Abstract
Colon cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer in the United States. Colon cancer develops from the many gene mutations found in the genomes of colon cancer cells. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) can cause the development and progression of many cancers, including colon cancer. LncRNAs have been and could be corrected through the gene-editing technology of the clustered repeats of the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated nuclease 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system to reduce the proliferation of cancer cells in the colon. However, many current delivery systems for transporting CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics in vivo need more safety and efficiency. CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics require a safe and effective delivery system to more directly and specifically target cancer cells present in the colon. This review will present pertinent evidence for the increased efficiency and safety of using plant-derived exosome-like nanoparticles as nanocarriers for delivering CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics to target colon cancer cells directly.
Introduction
Colon cancer is a common gastrointestinal cancer in the world. In the United States, colon cancer frequently occurs more than breast, lung, and prostate cancers. Only lung cancer precedes colon cancer as the first leading cause of death. In the U.S., about 1.5 million individuals have colorectal cancer (CRC). Colonoscopies have decreased the rate of CRC. As a result of improved treatments, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and colectomy, the 5-year survival rate of CRC patients is nearly 64% (). The distribution of microorganisms and their metabolites are related to colon carcinogenesis; however, the CRC mechanisms of progression are still not as precise (). Noncoding RNAs (ncRNAs) can cause the development of colon cancer. ncRNAs are part of a class of non-protein coding RNAs that do not become translated into proteins but can affect cellular processes. Non-coding RNAs internally residing in exosomes may be involved in the process of tumorigenesis and development, in which ncRNAs may also aid in significant intracellular communication within a tumor (). Long non-coding RNAs (LncRNAs) have a DNA sequence length of 200 nucleotides and affect many biological processes, such as cell proliferation, differentiation, development, apoptosis, and metastasis ().
LncRNAs bind to RNA, protein, and DNA, forming RNA-RNA, RNA-DNA, and RNA-protein structural complexes, which can lead to the control of gene expression through diverse mechanisms. These diverse mechanisms can consist of transcription, mRNA stability, and translation (, ). There is evidence emerging for lncRNAs being especially vital for colon cancer development and progression (, ). A study identified 200 lncRNAs expressed in colon tumors when analyzing data from RNA sequences in the TCGA dataset (). LncRNAs also affect the prognoses of patients, the proliferation of cells, cell apoptosis, metastasis and invasion, the cycle of cellular division, epithelial-mesenchymal transition, drug resistance, and cancer stem cells. The expression of lncRNAs is associated with the pathogenicity of colon cancer (). For example, the lncRNA zinc finger E-box binding homeobox 1 with antisense 1 expression is increasingly amplified in colon cancer tissues when compared to healthy colonocytes ().
Although many improved cancer therapies exist, such as chemotherapy, targeted biological therapy, radiation therapy, and combination therapies, there is still a high propensity for relapse with increased resistance to chemo-radiation therapy. There are also many toxic side effects that occur from each therapy applied (). Consequently, new and novel therapeutic strategies for cancer treatments are currently needed. The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated nuclease 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) system has provided an additional effective therapy for cancer. Presently, CRISPR/Cas9 is a type of molecular scissor with application in many studies, such as cancer research, the discovery of therapeutic drugs, treating cognitive illnesses, and being applied to plants. CRISPR is contained within the adaptive immune system of prokaryotes to provide immunity against viruses by cleaving foreign viral DNA (, ). Cancer is a genetic illness with multiple DNA and RNA mutations present in cellular genomes (, ).
