scholarly journals Synthetic CRISPR RNA-Cas9–guided genome editing in human cells

2015 ◽  
Vol 112 (51) ◽  
pp. E7110-E7117 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meghdad Rahdar ◽  
Moira A. McMahon ◽  
Thazha P. Prakash ◽  
Eric E. Swayze ◽  
C. Frank Bennett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Editing ◽  
Gene Disruption ◽  
Nuclease Activity ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Chemical Modifications ◽  
Guide Rna ◽  
Chemically Modified ◽  
System Disease ◽  
Cas9 Nuclease ◽  
Nuclease Digestion

Genome editing with the clustered, regularly interspaced, short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas9 nuclease system is a powerful technology for manipulating genomes, including introduction of gene disruptions or corrections. Here we develop a chemically modified, 29-nucleotide synthetic CRISPR RNA (scrRNA), which in combination with unmodified transactivating crRNA (tracrRNA) is shown to functionally replace the natural guide RNA in the CRISPR-Cas9 nuclease system and to mediate efficient genome editing in human cells. Incorporation of rational chemical modifications known to protect against nuclease digestion and stabilize RNA–RNA interactions in the tracrRNA hybridization region of CRISPR RNA (crRNA) yields a scrRNA with enhanced activity compared with the unmodified crRNA and comparable gene disruption activity to the previously published single guide RNA. Taken together, these findings provide a platform for therapeutic applications, especially for nervous system disease, using successive application of cell-permeable, synthetic CRISPR RNAs to activate and then silence Cas9 nuclease activity.

scholarly journals Heavily and Fully Modified RNAs Guide Efficient SpyCas9-Mediated Genome Editing

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aamir Mir ◽  
Julia F. Alterman ◽  
Matthew R. Hassler ◽  
Alexandre J. Debacker ◽  
Edward Hudgens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Modification ◽  
Genome Editing ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Chemical Modifications ◽  
Oh Groups ◽  
Guide Rnas ◽  
Chemically Modified

RNA-based drugs depend on chemical modifications to increase potency and nuclease stability, and to decrease immunogenicity in vivo. Chemical modification will likely improve the guide RNAs involved in CRISPR-Cas9-based therapeutics as well. Cas9 orthologs are RNA-guided microbial effectors that cleave DNA. No studies have yet explored chemical modification at all positions of the crRNA guide and tracrRNA cofactor. Here, we have identified several heavily-modified versions of crRNA and tracrRNA that are more potent than their unmodified counterparts. In addition, we describe fully chemically modified crRNAs and tracrRNAs (containing no 2’-OH groups) that are functional in human cells. These designs demonstrate a significant breakthrough for Cas9-based therapeutics since heavily modified RNAs tend to be more stable in vivo (thus increasing potency). We anticipate that our designs will improve the use of Cas9 via RNP and mRNA delivery for in vivo and ex vivo purposes.

scholarly journals An improved method for precise genome editing in zebrafish using CRISPR-Cas9 technique

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene V. Gasanov ◽  
Justyna Jędrychowska ◽  
Michal Pastor ◽  
Malgorzata Wiweger ◽  
Axel Methner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Editing ◽  
High Efficiency ◽  
Target Site ◽  
Proof Of Concept ◽  
Intervention Site ◽  
End Joining ◽  
Guide Rna ◽  
Guide Rnas ◽  
Cas9 Nuclease ◽  
Non Homologous End Joining

AbstractCurrent methods of CRISPR-Cas9-mediated site-specific mutagenesis create deletions and small insertions at the target site which are repaired by imprecise non-homologous end-joining. Targeting of the Cas9 nuclease relies on a short guide RNA (gRNA) corresponding to the genome sequence approximately at the intended site of intervention. We here propose an improved version of CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing that relies on two complementary guide RNAs instead of one. Two guide RNAs delimit the intervention site and allow the precise deletion of several nucleotides at the target site. As proof of concept, we generated heterozygous deletion mutants of the kcng4b, gdap1, and ghitm genes in the zebrafish Danio rerio using this method. A further analysis by high-resolution DNA melting demonstrated a high efficiency and a low background of unpredicted mutations. The use of two complementary gRNAs improves CRISPR-Cas9 specificity and allows the creation of predictable and precise mutations in the genome of D. rerio.

