smith, R. A. et al. Antisense oligonucleotide therapy for neurodegenerative disease. J. Clin. Invest. 116, 2290–2296 (2006).
Acknowledgements
M.A.M. and D.W.C. receive salary support from the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
D.W.C. has been a consultant for Ionis Pharmaceuticals since 2003. M.A.M. declares no competing interests.
PowerPoint slides
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McMahon, M., Cleveland, D. Gene-editing therapy for neurological disease. Nat Rev Neurol 13, 7–9 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.190
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2016.190
- Springer Nature Limited
This article is cited by
-
CRISPR/Cas9 editing of APP C-terminus attenuates β-cleavage and promotes α-cleavage
Nature Communications (2019)
-
Nanoparticle delivery of CRISPR into the brain rescues a mouse model of fragile X syndrome from exaggerated repetitive behaviours
Nature Biomedical Engineering (2018)