Genome Editing Redefines Precision Medicine in the Cardiovascular Field

Figure 1

Genome editing approaches in basic research. In basic research, genome editing tools find broad utilization. ZNFs, TALENs, and CRISPR/Cas9 allow genome editing in human pluripotent stem cells in basic research for disease modelling, drug screening, or even the editing of gene expression, for example, for reprogramming approaches. This might help in the characterization of disease-causing mechanisms, the identification of new effective drugs, or the development of innovative regenerative approaches by an integration-free reprogramming/transdifferentiation of somatic cells into another cell type. ZNFs: zinc finger nucleases; TALENs: transcription activator-like effector nucleases; CRISPR/Cas9: clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats; TALEs: transcription activator-like effector protein; CRISPRi: CRISPR interference; CRISPRa: CRISPR activation; iPSCs: induced pluripotent stem cells; iECs: induced endothelial cells; iSMCs: induced smooth muscle cells; iCMs: induced cardiomyocytes; iCPCs: induced cardiac progenitor cells.