The CRISPR-Cas13a Gene-Editing System Induces Collateral Cleavage of RNA in Glioma Cells

Abstract

RNA is rarely used as a therapeutic target due to its flexible structure and instability. CRISPR-Cas13a is a powerful tool for RNA knockdown, and the potential application of CRISPR-Cas13a in cancer cells should be further studied. In this study, overexpression of LwCas13a by lentivirus in glioma cells reveals that crRNA-EGFP induces a “collateral effect” after knocking down the target gene in EGFP-expressing cells. EGFRvIII is a unique EGFR mutant subtype in glioma, and the CRISPR-Cas13a system induces death in EGFRvIII-overexpressing glioma cells. Bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing analysis in U87-Cas13a-EGFRvIII cells confirm the collateral effect of the CRISPR-Cas13a system. Furthermore, CRISPR-Cas13a inhibits the formation of glioma intracranial tumors in mice. The results demonstrate the collateral effect of the CRISPR-Cas13a system in cancer cells and the powerful tumor-eliminating potential of this system.