利用dCas9-FokI编辑大鼠Dnmt1基因

CRISPR/Cas9的发现为多种生物的基因编辑提供了强有力的工具。然而,该系统在提供靶向性基因修饰的同时,会产生一些不需要的突变,即脱靶现象。为提高CRISPR/Cas9的特异性,我们将野生型FokI核酸内切酶的功能结构域与催化功能区失活的Cas9蛋白(dCas9)进行融合,形成融合蛋白用于降低脱靶效应。FokⅠ是一种依赖于二聚化才能行使内切酶活性的核酸酶,在本研究中,通过将FokⅠ功能结构融合到dCas9的N端,构建表达质粒pST1374-dCas9-FokⅠ。我们前期研究中,发现一个sgRNA在介导Cas9编辑Dnmt1基因建立条件敲除大鼠时,存在显著的脱靶现象。以此为基础,我们利用dCas9-FokⅠ/sgRNA系统编辑大鼠Dnmt1基因,研究该系统是否能够进行基因编辑以及是否能够提高基因编辑特异性。将转录好的dCas9-FokⅠ mRNA和sgRNA显微注射到SD大鼠的受精卵中,用于产生基因编辑大鼠。通过显微注射以及胚胎移植,最终获得43只F0代大鼠,其中两只在靶点位置包含突变,突变效率达4.5%。对脱靶情况进行分析,结果显示,无脱靶现象存在。综上,表明dCas9-FokⅠ/sgRNA可以应用于编辑大鼠基因,并能显著提高特异性。尽管dCas9-FokⅠ/sgRNA系统相比于Cas9/sgRNA系统,基因编辑效率有所下降,但是该技术的发展为基因治疗提供了可供选择的潜在工具。     

CRISPR/Cas9-Mediated Genome Editing in Soybean Hairy Roots

As a new technology for gene editing, the CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat)/Cas (CRISPR-associated) system has been rapidly and widely used for genome engineering in various organisms. In the present study, we successfully applied type II CRISPR/Cas9 system to generate and estimate genome editing in the desired target genes in soybean (Glycine max (L.) Merrill.). The single-guide RNA (sgRNA) and Cas9 cassettes were assembled on one vector to improve transformation efficiency, and we designed a sgRNA that targeted a transgene (bar) and six sgRNAs that targeted different sites of two endogenous soybean genes (GmFEI2 and GmSHR). The targeted DNA mutations were detected in soybean hairy roots. The results demonstrated that this customized CRISPR/Cas9 system shared the same efficiency for both endogenous and exogenous genes in soybean hairy roots. We also performed experiments to detect the potential of CRISPR/Cas9 system to simultaneously edit two endogenous soybean genes using only one customized sgRNA. Overall, generating and detecting the CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome modifications in target genes of soybean hairy roots could rapidly assess the efficiency of each target loci. The target sites with higher efficiencies can be used for regular soybean transformation. Furthermore, this method provides a powerful tool for root-specific functional genomics studies in soybean.     

A CRISPR/dCas9-assisted system to clone toxic genes in Escherichia coli

BackgroundThe cloning of toxic genes in E. coli requires strict regulation of the target genes' leaky expression. Many methods facilitating successful gene cloning of toxic genes are commonly exploited, but the applicability is severely limited.MethodsA CRISPR/dCas9-assisted system was used to clone toxic genes in E. coli. The plasmid-based and genome-integrated systems were designed in this study. And the green fluorescent protein characterization system was used to test the repression efficiency of the two systems.ResultsWe optimized the plasmid-based CRISPR/dCas9-assisted repression system via testing different sgRNAs targeting the Ptrc promoter and achieved inhibition efficiency up to 64.8%. The genome-integrated system represented 35.9% decreased GFP expression and was successfully employed to cloned four toxic genes from Corynebacterium glutamicum in E. coli.ConclusionsUsing this method, we successfully cloned four C. glutamicum-derived toxic genes that had been failed to clone in conventional ways. The CRISPR/dCas9-assisted gene cloning method was a promising tool to facilitate precise gene cloning of different origins in E. coli.General significanceThis system will be useful for cloning toxic genes from different origins in E. coli, and can accelerate the related research of gene characterization and heterologous expression in the metagenomic era.     

