Genome-scale CRISPR screening for potential targets of ginsenoside compound K.

Yuanyuan Yang, Xiaojian Liu, Shuang Li, Yanhao Chen, Yongxu Zhao, Yuda Wei, Yan Qiu, Yan Liu, Zhihua Zhou, Jun Han, Guohao Wu, Qiurong Ding

Cell death & disease 2020 Jan 20

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Ginsenosides exhibit a large variety of biological activities in maintaining physical health; however, the molecule underpinnings underlining these biological activities remain to be defined. Here, we took a cellular condition that compound K (CK) induces autophagic cell death in HeLa cells, and setup a high-throughput genetic screening using CRISPR technology. We have identified a number of CK-resistant and CK-sensitive genes, and further validated PMAIP1 as a CK-resistant gene and WASH1 as a CK-sensitive gene. Compound K treatment reduces the expression of WASH1, which further accelerates the autophagic cell death, highlighting WASH1 as an interesting downstream mediator of CK effects. Overall, our study offers an easy-to-adopt platform to study the functional mediators of ginsenosides, and provides a candidate list of genes that are potential targets of CK.

Citation

Yuanyuan Yang, Xiaojian Liu, Shuang Li, Yanhao Chen, Yongxu Zhao, Yuda Wei, Yan Qiu, Yan Liu, Zhihua Zhou, Jun Han, Guohao Wu, Qiurong Ding. Genome-scale CRISPR screening for potential targets of ginsenoside compound K. Cell death & disease. 2020 Jan 20;11(1):39