These genetic mutations in the cancer cell genome can be corrected to overcome cancer (). Much scientific evidence supports that CRISPR/Cas9 can correct cancer-causing genetic mutations (). Essential data and evidence confirm the potential of the CRISPR/Cas9 system to target the protein-coding genome and emend lncRNAs present in humans (–). A few diseases have the potential to rapidly become treated with CRISPR-Cas9 technology via an ex vivo approach; however, for CRISPR-Cas9 therapeutics to achieve clinical success, the system must be directly applied to patients. A direct administration of CRISPR-Cas9 therapeutic requires a safe and precise delivery of its systems in vivo; however, these delivery aspects of CRISPR-Cas9 therapeutics are not wholly developed (). Plant-derived exosome-like nanoparticles (PENs) may offer a promising delivery system for administering CRISPR-Cas9 therapeutics and treating colon cancer. PENs can potentially serve as effective nanocarriers of CRISPR-Cas9 therapeutics designed to target lncRNAs in human colon cancer cells through an oral administration. According to Kim et al. () Plant-derived exosome-like nanoparticles (PENs) are predicted and expected to develop into effective therapeutic techniques for treating diseases or delivering drugs. This study’s main focus and purpose was to describe PENs as effective delivery vehicles for drugs and biomolecules into the colon for treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC). This review will provide a brief background of the CRISPR-Cas9 structure and function, a survey of the current challenges of existing CRISPR-Cas delivery technology, and present supporting evidence for using PENs as efficient nanocarriers for CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics via an oral administration into the lower digestive tract.
Survey methodology
Structure and features of the CRISPR/Cas9 system
In 1987, Ishino and his colleagues first found CRISPR in Escherichia coli. They discovered that the clustered repeats had a series of spacer-type sequences, later called CRISPR. Since then, many researchers have found more varieties of CRISPR/Cas systems. There are three categories, including type I, II, and III, and many diverse subtypes divided based on their differing mechanisms (, ). The CRISPR/Cas9 system is a type II CRISPR system found in Streptococcus pyogenes. It is the most widely applied system in mammals since it is highly efficient and accurate. CRISPR/Cas9 is the first engineered CRISPR/Cas system for editing genomes since it contains single guide RNAs (sgRNA) that can be easily programmed with a recognition sequence of a short 20 nucleotides in length (, , ). The sgRNA is composed of CRISPR RNA (crRNA), which consists of a sequence complementary to the targeted site and a transactivating crRNA (tracrRNA), which is partially complementary to the crRNA (–). The Cas9 nuclease is also a component of the CRISPR/Cas9 system, in which the RNAs guide the Cas9 protein to the targeted sites while also activating the Cas9 nuclease activity. The sgRNA couples with the Cas9 protein, forming a more combined complex and recognizing the targeted site, which is a complementary DNA sequence flanked at the 3’ end and adjacent to the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) () (Figure 1). The PAM primarily consists of NGG or NAG, in which N can be either A, T, G, or C, and the PAM assists with initiating the DNA double-stranded breaks ().
Figure 1
CRISPR and colon cancer
LncRNAs regulate cell proliferation, and LncRNA dysregulation controls the proliferation of colon cancer cells. The overexpression of ZEB1-AS1 modulates cell growth by increasing p21-activated kinases 2 (PAK2) expression by absorbing miR-455-3p into cancerous colon cells. LINC01082 becomes downregulated in cancerous colon tissues with the upregulation of LINC01082, causing the inhibition of cell proliferation in SW480 colon adenocarcinoma cells. Inhibiting gene expression reduced cell proliferation by suppressing LINC01296 gene expression in SW480 and SW620 colon cancer cells (
By silencing LINC01082, cell proliferation was inhibited by targeting the miR-21a of colon cancer cells (
By knocking down TUG1, the proliferation of colon cancer cells can be blocked while also reducing tumor growth in vivo (
Figure 2

CRISPR/Cas9-knockout of targeted oncogenes. Figure shows the CRISPR/Cas9 deletion of a targeted gene, which represents an oncogene.
