Open AccessCRISPR therapy towards an HIV cure
Author(s) -
Elena Herrera-Carrillo,
Zongliang Gao,
Ben Berkhout
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
briefings in functional genomics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.22
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 2041-2657
pISSN - 2041-2649
DOI - 10.1093/bfgp/elz021
Subject(s) - crispr , rna interference , biology , cas9 , computational biology , genetic enhancement , genome editing , crispr interference , human immunodeficiency virus (hiv) , gene , rna , genetics , virology
Tools based on RNA interference (RNAi) and the recently developed clustered regularly short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) system enable the selective modification of gene expression, which also makes them attractive therapeutic reagents for combating HIV infection and other infectious diseases. Several parallels can be drawn between the RNAi and CRISPR-Cas9 platforms. An ideal RNAi or CRISPR-Cas9 therapeutic strategy for treating infectious or genetic diseases should exhibit potency, high specificity and safety. However, therapeutic applications of RNAi and CRISPR-Cas9 have been challenged by several major limitations, some of which can be overcome by optimal design of the therapy or the design of improved reagents. In this review, we will discuss some advantages and limitations of anti-HIV strategies based on RNAi and CRISPR-Cas9 with a focus on the efficiency, specificity, off-target effects and delivery methods.