Base editors: development and applications in biomedicine.
10.1007/s11684-023-1013-y
- Author:
Yanhui LIANG
1
;
Fangbing CHEN
1
;
Kepin WANG
1
;
Liangxue LAI
2
Author Information
1. China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Health, Hong Kong Institute of Science and Innovation, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China.
2. China-New Zealand Joint Laboratory on Biomedicine and Health, CAS Key Laboratory of Regenerative Biology, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Health, Hong Kong Institute of Science and Innovation, Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, 510530, China. lai_liangxue@gibh.ac.cn.
- Publication Type:Review
- Keywords:
ABE;
ADAR;
CBE;
DdCBE;
base editing;
disease model;
therapeutic application
- MeSH:
Humans;
Gene Editing;
CRISPR-Cas Systems;
Genetic Therapy;
DNA/genetics*
- From:
Frontiers of Medicine
2023;17(3):359-387
- CountryChina
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
Base editor (BE) is a gene-editing tool developed by combining the CRISPR/Cas system with an individual deaminase, enabling precise single-base substitution in DNA or RNA without generating a DNA double-strand break (DSB) or requiring donor DNA templates in living cells. Base editors offer more precise and secure genome-editing effects than other conventional artificial nuclease systems, such as CRISPR/Cas9, as the DSB induced by Cas9 will cause severe damage to the genome. Thus, base editors have important applications in the field of biomedicine, including gene function investigation, directed protein evolution, genetic lineage tracing, disease modeling, and gene therapy. Since the development of the two main base editors, cytosine base editors (CBEs) and adenine base editors (ABEs), scientists have developed more than 100 optimized base editors with improved editing efficiency, precision, specificity, targeting scope, and capacity to be delivered in vivo, greatly enhancing their application potential in biomedicine. Here, we review the recent development of base editors, summarize their applications in the biomedical field, and discuss future perspectives and challenges for therapeutic applications.