Pyruvate carboxylase (PC) increases the development and metastasis of colon cancer, causing a lesser time of survival with a poorer prognosis. A knockout of PC using CRISPR technology blocked and reduced tumor growth (
Presently, researchers are investigating CRISPR-Cas9 gene-based therapeutics’ efficacy as a treatment for cancers of the lung, head, breast, liver, and of colon (
Current CRISPR delivery mechanisms
However, treating cancer will require the CRISPR/Cas9 components to interact directly with target cells by traversing multiple physical barriers (
Non-viral vectors, through nanotechnology, can provide nanocarriers, such as polymers, lipids, and metal-organic structural complexes, to package cancer therapeutics, which have a low rate of causing an immune response, have sufficient delivery of cargo capabilities and have high biological compatibility (
Nanotechnology-based delivery systems for colon cancer
Through a ligand-receptor binding mechanism, ligand-altered nanoparticles can accumulate in a tumor. These types of nanoparticles are termed active targeting nanoparticles (
NIR can be applied to function as an external stimulus to activate the drug release from nanoparticles at the target site. Yadav et al. (
A pH-dependent system can be used since the gastrointestinal tract is organized into the gastro, small intestines, and intestinal crissum, which differ in pH at each part of the GI tract. The stomach’s pH is approximately 1 to 3, the pH of the small intestines increases to 5.5 to 6.8, and then the pH of the colon is around 6 to 8 (
Pectin can be extracted from polysaccharides to provide protection from the acidic gastrointestinal environment (
A study formulated a colonic enzyme-responsive dextran-based oligoester crosslinked with nanoparticles to deliver 5-FU. The nanoparticles released 75% of the 5-FU in vitro within 12 hours of its incubation with glucanase with no drug release under the pH-like conditions of the stomach and the small intestines (
Dos Santos et al. (
Drug delivery systems can be designed based on many different environmental signals. Ma et al. (
The compositions of nanomaterials for targeted CRC therapies are more complex, making the preparation process of these nano-materials more challenging to synthesize and replicate. Because the physical and chemical components of platforms should be regulated during the production process, manufacturing methods are increasingly made more difficult with a high cost of production. Through microfluidics, Valencia et al. (
The CRISPR plasmid, mRNA, and gRNA of CRISPR-Cas9 technology that is negatively charged can be encapsulated in positively charged lipid nanoparticles during an electrostatic interaction (
Other nano-drug delivery systems for colorectal cancer
Porous nanoparticles are used more for delivering anticancer drugs because they have uniform pore sizes, have an organized physical shape, have alterable structures, and have larger surface areas (
Challenges of CRISPR delivery
The first challenge requires efficiently encapsulating the CRISPR/Cas9 complex. There are three main techniques for applying the CRISPR/Cas9 for gene editing, which include using a plasmid encoding the Cas9 protein and the sgRNA, utilizing Cas9 mRNA with a sgRNA mixture, and through editing, genes using the complete Cas9 protein with the sgRNA ribonucleoprotein (RNP) (
The blood vessels in tumors leak and cause the expulsion of delivery systems from blood vessels. Since the extracellular matrix has a negative charge, the positively charged nanocarriers become easily compacted in the interstitial region (
Plant-derived exosome-like nanoparticles
Extracellular vesicles (EVs), such as exosomes, are nanoscale membrane-enclosed particles that help to orient the transport of proteins and genetic components (
Natural vesicles in plant cells can deliver agents and solve the present issues with existing nano-based delivery systems of therapeutics (
There is a need to improve the use of novel drug development strategies to treat diseases. Nanotechnology in drug development has become a promising approach; therefore, PEN-based therapies could become a new and novel strategy to treat cancers, inflammations, and immunological diseases. PENs are natural and innate nanoparticles released by edible plants such as grapes (
Lipid extraction and PEN reassembly
Differential ultracentrifugation can isolate PENs from plants (
Figure 3

Isolation and reassembly of PENs. The figure presents the process of isolating plant-derived exosome-like nanoparticles (PENs) from fruits, such as apples, grapes, lemons, and ginger through low to high velocity ultracentrifugation and use of a sucrose gradient. Figure was retrieved from Kim et al. (