scholarly journals Human genetic variation alters CRISPR-Cas9 on- and off-targeting specificity at therapeutically implicated loci

2017 ◽  
Vol 114 (52) ◽  
pp. E11257-E11266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Lessard ◽  
Laurent Francioli ◽  
Jessica Alfoldi ◽  
Jean-Claude Tardif ◽  
Patrick T. Ellinor ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genetic Variation ◽  
Treatment Failure ◽  
Genome Editing ◽  
Wide Spectrum ◽  
Adverse Outcomes ◽  
Human Genetic Variation ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Guide Rna ◽  
Cas9 Nuclease ◽  
Target Sites

The CRISPR-Cas9 nuclease system holds enormous potential for therapeutic genome editing of a wide spectrum of diseases. Large efforts have been made to further understanding of on- and off-target activity to assist the design of CRISPR-based therapies with optimized efficacy and safety. However, current efforts have largely focused on the reference genome or the genome of cell lines to evaluate guide RNA (gRNA) efficiency, safety, and toxicity. Here, we examine the effect of human genetic variation on both on- and off-target specificity. Specifically, we utilize 7,444 whole-genome sequences to examine the effect of variants on the targeting specificity of ∼3,000 gRNAs across 30 therapeutically implicated loci. We demonstrate that human genetic variation can alter the off-target landscape genome-wide including creating and destroying protospacer adjacent motifs (PAMs). Furthermore, single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and insertions/deletions (indels) can result in altered on-target sites and novel potent off-target sites, which can predispose patients to treatment failure and adverse effects, respectively; however, these events are rare. Taken together, these data highlight the importance of considering individual genomes for therapeutic genome-editing applications for the design and evaluation of CRISPR-based therapies to minimize risk of treatment failure and/or adverse outcomes.

scholarly journals Quantification of the affinities of CRISPR–Cas9 nucleases for cognate protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequences

2020 ◽  
Vol 295 (19) ◽  
pp. 6509-6517 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vladimir Mekler ◽  
Konstantin Kuznedelov ◽  
Konstantin Severinov
Keyword(s):  
Genome Editing ◽  
Target Location ◽  
Dna Probes ◽  
Target Sequence ◽  
Francisella Novicida ◽  
Guide Rna ◽  
Guide Rnas ◽  
Cas9 Nuclease ◽  
Protospacer Adjacent Motif ◽  
Target Dna

The CRISPR/Cas9 nucleases have been widely applied for genome editing in various organisms. Cas9 nucleases complexed with a guide RNA (Cas9–gRNA) find their targets by scanning and interrogating the genomic DNA for sequences complementary to the gRNA. Recognition of the DNA target sequence requires a short protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) located outside this sequence. Given that the efficiency of target location may depend on the strength of interactions that promote target recognition, here we sought to compare affinities of different Cas9 nucleases for their cognate PAM sequences. To this end, we measured affinities of Cas9 nucleases from Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and Francisella novicida complexed with guide RNAs (gRNAs) (SpCas9–gRNA, SaCas9–gRNA, and FnCas9–gRNA, respectively) and of three engineered SpCas9–gRNA variants with altered PAM specificities for short, PAM-containing DNA probes. We used a “beacon” assay that measures the relative affinities of DNA probes by determining their ability to competitively affect the rate of Cas9–gRNA binding to fluorescently labeled target DNA derivatives called “Cas9 beacons.” We observed significant differences in the affinities for cognate PAM sequences among the studied Cas9 enzymes. The relative affinities of SpCas9–gRNA and its engineered variants for canonical and suboptimal PAMs correlated with previous findings on the efficiency of these PAM sequences in genome editing. These findings suggest that high affinity of a Cas9 nuclease for its cognate PAM promotes higher genome-editing efficiency.

scholarly journals Genome Editing in Zebrafish by ScCas9 Recognizing NNG PAM

Cells ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 2099
Author(s):  
Yunxing Liu ◽  
Fang Liang ◽  
Zijiong Dong ◽  
Song Li ◽  
Jianmin Ye ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Editing ◽  
Streptococcus Pyogenes ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Zebrafish Genome ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Ribonucleoprotein Complex ◽  
Guide Rna ◽  
Protospacer Adjacent Motif ◽  
Low Activity

