Endosomal Escapable and Nuclear Localizing Cationic Polyaspartate-Based CRISPR Activation System for Preventing Respiratory Virus Infection by Specifically Inducing Interferon-λ.

Abstract

Global pandemics caused by viruses cause widespread panic and economic losses. The lack of specific antivirals and vaccines increases the spreading of viral diseases worldwide. Thus, alternative strategies are required to manage viral outbreaks. Here, we develop a CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) system based on polymeric carriers to prevent respiratory virus infection in a mouse model. A polyaspartate grafted with 2-(diisopropylamino) ethylamine (DIP) and nuclear localization signal peptides (NLS-MTAS fusion peptide) was complexed with plasmid DNA (pDNA) encoding dCas9-VPR and sgRNA targeting IFN-λ. The pH-sensitive DIP and NLS-MTAS groups were favor of endo-lysosomal escape and nuclear localization of pDNA, respectively. They synergistically improved gene transfection efficiency, resulting in significant reporter gene expression and IFN-λ upregulation in lung tissue. In vitro and in vivo prophylactic experiments showed that the non-viral CRISPRa system could prevent infection caused by H1N1 viruses with minimal inflammatory responses, presenting a promising prophylactic approach against respiratory virus infections.

• Authors: Shuang Liu, Shaohui Deng, Xiaoxia Li, Jifeng Chen, Yaochang Yuan, Hanjun Zhao, Jie Zhou, Jin Wang, Hui Zhang, Du Cheng
• Journal: ACS applied materials & interfaces (ACS Appl Mater Interfaces) Vol. 14 Issue 50 Pg. 55376-55391 (Dec 21 2022) ISSN: 1944-8252 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 36503225 (Publication Type: Journal Article)

Chemical References

• Interferon Lambda
• polyaspartate
• Peptides
• DNA
• Nuclear Localization Signals

Topics

• Animals
• Mice
• Transfection
• Interferon Lambda
• Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats
• Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype (genetics)
• Peptides (metabolism)
• DNA (metabolism)
• Nuclear Localization Signals (genetics, metabolism)