Genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screening for genes conferring resistance to berberine in human A549 lung cancer cells

Berberine is a natural isoquinoline alkaloid with multiple pharmacological effects, but its precise mechanism of action and the genetic determinants of cellular resistance to it remain incompletely understood. This study aimed to systematically identify host genes that confer resistance to berberine in human lung cancer A549 cells. We performed a genome-scale CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screen in A549 cells under berberine treatment. The deep sequencing data deposited here represent the raw counts of guide RNAs (gRNAs) from both the initial plasmid library (P0) and the berberine-selected cell population, which enables the identification of genes whose knockout enhances cell survival under berberine-induced stress.