scholarly journals Mechanism of broad-spectrum Cas9 inhibition by AcrIIA11

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaylee E Dillard ◽  
Cynthia Terrace ◽  
Kamyab Javanmardi ◽  
Wantae Kim ◽  
Kevin J Forsberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Adaptive Immunity ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
Broad Spectrum ◽  
Dna Cleavage ◽  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Mammalian Genome ◽  
Single Molecule Fluorescence ◽  
High Sequence Similarity ◽  
Dna Trapping

Mobile genetic elements evade CRISPR-Cas adaptive immunity by encoding anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs). Acrs inactivate CRISPR-Cas systems via diverse mechanisms but are generally specific for a narrow subset of Cas nucleases that share high sequence similarity. Here, we demonstrate that AcrIIA11 inhibits diverse Cas9 sub-types in vitro and human cells. Single-molecule fluorescence imaging reveals that AcrIIA11 interferes with the first steps of target search by reducing S. aureus Cas9′s diffusion on non-specific DNA. DNA cleavage is inhibited because the AcrIIA11:Cas9 complex is kinetically trapped at PAM-rich decoy sites, preventing Cas9 from reaching its target. This work establishes that DNA trapping can be used to inhibit a broad spectrum of Cas9 orthologs in vitro and during mammalian genome editing.

scholarly journals Single-Molecule Fluorescence Reveals Commonalities and Distinctions among Natural and in Vitro-Selected RNA Tertiary Motifs in a Multistep Folding Pathway

2017 ◽  
Vol 139 (51) ◽  
pp. 18576-18589 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Bonilla ◽  
Charles Limouse ◽  
Namita Bisaria ◽  
Magdalena Gebala ◽  
Hideo Mabuchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Folding Pathway ◽  
Single Molecule Fluorescence

scholarly journals 5’ modifications to CRISPR Cas9 gRNA can change the dynamics and size of R-loops and inhibit DNA cleavage

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Mullally ◽  
Kara van Aelst ◽  
Mohsin M. Naqvi ◽  
Fiona M. Diffin ◽  
Tautvydas Karvelis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Dna Cleavage ◽  
Rna Aptamers ◽  
Loop Formation ◽  
Cleavage Activity ◽  
Dna Cleavage Activity ◽  
Rnp Complex ◽  
Target Binding ◽  
The Impact

A key aim in exploiting CRISPR-Cas is the engineering of gRNA to introduce additional functionalities, ranging from small nucleotide changes that increase efficiency of on-target binding to the inclusion of large functional RNA aptamers and ribonucleoproteins (RNPs. Interactions between gRNA and Cas9 are crucial for RNP complex assembly but several distinct regions of the gRNA are amenable to modification. Using a library of modified gRNAs, we used in vitro ensemble and single-molecule assays to assess the impact of RNA structural alterations on RNP complex formation, R-loop dynamics, and endonuclease activity. Our results indicate that R-loop formation and DNA cleavage activity are essentially unaffected by gRNA modifications of the Upper Stem, first Hairpin and 3’ end. In contrast, 5’ additions of only two or three nucleotides reduced R-loop formation and cleavage activity of the RuvC domain relative to a single nucleotide addition. Such gRNA modifications are a common by-product of in vitro transcribed gRNA. We also observed that addition of a 20 nt RNA hairpin to the 5’ end supported formation of a stable ~9 bp R-loop that could not activate DNA cleavage. These observations will assist in successful gRNA design.

scholarly journals Conformational dynamics of Cas9 governing DNA cleavage revealed by single molecule FRET

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengyi Yang ◽  
Sijia Peng ◽  
Ruirui Sun ◽  
Jingdi Lin ◽  
Nan Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Molecule ◽  
Dna Cleavage ◽  
Conformational Dynamics ◽  
Resonance Energy Transfer ◽  
Resonance Energy ◽  
Nuclease Activity ◽  
Single Molecule Fluorescence ◽  
Single Molecule Fret ◽  
Allosteric Communication ◽  
Target Binding

