Nanoscale metal–organic frameworks for the intracellular delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing machinery

Abstract

The discovery of CRISPR/Cas9 genome-editing technology enables the precise manipulation of mammalian DNA sequences for treating genetic disorders. Despite its high efficiency for genome editing, the introduction of CRISPR/Cas9 machinery, which is composed of Cas9 nuclease protein and guide RNA, into cells challenges its clinical translation potential. Therefore, the intracellular delivery of genome-editing machinery determines the efficacy of gene manipulation via the CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Recently, metallosupramolecules including metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) and metal–organic cages (MOCs) have been designed to selfassemble with Cas9 nuclease and guide RNA for CRISPR/Cas9 delivery and genome editing. Herein, we review the most recent advances and strategies of constructing metallosupramolecules for CRISPR/Cas9 delivery. In particular, we discuss nanoscale MOFs and MOCs that could be assembled and regulated by the intracellular environment for the spatiotemporal delivery of genome editing machinery. We also provide a perspective view of the future development of metallosupramolecules for genome editing and gene therapy in vivo.