Demonstration of CRISPR/Cas9/sgRNA-mediated targeted gene modification in Arabidopsis,tobacco, sorghum and rice

The type II CRISPR/Cas system from Streptococcus pyogenes and its simplified derivative, the Cas9/single guide RNA (sgRNA) system, have emerged as potent new tools for targeted gene knockout in bacteria, yeast, fruit fly, zebrafish and human cells. Here, we describe adaptations of these systems leading to successful expression of the Cas9/sgRNA system in two dicot plant species, Arabidopsis and tobacco, and two monocot crop species, rice and sorghum. Agrobacterium tumefaciens was used for delivery of genes encoding Cas9, sgRNA and a non-fuctional, mutant green fluorescence protein (GFP) to Arabidopsis and tobacco. The mutant GFP gene contained target sites in its 5′ coding regions that were successfully cleaved by a CAS9/sgRNA complex that, along with error-prone DNA repair, resulted in creation of functional GFP genes. DNA sequencing confirmed Cas9/sgRNA-mediated mutagenesis at the target site. Rice protoplast cells transformed with Cas9/sgRNA constructs targeting the promoter region of the bacterial blight susceptibility genes, OsSWEET14 and OsSWEET11, were confirmed by DNA sequencing to contain mutated DNA sequences at the target sites. Successful demonstration of the Cas9/sgRNA system in model plant and crop species bodes well for its near-term use as a facile and powerful means of plant genetic engineering for scientific and agricultural applications.     

Protospacer Adjacent Motif (PAM)-Distal Sequences Engage CRISPR Cas9 DNA Target Cleavage

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-associated enzyme Cas9 is an RNA-guided nuclease that has been widely adapted for genome editing in eukaryotic cells. However, the in vivo target specificity of Cas9 is poorly understood and most studies rely on in silico predictions to define the potential off-target editing spectrum. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq), we delineate the genome-wide binding panorama of catalytically inactive Cas9 directed by two different single guide (sg) RNAs targeting the Trp53 locus. Cas9:sgRNA complexes are able to load onto multiple sites with short seed regions adjacent to ^5′NGG^3′ protospacer adjacent motifs (PAM). Yet among 43 ChIP-seq sites harboring seed regions analyzed for mutational status, we find editing only at the intended on-target locus and one off-target site. In vitro analysis of target site recognition revealed that interactions between the 5′ end of the guide and PAM-distal target sequences are necessary to efficiently engage Cas9 nucleolytic activity, providing an explanation for why off-target editing is significantly lower than expected from ChIP-seq data.     

Successful Transient Expression of Cas9 and Single Guide RNA Genes in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 system has become a powerful and precise tool for targeted gene modification (e.g., gene knockout and gene replacement) in numerous eukaryotic organisms. Initial attempts to apply this technology to a model, the single-cell alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, failed to yield cells containing edited genes. To determine if the Cas9 and single guide RNA (sgRNA) genes were functional in C. reinhardtii, we tested the ability of a codon-optimized Cas9 gene along with one of four different sgRNAs to cause targeted gene disruption during a 24-h period immediately following transformation. All three exogenously supplied gene targets as well as the endogenous FKB12 (rapamycin sensitivity) gene of C. reinhardtii displayed distinct Cas9/sgRNA-mediated target site modifications as determined by DNA sequencing of cloned PCR amplicons of the target site region. Success in transient expression of Cas9 and sgRNA genes contrasted with the recovery of only a single rapamycin-resistant colony bearing an appropriately modified FKB12 target site in 16 independent transformation experiments involving >10⁹ cells. Failure to recover transformants with intact or expressed Cas9 genes following transformation with the Cas9 gene alone (or even with a gene encoding a Cas9 lacking nuclease activity) provided strong suggestive evidence for Cas9 toxicity when Cas9 is produced constitutively in C. reinhardtii. The present results provide compelling evidence that Cas9 and sgRNA genes function properly in C. reinhardtii to cause targeted gene modifications and point to the need for a focus on development of methods to properly stem Cas9 production and/or activity following gene editing.     

