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Neighbouring cells can recognise and communicate with each other by direct binding between cell surface receptor and ligand pairs. Examples of cellular recognition events include pathogen entry into a host cell, sperm-egg fusion, and self/nonself discrimination by the immune system. Despite growing appreciation of cell surface recognition molecules as potential therapeutic targets, identifying key factors contributing to cellular recognition remains technically challenging to perform on a genome-wide scale. Recently, genome-scale clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) knockout or activation (CRISPR-KO/CRISPRa) screens have been applied to identify the molecular determinants of cellular recognition. In this review, we discuss how CRISPR-KO/CRISPRa screening has contributed to our understanding of cellular recognition processes, and how it can be applied to investigate these important interactions in a range of biological contexts.

Original publication

DOI

10.1016/j.tcb.2020.05.005

Type

Journal article

Journal

Trends Cell Biol

Publication Date

08/2020

Volume

30

Pages

619 - 627

Keywords

Animals, CRISPR-Associated Protein 9, CRISPR-Cas Systems, Cell Membrane, Genetic Testing, Humans, Models, Biological, Signal Transduction