The CRISPR/Cas9 system has been widely used for gene editing in zebrafish. However, the required NGG protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) of Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) notably restricts the editable range of the zebrafish genome. Recently, Cas9 from S. canis (ScCas9), which has a more relaxed 5′-NNG-3′ PAM, was reported to have activities in human cells and plants. However, the editing ability of ScCas9 has not been tested in zebrafish. Here we characterized and optimized the activity of ScCas9 in zebrafish. Delivered as a ribonucleoprotein complex, ScCas9 can induce mutations in zebrafish. Using the synthetic modified crRNA:tracrRNA duplex instead of in vitro-transcribed single guide RNA, the low activity at some loci were dramatically improved in zebrafish. As far as we know, our work is the first report on the evaluation of ScCas9 in animals. Our work optimized ScCas9 as a new nuclease for targeting relaxed NNG PAMs for zebrafish genome editing, which will further improve genome editing in zebrafish.

scholarly journals Retron Editing for Precise Genome Editing without Exogenous Donor DNA in Human Cells

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiangfeng Kong ◽  
Zikang Wang ◽  
Yingsi Zhou ◽  
Xing Wang ◽  
Linyu Shi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Editing ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Exogenous Dna ◽  
Guide Rna ◽  
Homology Directed Repair ◽  
Non Coding Rna ◽  
Bacterial Genetic ◽  
Low Efficiency

CRISPR-Cas9 mediated seamless genome editing can be achieved by incorporating donor DNA into the CRISPR-Cas9 target loci via homology-directed repair (HDR), albeit with relative low efficiency due to the inefficient delivery of exogenous DNA. Retrons are bacterial genetic element composed of a non-coding RNA (ncRNA) and reverse transcriptase (RT). Retrons coupled with CRISPR-Cas9 have been shown to enhance precise genome editing via HDR in yeast through fusing guide RNA (gRNA) to the 3′ end of retron ncRNA, producing multicopy single-stranded DNA (msDNA) covalently tethered to gRNA. Here, we further engineered retrons by fusing Cas9 with E.coli RT from different clades and joining gRNA at the 5′ end of retron ncRNA, and found that retron editing can achieve precise genome editing efficiently in human cells. By co- expression of Cas9-RT fusions and retron-ncRNA gRNA (rgRNA) in HEK293T cells, we demonstrated the rates of retron editing at endogenous genomic loci was up to 10 %. We expect our retron editing system could aid in advancing the ex vivo and in vivo therapeutic applications of retron.

scholarly journals CRISPR-Cas3 induces broad and unidirectional genome editing in human cells

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiroyuki Morisaka ◽  
Kazuto Yoshimi ◽  
Yuya Okuzaki ◽  
Peter Gee ◽  
Yayoi Kunihiro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Editing ◽  
Dna Cleavage ◽  
Exon Skipping ◽  
Nuclease Activity ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Eukaryotic Cells ◽  
Type I ◽  
Crispr System ◽  
Class 1 ◽  
Component Class

AbstractAlthough single-component Class 2 CRISPR systems, such as type II Cas9 or type V Cas12a (Cpf1), are widely used for genome editing in eukaryotic cells, the application of multi-component Class 1 CRISPR has been less developed. Here we demonstrate that type I-E CRISPR mediates distinct DNA cleavage activity in human cells. Notably, Cas3, which possesses helicase and nuclease activity, predominantly triggered several thousand base pair deletions upstream of the 5′-ARG protospacer adjacent motif (PAM), without prominent off-target activity. This Cas3-mediated directional and broad DNA degradation can be used to introduce functional gene knockouts and knock-ins. As an example of potential therapeutic applications, we show Cas3-mediated exon-skipping of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene in patient-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These findings broaden our understanding of the Class 1 CRISPR system, which may serve as a unique genome editing tool in eukaryotic cells distinct from the Class 2 CRISPR system.