The two main types of lipids in PENs are phospholipids and glycerol lipids. These two lipids can gather in the organic phase during the two-phase liquid-liquid extraction (LLE). Zhang et al. (
Loading of cargo into PENs
Small molecular drugs, siRNAs, and DNA expression vectors can be loaded into PENs to help target many disease tissues (
PENS compared to other nanotechnologies combined with CRISPR therapy
The editing efficiency of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) that carry CRISPR/Cas9 plasmids is low because their delivery efficiency into cells has been poor during in vivo experiments with animals (129). Thus, the LNP delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 plasmids has not fulfilled the clinical requirements due to their reduced editing and delivery efficiencies (129). Currently, it is challenging to deliver RNPs for targeting organs in the body because it is arduous to develop stable nanoparticles for systemic administration and delivery (129). Many researchers have established a universal procedure for engineering stable RNPs by adding cationic elements to ionizable LNP products. In these processes, the lipids guide theencapsulation of the RNPs by maintaining the activity and directing the DNA editing in the target tissues. LNPs have an 80% gene editing efficiency with a 70% editing efficiency for amino ionizable nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo (130). Polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) such as Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) have an editing efficiency of 95%, and polyethylenimine (PEI)-β-cyclodextrin cationic polymers for nanoparticles edit at 19.1% in vitro (130). INPs edit at an efficiency of 60% in vivo and in vitro. NPs formed with DNA nanowires have an editing efficiency of 36% in vitro and in vivo (130). Gold Nanoparticles combined with lipids (lipid/AuNPs), forming complexes, were used to encapsulate the CRISPR-Cas9 system and then thermally stimulated to release the contents (131). The lipid/AuNPs encapsulated the CRISPR-Cas9 DNA plasmids at an efficiency of 97% with a release efficiency of 79.4% when triggered by irradiation from a pulse laser (131). The lipid/AuNP encapsulated CRISPR/Cas9 displayed high stability in the blood and exhibited more extended periods of circulation in the body (131).
Lipid nanoparticles can be formed with ionizable lipids that are biologically degradable, such as with PEG-DMG-lipid nanoparticles encapsulating Spy Cas9 mRNA and the sgRNA. These ionizable lipids can deliver the CRISPR/Cas9 units in vivo to edit genes, yielding a retained gene knockout for 52 weeks after a one-time administration (129). The LNP encapsulation of the CRISPR/Cas9 components reduced the protein expression of TTR in mice by 97% or more (129). Lipid nanoparticles should be further considered as effective delivery systems for gene therapy. Zwitterion amino lipids were formulated and delivered long RNAs of Cas9 mRNA and sgRNA in vitro and in vivo. The Zwitterion amino lipids maintained a 95% reduction in protein (129). The α-helical cationicpolyamine acid PPABLG was produced and displayed an increased potential to permeate through the cell membrane and yielded a high efficiency of endosomal escape. When combining CRISPR/sgRNA plasmids with copolymers, 60% of the Cas9 was expressed, and 35% of the polo-like kinase gene was knocked out (129).
DNA nano complexes are a new delivery system with an efficient loading capacity, high biocompatibility, biodegradability, a high level of cell uptake, an improved endosomal escape, and high efficiency of genome editing. Arginine-gold nanoparticles (ArgNPs) can deliver chemically altered Cas9 proteins with the targeting sgRNA, which resulted in a high delivery efficiency into the cytoplasm and the nucleus at approximately 90% (129). ArgNPs sustained genome editing with an efficiency of 23 to 30%. Most off-target effects were decreased (129). Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles were used as nanocarriers engineered to deliver a CRISPR/Cas9 plasmid into macrophages produced from bone marrow (132). These PLGA-nanocarriers had a size of 160 nm and encapsulated fluorophore 6,13-bis(triisopropylsilyl ethynyl) pentacene (TIPS pentacene). A PLGA nanocarrier capped with an amine group encapsulated about 1.6 wt% of DNA at an encapsulation efficiency of 80% (132). Most of the DNA was released within 24 hours, with 2 to 3 plasmid copies released from each nanoparticle (132).