利用CRISPR/Cas9技术靶向KRAS或TP53突变抑制SW620细胞的增殖

摘要 目的：运用CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑工具研究靶向SW620细胞系中KRAS或TP53突变对细胞增殖活性的影响。方法：针对SW620细胞中KRAS和TP53的突变位点设计sgRNA,并利用TIDE法检测sgRNA的切割效率。通过细胞增殖实验检测靶向KRAS或TP53突变后SW620细胞增殖活性的改变,并应用Annexin V-FITC/PI双染法检测细胞凋亡水平的变化。结果：分别构建了靶向SW620细胞系中KRAS和TP53突变的sgRNA质粒,并通过TIDE分析验证了sgRNA的内源切割效率;细胞增殖实验及细胞凋亡检测显示,靶向突变的KRAS或TP53基因后,SW620细胞增殖活性明显减弱,凋亡水平明显升高（P<0.05）。结论：本研究基于CRISPR/Cas9技术实现了对SW620细胞系中突变的KRAS和TP53的基因编辑,发现靶向KRAS或TP53突变能够明显抑制SW620细胞的增殖活性并促进细胞凋亡,为结直肠癌相关靶点治疗提供了体外实验依据。     

Guide-target mismatch effects on dCas9–sgRNA binding activity in living bacterial cells

As an effective programmable DNA targeting tool, CRISPR–Cas9 system has been adopted in varieties of biotechnological applications. However, the off-target effects, derived from the tolerance towards guide-target mismatches, are regarded as the major problems in engineering CRISPR systems. To understand this, we constructed two sgRNA libraries carrying saturated single- and double-nucleotide mismatches in living bacteria cells, and profiled the comprehensive landscape of in vivo binding affinity of dCas9 toward DNA target guided by each individual sgRNA with particular mismatches. We observed a synergistic effect in seed, where combinatorial double mutations caused more severe activity loss compared with the two corresponding single mutations. Moreover, we found that a particular mismatch type, dDrG (D = A, T, G), only showed moderate impairment on binding. To quantitatively understand the causal relationship between mismatch and binding behaviour of dCas9, we further established a biophysical model, and found that the thermodynamic properties of base-pairing coupled with strand invasion process, to a large extent, can account for the observed mismatch-activity landscape. Finally, we repurposed this model, together with a convolutional neural network constructed based on the same mechanism, as a predictive tool to guide the rational design of sgRNA in bacterial CRISPR interference.     

CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated gene knockout in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis

Knockout of genes with CRISPR/Cas9 is a newly emerged approach to investigate functions of genes in various organisms. We demonstrate that CRISPR/Cas9 can mutate endogenous genes of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis, a splendid model for elucidating molecular mechanisms for constructing the chordate body plan. Short guide RNA (sgRNA) and Cas9 mRNA, when they are expressed in Ciona embryos by means of microinjection or electroporation of their expression vectors, introduced mutations in the target genes. The specificity of target choice by sgRNA is relatively high compared to the reports from some other organisms, and a single nucleotide mutation at the sgRNA dramatically reduced mutation efficiency at the on‐target site. CRISPR/Cas9‐mediated mutagenesis will be a powerful method to study gene functions in Ciona along with another genome editing approach using TALE nucleases.     

Expansion of CRISPR targeting sites in Bombyx mori

The CRISPR/Cas9 system has been proven as a revolutionary genome engineering tool. In most cases, single guide RNA (sgRNA) targeting sites have been designed as GN19NGG or GGN18NGG, because of restriction of the initiation nucleotide for RNA Pol III promoters. Here, we demonstrate that the U6 promoter from a lepidopteran model insect, Bombyx mori, effectively expressed the sgRNA initiated with any nucleotide bases (adenine, thymine, guanine or cytosine), which further expands the CRISPR targeting space. A detailed expansion index in the genome was analysed when N20NGG was set as the CRISPR targeting site instead of GN19NGG, and revealed a significant increase of suitable targets, with the highest increase occurring on the Z sex chromosome. Transfection of different types of N20NGG sgRNAs targeting the enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) combined with Cas9, significantly reduced EGFP expression in the BmN cells. An endogenous gene, BmBLOS2, was also disrupted by using various types of N20NGG sgRNAs, and the cleavage efficiency of N20NGG sgRNAs with different initial nucleotides and GC contents was evaluated in vitro. Furthermore, transgenic silkworms expressing Cas9 and sgRNAs targeting the BmBLOS2 gene were generated with many types of mutagenesis. The typical transparent skin phenotype in knock-out silkworms was stable and inheritable, suggesting that N20NGG sgRNAs function sufficiently in vivo. Our findings represent a renewal of CRISPR/Cas9 target design and will greatly facilitate insect functional genetics research.