SummaryOff-target binding and cleavage by Cas9 pose as major challenges in its applications. How conformational dynamics of Cas9 governs its nuclease activity under on- and off-target conditions remains largely unknown. Here, using intra-molecular single molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer measurements, we revealed that Cas9 in apo, sgRNA-bound, and dsDNA/sgRNA-bound forms all spontaneously transits between three major conformational states, mainly reflecting significant conformational mobility of the catalytic HNH domain. We furthermore uncovered a surprising long-range allosteric communication between the HNH domain and RNA/DNA heteroduplex at the PAM-distal end to ensure correct positioning of the catalytic site, which demonstrated a unique proofreading mechanism served as the last checkpoint before DNA cleavage. Several Cas9 residues were likely to mediate the allosteric communication and proofreading step. Modulating interactions between Cas9 and heteroduplex at the distal end by introducing mutations on these sites provides an alternative route to improve and optimize the CRISPR/Cas9 toolbox.

scholarly journals Insights into Transcriptional Repression of the Homologous Toxin-Antitoxin Cassettes yefM-yoeB and axe-txe

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (23) ◽  
pp. 9062
Author(s):  
Barbara Kędzierska ◽  
Katarzyna Potrykus ◽  
Agnieszka Szalewska-Pałasz ◽  
Beata Wodzikowska
Keyword(s):  
Transcriptional Repression ◽  
Transcription Initiation ◽  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
In Vitro Transcription ◽  
High Sequence Similarity ◽  
Sequence Composition ◽  
Repressor Complex ◽  
Transcriptional Fusions

Transcriptional repression is a mechanism which enables effective gene expression switch off. The activity of most of type II toxin-antitoxin (TA) cassettes is controlled in this way. These cassettes undergo negative autoregulation by the TA protein complex which binds to the promoter/operator sequence and blocks transcription initiation of the TA operon. Precise and tight control of this process is vital to avoid uncontrolled expression of the toxin component. Here, we employed a series of in vivo and in vitro experiments to establish the molecular basis for previously observed differences in transcriptional activity and repression levels of the pyy and pat promoters which control expression of two homologous TA systems, YefM-YoeB and Axe-Txe, respectively. Transcriptional fusions of promoters with a lux reporter, together with in vitro transcription, EMSA and footprinting assays revealed that: (1) the different sequence composition of the −35 promoter element is responsible for substantial divergence in strengths of the promoters; (2) variations in repression result from the TA repressor complex acting at different steps in the transcription initiation process; (3) transcription from an additional promoter upstream of pat also contributes to the observed inefficient repression of axe-txe module. This study provides evidence that even closely related TA cassettes with high sequence similarity in the promoter/operator region may employ diverse mechanisms for transcriptional regulation of their genes.

Nucleic acid amplification-integrated single-molecule fluorescence imaging for in vitro and in vivo biosensing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fei Ma ◽  
Chen-Chen Li ◽  
Chun-Yang Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Nucleic Acid ◽  
Fluorescence Imaging ◽  
Single Molecule ◽  
High Sensitivity ◽  
Nucleic Acid Amplification ◽  
Single Molecule Fluorescence

Single-molecule fluorescence imaging is among the most advanced analytical technologies and has been widely adopted for biosensing due to its distinct advantages of simplicity, rapidity, high sensitivity, low sample consumption,...

scholarly journals Long-lasting Analgesia via Targetedin vivoEpigenetic Repression of Nav1.7

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana M. Moreno ◽  
Glaucilene F. Catroli ◽  
Fernando Alemán ◽  
Andrew Pla ◽  
Sarah A. Woller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Pain ◽  
Genome Engineering ◽  
Therapeutic Potential ◽  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Thermal Hyperalgesia ◽  
Loss Of Function ◽  
High Sequence Similarity ◽  
Inflammatory State

