Project description:Combinatorial genetic perturbations have been utilized to identify synthetic sick/lethal genetic interactions for cancer drug target discovery. Current methods for high-throughput combinatorial genetic screening are inefficient and cumbersome. Here we developed a simple, robust, and high-performance CRISPR-Cas12a-based approach for unbiased, combinatorial genetic screening in cancer cells.
Project description:CRISPR knockout screens have accelerated the discovery of important cancer genetic dependencies. However, traditional CRISPR-Cas9 screens are limited in their ability to assay the function of redundant or duplicated genes. Paralogs in multi-gene families constitute two-thirds of the protein-coding genome, so this blind spot is the rule, not the exception. To overcome the limitations of single gene CRISPR knockout screens, we developed paired guide RNAs for Paralog gENetic interaction mapping (pgPEN), a pooled CRISPR/Cas9 approach which targets over a thousand duplicated human paralogs in single knockout and double knockout configurations. We applied pgPEN to two cell lineages and discovered that over 10% of human paralogs exhibit synthetic lethality in at least one cellular context. We recovered known synthetic lethal paralogs such as MAP2K1/MAP2K2, important drug targets such as CDK4/CDK6, and numerous other synthetic lethal pairs such as CCNL1/CCNL2. In addition, we identified ten tumor suppressive paralog pairs whose compound loss promotes cell growth. These findings identify a large number of previously unidentified essential gene families and nominate new druggable targets for oncology drug discovery.
Project description:Ovarian clear cell carcinoma (OCCC) is a cancer of unmet need characterized by ARID1A mutation. Prior work identified an ARID1A/ATR synthetic lethality, information that led to phase II clinical trials. Using genome-wide CRISPR-Cas9 mutagenesis and interference screens, we identified protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) subunits, including PPP2R1A, as determinants of ATRi sensitivity in ARID1A mutant OCCC. Analysis of an OCCCs cohort indicated that >1/3 possessed both PPP2R1A and ARID1A loss-of-function mutations. CRISPR-prime editing demonstrated that oncogenic PPP2R1A p.R183 missense mutations enhance in vitro and in vivo ATRi sensitivity in ARID1A mutant OCCC. OCCC patients with both ARID1A and PPP2R1A mutations also showed clinical responses to ATRi in a phase II trial. Mechanistically, this synthetic lethal effect is dependent upon WNK1 kinase, which opposes PP2A function. This data suggests that co-occurrence of PPP2R1A and ARID1A mutations in OCCC should be assessed as a biomarker of ATRi response in on-going clinical trials.
Project description:Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most frequent malignancies with extremely poor prognosis. Clinical efficacies of existing targeted therapy strategies were not satisfied due to targeted therapy resistance. In this study, we performed a series of CRISPR/Cas9 screens to identify synthetic lethality genes to improve the clinical response of HCC. CRISPR loss-of-function genetic screens were performed to identify synthetic lethality genes of targeted therapies (Abemaciclib, Palbociclib, Sorafenib, Lenvatinib, Regorafenib and Erastin) in HCC cell lines. RNA-seq analysis were performed to clarify potential mechanism. We identified that inhibition of phosphoseryl-tRNA kinase (PSTK) sensitized HCC cells to targeted therapies. PSTK contributes to resistance of targeted therapy induced ferroptosis.