In comparison, PENs have innate and specific-cell-targeting capacities. However, the mechanisms that underlie the targeting abilities of PENS are lacking and limited since PENS have not been as extensively studied as mammalian derived exosomes (MDE)s (
There are many different methods of loading cargo into PENs. The passive loading procedure involving co-incubating exosomes and drugs allows PENs to become loaded with cargo molecules (
Ju et al. confirmed that grape-exosome-like nanoparticles induce the restoration of intestinal stem cells via the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, which controls the genes of AXIN-2, Cyclin D1, c-MYC, and EGF (
PA is the most well-known of the phospholipids for its potential to target and stimulate the mammalian target called rapamycin (mTOR), commonly identified in PENs. The mTOR pathway regulates cell growth, proliferation, and restoration of functions in many human health and disease processes. PC is a resource of choline in the body that may prevent damage to a cell wall in the large intestines by establishing cellular blockages in the cell membrane. Teng et al. purified GDENS and examined their genes, lipids, and proteins (135). Teng et al. discovered that phospholipid-enriched membranes of GDENS allowed their advantageous uptake by the microbiota that could help monitor the gut bacterial microbiome (135). Through the proteins and genes present in the GDENs compositions, the GDENS could assist with adjusting the intestinal microenvironment. To address the pharmacodynamics of PENs, because PENs are generated naturally by plants, give stability and rigidity, and have a well-suited morphology, they can encapsulate drugs within their lipid bilayer and target the tissues sought for treatment (135). PENs are membranous vesicles with site-specific targeting (136). These qualities of PENs, having a particular organization of proteins and lipids, allow them to alter genes for therapy, transfer drugs, prevent an immune response, and classify PEN as highly beneficial for future applications in medicine and treatment.
For the pharmacokinetics of PENs, they can safely transfer drugs and circulate in the blood for long periods after a systemic administration, offering a promising targeted delivery vehicle for disorders that cause tumors and other chronic diseases (136). To analyze the ability of PENs to cause toxicity, Zhang et al. used ginger-derived nanovectors (GDNVs) to treat tumors and evaluated whether the GDNVs could damage any tissues or organs (
Drug delivery systems (DDS) that carry siRNA and miRNA have low loading efficiencies with their less effective therapeutic effects, causing some adverse effects (137). To address these issues associated with GDENS, Zhang et al. extracted the lipids from the GDENS and then loaded them with the siRNA to target CD98 for treating ulcerative colitis (
An oral administration of PENs
Oral administration is the more selected and endorsed drug delivery route since it is the most facile and convenient for pharmaceuticals. An oral administration offers a low risk of infection, which differs from direct injective routes, enhances the permeability of the entire gastrointestinal tract, and can evade blood clearance (138). Oral administration is non-invasive and has been used for delivering MDEs. Lin et al. delivered bovine and porcine-milk-derived exosomes that contained miRNA through an oral administration, and they detected the bovine and porcine-milk-derived exosomes in the intestinal cells (139). There have not been many MDEs developed for oral administration (140). A majority of MDEs were not designed for oral delivery because of their low stability at many different pH levels and temperatures, their quick degradation in the digestive tract, and their limited ability to be produced at an industrial rate for oral dosing (141, 142). PENs have been developed for oral administration. PENs can be administered in many different methods because they have high tolerability, the potential to target specific tissues, and high biocompatibility. As a consequence, an oral administration of PENs can beget many rapid effects in pharmacotherapy (136). For example, grapefruit-derived nanovectors (GNVs) carried MTX to intestinal macrophages after an oral administration (
Researchers placed PENs in different pH levels of water, O.5 N of NaOH, and O.5 N HCl to examine the stability of PENS. The PENs were confirmed to have a reduced size when in acidic solutions (
PENs can deliver hydrophobic anticancer drugs and genes to target cells or tissues via oral administration. An anti-inflammatory drug termed MTX was loaded into grapefruit-derived exosome-like nanovesicles that targeted F4/80+ macrophages in the lamina propria and kept the MTX therapeutic effects. PENs transfected intestinal macrophages more efficiently than commercial liposomes after an oral administration. GDENs deliver RNA to target bacterial genes (135). The gut bacteria selectively interacted with and engaged the GDENs. After an oral administration of GDENs, genes were delivered into the intestines of mice, which were analyzed by qPCR tests of GDENs miRNA in the gut and feces after the treatment. GDENs also abated mouse colitis by impacting the distribution of the gut microbiota. Thus, PENs are favored as imperative candidates for oral-delivery materials. Many of the PENs discussed have been delivered through an oral administration, as most MDEs or liposomes have been commonly delivered by IV injection. An oral administration of PENs ensures the therapeutic effect is maintained with ameliorated targeting capability; however, PENs also guarantee a decreased risk of infection, whereby the therapeutic methods of using PENs via oral administration could be an excellent procedure to enhance patient participation and compliance in clinical trials.
