Increasing the Efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated Precise Genome Editing of HSV-1 Virus in Human Cells

Genetically modified HSV-1 viruses serve as promising vectors for tumour therapy and vaccine development. The CRISPR/Cas9 system is one of the most powerful tools for precise gene editing of the genomes of organisms. However, whether the CRISPR/Cas9 system can precisely and efficiently make gene replacements in the genome of HSV-1 remains essentially unknown. Here, we reported CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing of the HSV-1 genome in human cells, including the knockout and replacement of large genes. In established cells stably expressing CRISPR/Cas9, gRNA in coordination with Cas9 could direct a precise cleavage within a pre-defined target region, and foreign genes were successfully used to replace the target gene seamlessly by HDR-mediated gene replacement. Introducing the NHEJ inhibitor SCR7 to the CRISPR/Cas9 system greatly facilitated HDR-mediated gene replacement in the HSV-1 genome. We provided the first genetic evidence that two copies of the ICP0 gene in different locations on the same HSV-1 genome could be simultaneously modified with high efficiency and with no off-target modifications. We also developed a revolutionized isolation platform for desired recombinant viruses using single-cell sorting. Together, our work provides a significantly improved method for targeted editing of DNA viruses, which will facilitate the development of anti-cancer oncolytic viruses and vaccines.