Gene Editing for Cardiac Protection

CRISPR-Cas9, the gene editing approach was found to confer protection from ischemia/reperfusion injury, according to a study in mice. However, most gene editing strategies focus on correcting specific genetic mutations that only occur in a small subset of patients and often before disease onset.

Gene Therapy for Cardiovascular Diseases

Broader applications of the approach remain limited. Here, Simon Lebek, Eric Olson, and colleagues present a CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing therapy that could be used to treat a range of patients with heart disease. Ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury is a type of tissue damage that occurs after a variety of cardiovascular insults, including stroke and heart attack.

Chronic overactivation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IIδ (CaMKIIδ) is known to cause several cardiac diseases in humans and mice, including IR injury.

Oxidation of methionine residues promotes CaMKIIδ hyperactivation. Lebek et al. found that using CRISPR-Cas9 adenine base editing to eliminate the oxidative activation sites of the CaMKIIδ gene in cardiomyocytes protected them from IR injury in mouse models. What’s more, Lebek et al. found that injecting gene editing reagents into mice soon after IR injury allowed the animals to recover cardiac function after severe damage.

Source-Eurekalert