TOMSK, Oct 2 – RIA Tomsk. The development of scientists of RASA Center New Medication Forms Laboratory at Tomsk Polytechnic University (TPU) and their colleagues from St. Petersburg, Hamburg and London will be used to edit the CRISPR-Cas9 genome; microcapsules, developed in TPU, will deliver genetic material to the edited cell, the press service of TPU reports on Monday.
Genetic constructor
The Clustered Regulatory Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats / Cas9 (CRISPR-Cas9) technology – is the revolutionary way to edit the genome, which has a huge potential for research, as well as for clinical use; it is significantly cheaper and more affordable than the existing technologies TALEN and ZFN, is explained in the message.
"Polymeric and hybrid microcapsules with coatings made of nanoscale silica layer (developed in TPU - Ed.) can be used with high efficiency for editing the genome using CRISPR-Cas9 technology ... Microcapsules (will be used) to deliver ... genome editing tools (in a cell)", – is said in the statement.
Microcapsules, 2-2,5 micrometers in size, coated with nanosized silicon dioxide (SiO2), are joint development of the scientific team of TPU and scientists of First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Petersburg.
Intracellular transit
It is explained that for editing the genome, it is necessary to deliver to the affected cell a genetic material containing short complementary elements of RNA, which assigns new properties to the cell being edited. The existing methods of delivering micro-RNA to the cell are highly toxic.
"For example, when delivering biomaterial by electroporation method, only 40-50% of cells survive ... To solve this problem, scientists decided for the first time to use polymeric and hybrid microcapsules to deliver genetic material inside cells ... Our research showed that more than 90% of cells (using this method) survive", – the press service quotes the RASA Center at TPU employee Alexander Timin .
With reference to Timin, it is explained that biologically active substances – miRNA, mRNA and plasmids of DNA – are loaded into the microcapsules. Capsules are delivered to an editable cell that absorbs them. The microcapsule appears in the cytoplasm of the cell, releases its contents, and the membrane gradually dissolves.
It is noted that joint development of TPU scientists and their colleagues can improve the efficiency of the genome editing procedure, which will help doctors to treat previously incurable hereditary diseases, for example, Alzheimer's disease and hemophilia.
From article to hospital ward
It is reported that the results of experiments in the field of the use of microcapsules in editing the genome were published in the Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine journal. The authors of the article are the scientists of the RASA Center New Medication Forms Laboratory at TPU, Research Institute of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Transplantology (Moscow), First Pavlov State Medical University of St. Petersburg, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf and Queen Mary University of London."In the future we hope to continue cooperation with our Russian colleagues in this direction. The application for a joint research grant of the Russian Science Foundation and the German Research Foundation (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, DFG) has already been applied", – the press service quotes the professor of cellular and gene therapy from Hamburg Boris Fehse.
It is specified that the next step will be the application of CRISPR-Cas9 technology using microcapsules in vivo researches, that is, on live material.