In addition, plant-derived extracellular vesicles (PEV) can be extracted from plants, such as grapes, grapefruits, other fruits, vegetables, and spices (144). PEVs isolated from grapes and grapefruits are highly therapeutic (144). Ginger has a high efficiency in drug delivery with a substantial therapeutic ability (144). There are a few doubts about using natural plant vesicles as drug carriers because they can aggregate during purification and have a low cargo loading capacity. Since PEVs may aggregate during ultracentrifugation, PEVs are ineffective after intravenous administration. By adding multiple purification procedures when isolating the PEVs or reconstructing the plant nanovectors and then assembling the molecules that consist of their membranes, PEVs can become more efficacious (
In a study by Garaeva et al. (
In slight contrast, this review and study suggest an oral administration of CRISPR/Cas9 plasmid DNA-loaded PEVs similar to the protein-loaded GF-EVs used in the Garaeva et al. study, rather than an intravenous administration, for the treatment of colon cancer cells (Figure 4). The CRISPR/Cas9 plasmid DNA-loaded PEVs could specifically target lncRNAs, such as LINC01296, to reduce the proliferation of SW480 and SW620 colon cancer cells. An oral administration of CRISPR/Cas9 plasmid DNA-loaded PEVs is recommended instead of an intravenous route because the CRISPR/Cas9 plasmid DNA-loaded PEVs can traverse through the digestive tract directly into the large intestines or the colon. PENs have a negative transmembrane potential on their surface from -12 mV to -17.1 mV (
Figure 4

Treating colon cancer cells with CRISPR/Cas9-loaded PEVs. The figure conveys schematic representation for the oral administration of CRISPR/Cas9-loaded PEVs to the target lncRNAs present in colon cancer cells. (A) Figure shows the digestion of the CRISPR/Cas9-loaded PEVs into the colon. (B) The CRISPR/Cas9-loaded PEVs progress through endocytosis into the intestinal epithelial cells. (C) The Cas9-targeted treatment of lncRNA in colon cancer cells eliminates the cancerous colonocytes.
PENs are non-toxic and do not create a significant immune response, mainly because of their extraction from edible plants. Within 12 hours, 20% of B cells and 14% of T cells uptake the PENs, such as grapefruit-nanoparticles (GNPs), after treatment (
Additionally, there are limitations for an oral administration of CRISPR/Cas9 DNA-loaded PEVs. In a neutral pH, the diameters of the plant-derived nanoparticles from ginger, grapefruit, grapes, and carrots are all lower than 300 nm (
Discussion
PENs can offer tremendous therapeutic advantages compared to mammalian-derived exosomes (MDEs) or synthetic nanoparticles. The benefits of PENs include a less complicated method of mass production (
Many previous studies report that PENs have similar properties to MDEs (149), in which PENs have been used for treating various diseases (150, 151). PENs can be acquired from large-scale manufacturing methods from many renewable sources (152), which can meet the demand for urgent production of high-quality exosomes. The natural components of PENs allow enhanced biocompatibility and increased safety with less cytotoxicity, and PENs also have reduced negative side effects. There are also many sources of PENs available, which many researchers can select from this diverse pool of nanovesicles depending on their applicability and potential to treat a disease. PENs have similar innate therapeutic materials and components to MDEs, which can be transferred and attached to the targeted cells. PENs can be used as nanocarriers because their lipid membranes are increasingly stable and can be easily altered to target specific ligands. Additionally, PENs can be rapidly examined by using eco-friendly procedures (153). The standardized process for producing PENs can become founded and organized by categorizing and characterizing PEN nanovesicle variations.