ABSTRACTCurrent treatments for chronic pain rely largely on opioids despite their unwanted side effects and risk of addiction. Genetic studies have identified in humans key targets pivotal to nociceptive processing, with the voltage-gated sodium channel, NaV1.7 (SCN9A), being perhaps the most promising candidate for analgesic drug development. Specifically, a hereditary loss-of-function mutation in NaV1.7 leads to insensitivity to pain without other neurodevelopmental alterations. However, the high sequence similarity between NaVsubtypes has frustrated efforts to develop selective inhibitors. Here, we investigated targeted epigenetic repression of NaV1.7 via genome engineering approaches based on clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-dCas9 and zinc finger proteins as a potential treatment for chronic pain. Towards this end, we first optimized the efficiency of NaV1.7 repressionin vitroin Neuro2A cells, and then by the lumbar intrathecal route delivered both genome-engineering platforms via adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) to assess their effects in three mouse models of pain: carrageenan-induced inflammatory pain, paclitaxel-induced neuropathic pain and BzATP-induced pain. Our results demonstrate: one, effective repression of NaV1.7 in lumbar dorsal root ganglia; two, reduced thermal hyperalgesia in the inflammatory state; three, decreased tactile allodynia in the neuropathic state; and four, no changes in normal motor function. We anticipate this genomically scarless and non-addictivepainamelioration approach enablingLong-lastingAnalgesia viaTargetedin vivoEpigeneticRepression of Nav1.7, a methodology we dubpain LATER, will have significant therapeutic potential, such as for preemptive administration in anticipation of a pain stimulus (pre-operatively), or during an established chronic pain state.One sentence summaryIn situepigenome engineering approach for genomically scarless, durable, and non-addictive management of pain.

scholarly journals Steric Regulation of Tandem Calponin Homology Domain Actin-Binding Affinity

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew R Harris ◽  
Brian Belardi ◽  
Pamela Jreij ◽  
Kathy Wei ◽  
Hengameh Shams ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cellular Localization ◽  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Point Mutations ◽  
Negative Regulator ◽  
Actin Binding ◽  
Binding Properties ◽  
High Sequence Similarity ◽  
Calponin Homology ◽  
Binding Domains

ABSTRACTTandem calponin homology (CH1-CH2) domains are common actin-binding domains in proteins that interact with and organize the actin cytoskeleton. Despite regions of high sequence similarity, CH1-CH2 domains can have remarkably different actin-binding properties, with disease-associated point mutants known to increase as well as decrease affinity for f-actin. To investigate features that affect CH1-CH2 affinity for f-actin in cells and in vitro, we perturbed the utrophin actin-binding domain by making point mutations at the CH1-CH2 interface, replacing the linker domain, and adding a PEG polymer to CH2. Consistent with a previous model describing CH2 as a steric negative regulator of actin binding, we find that utrophin CH1-CH2 affinity is both increased and decreased by modifications that change the effective ‘openness’ of CH1 and CH2 in solution. We also identified interface mutations that caused a large increase in affinity without changing solution ‘openness’, suggesting additional influences on affinity. Interestingly, we also observe non-uniform sub-cellular localization of utrophin CH1-CH2 that depends on the N-terminal flanking region but not on bulk affinity. These observations provide new insights into how small sequence changes, such as those found in diseases, can affect CH1-CH2 binding properties.

scholarly journals Enhanced Biofilm Formation and Loss of Capsule Synthesis: Deletion of a Putative Glycosyltransferase in Porphyromonas gingivalis

2006 ◽  
Vol 188 (15) ◽  
pp. 5510-5523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary E. Davey ◽  
Margaret J. Duncan
Keyword(s):  
Porphyromonas Gingivalis ◽  
Biofilm Formation ◽  
Capsular Polysaccharide ◽  
Sequence Similarity ◽  
Opportunistic Pathogen ◽  
Insertion Mutant ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
High Sequence Similarity ◽  
Biofilm Development

ABSTRACT Periodontitis is a biofilm-mediated disease. Porphyromonas gingivalis is an obligate anaerobe consistently associated with severe manifestations of this disease. As an opportunistic pathogen, the ability to proliferate within and disseminate from subgingival biofilm (plaque) is central to its virulence. Here, we report the isolation of a P. gingivalis transposon insertion mutant altered in biofilm development and the reconstruction and characterization of this mutation in three different wild-type strains. The mutation responsible for the altered biofilm phenotype was in a gene with high sequence similarity (∼61%) to a glycosyltransferase gene. The gene is located in a region of the chromosome that includes up to 16 genes predicted to be involved in the synthesis and transport of capsular polysaccharide. The phenotype of the reconstructed mutation in all three wild-type backgrounds is that of enhanced biofilm formation. In addition, in strain W83, a strain that is encapsulated, the glycosyltransferase mutation resulted in a loss of capsule. Further experiments showed that the W83 mutant strain was more hydrophobic and exhibited increased autoaggregation. Our results indicate that we have identified a gene involved in capsular-polysaccharide synthesis in P. gingivalis and that the production of capsule prevented attachment and the initiation of in vitro biofilm formation on polystyrene microtiter plates.

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