Identification of CRISPR-Cas9 Gene Targets for Treating Glioblastoma Through Single-Cell Differential Expression Analysis
Maya Abobaker
12/08/2026
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most common and aggressive type of brain cancer, with a mortality rate ranging from 93-95% as a result of its high resistance to immunotherapy. Developing technological advances in GBM treatment is urgent and underway, with the CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing tool proving to be a promising method. This quantitative analysis research paper explores differentially expressed genes and their relationship to GBM. CellxGene was utilized to discover differentially expressed genes between Glioblastoma cells and healthy cells, measuring significant differences using Welch’s T-test. The cells were taken from both the Core GBmap and the Extended GBmap located in the digital CellxGene census, which contained 1,025,102 cells from 64 cell types taken across 240 patients. The results show that neurons and glial cells had the highest levels of differential gene expression, with consistent hits from SPP1, AGO2, PLCG2, and MARCHF1. It was also identified that males had higher mean log fold changes in expression on average compared to females. Collectively, this paper identifies CRISPR-Cas9’s crucial role in the ensuing gene-therapy that will treat the disease