However, there are a few disadvantages of PENs. The main disadvantages include that PENs are heterogeneous in size and in physicality, which PENs may be considered and recognized as impurities by the body, which may cause unfavorable immune responses with other activities and mechanisms of regulation that have not been studied during treatment (154). The activities and roles of PENs are still not fully understood and lack much clarity; therefore, effects that have not yet been predicted can occur with the recognition of an unidentified biological material. During the application of the PENs, a few challenges to biosafety and toxicity can result from the unknown bioactive components of the plants. Because PENs are not developed from bodily fluids, tissues, or cells (155), PENs may have a reduction in targeting potential in specific tissues in the body. For future research studies to reduce and surmount these disadvantages of using PENs, their isolation processes should be enhanced to form more uniform nanovesicles. An evaluation of the morphologies, quantities, and chemical consistencies of PENs should be obtained to identify their functional roles and properties.
PENs have been tested in preclinical and clinical trials because they can transport cell-generated contents and are well-suited for industrial large-scale productive yields by standardized manufacturing processes (
This study’s main focus and purpose was to describe PENs as effective delivery vehicles of CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics for CRC. This review described the CRISPR/Cas9 system, targeting lnRNAs of colon cancer cells with CRISPR/Cas9 technology, discussed the challenges of the current delivery systems for CRISPR-based therapeutics, and provided established evidence for the use of PENs as nanocarriers to more efficiently deliver CRISPR-based therapeutics. This study examined the potential use of PENs and PEVs for delivering CRISPR-based therapeutics more directly into colon cancer cells via an oral administration versus the standard intravenous route. The intravenous route presents many barriers for nanocarriers to overcome for a final arrival into the digestive tract and the colon. The use of the oral route of administration also presents many obstacles and barriers, such as the stomach’s high acidity and interactions with the bile salts of the intestines. However, an oral administration may serve as an effective and more direct delivery of CRISPR-Cas9-loaded PEVs through the digestive tract into the colon for potentially treating rectal colon cancer. Because PEVs can resist degradation from stomach acids and high body temperatures, PEVs can successfully traverse through the digestive tract into the colon. Targeting the lncRNAs of colon cancer cells with CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics may become more efficient using PEVs as nanocarriers administered via an oral route through the digestive tract. The oral route may provide a plain and straightway delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 loaded-PEVs into the colon to eliminate colon cancer cells.
Research studies on the oral administration of CRISPR-Cas9-loaded PEVs are immensely needed. Therefore, this study is limited in describing the complete effects of CRISPR-cargo loaded PEVs processed through the digestive tract. Further research is needed to confirm the complete safety and efficiency of PEVs as a digestive delivery system for CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics to treat colon cancer cells. Future research studies could examine any safety concerns, and the successful delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 loaded PEVs into the colon via an oral route to more directly target colon cancer cells. This review may represent one of the many earlier studies of plant-derived exosome-like nanocarriers that may assist with furthering the investigation of PENS and PEVs as novel nanocarriers of CRISPR-based therapeutics.
Statements
Author contributions
The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks are given to my mentor Dr. Tobin. Dr. Tobin provided lectures, workshops, seminars, and research opportunities, which helped to establish my understanding of the fundamentals of microbiology and genetic engineering.
Conflict of interest
Author TH was employed by the company LAL4Bsynbiotics L.L.C.
Publisher’s note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
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Summary
Keywords
CRISPR, exosomes, nanocarrier, colon cancer, gene-based therapeutics
Citation
Hillman T (2023) The use of plant-derived exosome-like nanoparticles as a delivery system of CRISPR/Cas9-based therapeutics for editing long non-coding RNAs in cancer colon cells. Front. Oncol. 13:1194350. doi: 10.3389/fonc.2023.1194350
Received
28 March 2023
Accepted
16 May 2023
Published
14 June 2023
Volume
13 - 2023
Edited by
Matiullah Khan, AIMST University, Malaysia
Reviewed by
Shiyan Dong, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, United States; Mehdi Soleymani-Goloujeh, Royan institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology (RI-SCBT), Iran
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Copyright
© 2023 Hillman.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Tatiana Hillman, thillman@thel4binc.org
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