scholarly journals PpCas9 from Pasteurella pneumotropica — a compact Type II-C Cas9 ortholog active in human cells

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (21) ◽  
pp. 12297-12309
Author(s):  
Iana Fedorova ◽  
Aleksandra Vasileva ◽  
Polina Selkova ◽  
Marina Abramova ◽  
Anatolii Arseniev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Editing ◽  
Human Cells ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Compact Type ◽  
Guide Rnas ◽  
Defense Systems ◽  
Large Size ◽  
Cas9 Nuclease ◽  
Size Limitation

Abstract CRISPR-Cas defense systems opened up the field of genome editing due to the ease with which effector Cas nucleases can be programmed with guide RNAs to access desirable genomic sites. Type II-A SpCas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes was the first Cas9 nuclease used for genome editing and it remains the most popular enzyme of its class. Nevertheless, SpCas9 has some drawbacks including a relatively large size and restriction to targets flanked by an ‘NGG’ PAM sequence. The more compact Type II-C Cas9 orthologs can help to overcome the size limitation of SpCas9. Yet, only a few Type II-C nucleases were fully characterized to date. Here, we characterized two Cas9 II-C orthologs, DfCas9 from Defluviimonas sp.20V17 and PpCas9 from Pasteurella pneumotropica. Both DfCas9 and PpCas9 cleave DNA in vitro and have novel PAM requirements. Unlike DfCas9, the PpCas9 nuclease is active in human cells. This small nuclease requires an ‘NNNNRTT’ PAM orthogonal to that of SpCas9 and thus potentially can broaden the range of Cas9 applications in biomedicine and biotechnology.

scholarly journals In vivo genome editing in animals using AAV-CRISPR system: applications to translational research of human disease

F1000Research ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 2153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cia-Hin Lau ◽  
Yousin Suh
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Trials ◽  
Genome Editing ◽  
Viral Vectors ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Guide Rna ◽  
Routes Of Administration ◽  
Cas9 Nuclease ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Short Palindromic Repeat

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has shown promising therapeutic efficacy with a good safety profile in a wide range of animal models and human clinical trials. With the advent of clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-based genome-editing technologies, AAV provides one of the most suitable viral vectors to package, deliver, and express CRISPR components for targeted gene editing. Recent discoveries of smaller Cas9 orthologues have enabled the packaging of Cas9 nuclease and its chimeric guide RNA into a single AAV delivery vehicle for robust in vivo genome editing. Here, we discuss how the combined use of small Cas9 orthologues, tissue-specific minimal promoters, AAV serotypes, and different routes of administration has advanced the development of efficient and precise in vivo genome editing and comprehensively review the various AAV-CRISPR systems that have been effectively used in animals. We then discuss the clinical implications and potential strategies to overcome off-target effects, immunogenicity, and toxicity associated with CRISPR components and AAV delivery vehicles. Finally, we discuss ongoing non-viral-based ex vivo gene therapy clinical trials to underscore the current challenges and future prospects of CRISPR/Cas9 delivery for human therapeutics.

scholarly journals Rapid production of SaCas9 in plant-based cell-free lysate for activity testing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Schiermeyer ◽  
Pedro Cerda-Bennasser ◽  
Thomas Schmelter ◽  
Xin Huang ◽  
Paul Christou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Genome Editing ◽  
Nuclease Activity ◽  
In Vitro Activity ◽  
Recombinant Production ◽  
Cas9 Nuclease ◽  
Nicotiana Tabacum L ◽  
Rapid Production ◽  
Versatile Tool ◽  
Established Cell

Cas9 nucleases have become the most versatile tool for genome editing projects in a broad range of organisms. The recombinant production of Cas9 nuclease is desirable for in vitro activity assays or the preparation of ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) for DNA-free genome editing approaches. For the rapid production of Cas9, we explored the use of a recently established cell-free lysate from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L.) BY-2 cells. Using this system, the 130-kDa Cas9 nuclease from Staphylococcus aureus (SaCas9) was produced and subsequently purified via affinity chromatography. The purified apoenzyme was supplemented with ten different sgRNAs, and the nuclease activity was confirmed by the linearization of plasmid DNA containing cloned DNA target sequences.

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