Biosynthetic Nanobubble-Mediated CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing of Cdh2 Inhibits Breast Cancer Metastasis

Abstract

The epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process in which epithelial cells undergo a series of biochemical changes to acquire a mesenchymal phenotype, has been linked to tumor metastasis. Here, we present a novel strategy for knocking out the EMT-related Cdh2 gene, which encodes N-cadherin through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing by an ultrasound combined with biosynthetic nanobubbles (Gas Vesicles, GVs). Polyethyleneimine were employed as a gene delivery vector to deliver sgRNA into 4T1 cells that stably express the Cas9 protein, resulting in the stable Cdh2 gene- knockout cell lines. The Western blotting assay confirmed the absence of an N-cadherin protein in these Cdh2 gene-knockout 4T1 cell lines. Significantly reduced tumor cell migration was observed in the Cdh2 gene-knockout 4T1 cells in comparison with the wild-type cells. Our study demonstrated that an ultrasound combined with GVs could effectively mediate CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing of a Cdh2 gene to inhibit tumor invasion and metastasis.