Modernising autism spectrum disorder model engineering and treatment via CRISPR-Cas9: A gene reprogramming approach

Figure 1 Schematic diagram describing the structure and functioning of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats-associated protein 9 technique in autism spectrum disorder. In this schematic, we highlighted the mechanism of clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-associated protein 9 (Cas9) in recognizing a target using protospacer adjacent motifs sequencing and causing cut at specific point. Following cleavage and forming double stand breaks, repair systems like non-homologous end joining and homology directed repair come into play for avoiding any unspecific mutations. Diverse application of CRISPR-Cas9 has been explained in this diagram for investigating the mechanism involved in autism spectrum disorder pathophysiology. Various potential therapeutic targets for autism spectrum disorder could be investigated using CRISPR-Cas9 technology. sgRNA: Single guide RNA; ASD: Autism spectrum disorder; PAM: Protospacer adjacent motifs; DSB: Double strand breaks; NHEJ: Non-homologous end joining; HDR: Homology directed repair.