人工锌指核酸酶介导的基因组定点修饰技术

锌指核酸酶(ZFN)由锌指蛋白(ZFP)结构域和Fok I核酸内切酶的切割结构域人工融合而成,是近年来发展起来的一种可用于基因组定点改造的分子工具。ZFN可识别并结合特定的DNA序列,并通过切割这一序列的特定位点造成DNA的双链断裂(DSB)。在此基础上,人们可以对基因组的特定位点进行各种遗传操作,包括基因打靶、基因定点插入、基因修复等,从而能够方便快捷地对基因组实现靶向遗传修饰。这种新的基因组定点修饰方法的突出优势是适用性好,对物种没有选择性,并且可以在细胞和个体水平进行遗传操作。文章综述了ZFN技术的研究进展及应用前景,重点介绍ZFN的结构与作用机制、现有的靶点评估及锌指蛋白库的构建与筛选方法、基因组定点修饰的策略,以及目前利用这一技术已成功实现突变的物种及内源基因,为开展这一领域的研究工作提供参考。     

Zinc finger protein binding to DNA: an energy perspective using molecular dynamics simulation and free energy calculations on mutants of both zinc finger domains and their specific DNA bases

Energy calculations based on MM-GBSA were employed to study various zinc finger protein (ZF) motifs binding to DNA. Mutants of both the DNA bound to their specific amino acids were studied. Calculated energies gave evidence for a relationship between binding energy and affinity of ZF motifs to their sites on DNA. ΔG values were ?15.82(12), ?3.66(12), and ?12.14(11.6) kcal/mol for finger one, finger two, and finger three, respectively. The mutations in the DNA bases reduced the value of the negative energies of binding (maximum value for ΔΔG = 42Kcal/mol for F1 when GCG mutated to GGG, and ΔΔG = 22 kcal/mol for F2, the loss in total energy of binding originated in the loss in electrostatic energies upon mutation (r = .98). The mutations in key amino acids in the ZF motif in positions-1, 2, 3, and 6 showed reduced binding energies to DNA with correlation coefficients between total free energy and electrostatic was .99 and with Van der Waal was .93. Results agree with experimentally found selectivity which showed that Arginine in position-1 is specific to G, while Aspartic acid (D) in position 2 plays a complicated role in binding. There is a correlation between the MD calculated free energies of binding and those obtained experimentally for prepared ZF motifs bound to triplet bases in other reports (), our results may help in the design of ZF motifs based on the established recognition codes based on energies and contributing energies to the total energy.     

锌指蛋白核酸酶的作用原理及其应用

锌指蛋白核酸酶(Zinc finger nucleases,ZFN)因其能特异性识别并切割DNA序列以及可设计性,被用于基因定点突变和外源基因定点整合。目前,ZFN技术以其准确的靶位点设计能力和诱发高效率基因打靶的优势,越来越受到基因改造研究者的重视,已经成功应用于动植物细胞、胚胎的基因改造。随着鉴定靶DNA高亲和力的锌指蛋白(Zinc finger protein,ZFP)实验技术日渐成熟,可以预见到不久的将来这项技术会在基因工程和育种中得到广泛应用。文章介绍了锌指蛋白识别DNA靶位点和ZFN介导的基因打靶(Double strand break gene targeting,DSB-GT)的原理,同时还综述了目前ZFN技术用于基因改造的研究进展。     

KRAB型锌指蛋白的进化及在物种演化中的功能

C2H2型锌指蛋白家族是目前发现的哺乳动物中最大的转录/转录调控因子家族,由一小群古老的含有真核锌指结构的转录因子经过多次基因复制和功能分化演化而来。KRAB型锌指蛋白(KRAB-containing zinc finger proteins, KRAB-ZFPs)作为C2H2型锌指蛋白家族中最大的亚家族,最早出现在四足脊椎动物,并随物种的进化数量快速增长,在人类中占据C2H2型锌指蛋白的60%左右。在物种演化中,进化压力主要改变KRAB-ZFPs的DNA结合能力,而KRAB-ZFPs介导的转录抑制能力则稳定存在。同时,多种KRAB-ZFPs能够与KRAB相关蛋白1(KRAB-associated protein 1, KAP1)协同作用沉默哺乳动物中反转录元件的活性,并与之协同进化,严格限制反转录原件的跳跃能力。本文综述了KRAB-ZFPs的数量倍增、锌指结构的灵活多变、KRAB-ZFPs/KAP1的转录抑制能力和反转录元件的跳跃性在促进哺乳动物调控网络的差异、基因组稳定性的变化和物种进化中的作用,旨在进一步揭示KRAB-ZFPs在推动物种稳定演化中的特点和功能。     

The zinc finger domain of IKKγ (NEMO) protein in health and disease

Inhibitor of κB kinase (IKK) gamma (IKKγ), also known as nuclear factor κB (NF-κB) essential modulator (NEMO), is a component of the IKK complex that is essential for the activation of the NF-κB pathway. The NF-κB pathway plays a major role in the regulation of the expression of genes that are involved in immune response, inflammation, cell adhesion, cell survival and development. As part of the IKK complex, IKKγ plays a regulatory role by linking the complex to upstream signalling molecules. IKKγ contains two coiled-coil regions, a leucine zipper domain and a highly conserved zinc finger domain. Mutations affecting IKKγ have been associated with X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia with immune deficiency (HED-ID), with the majority of these mutations affecting the C-terminal region of the protein where the zinc finger is located. The zinc finger of IKKγ is needed for NF-κB activation in a cell- and stimulus-specific manner. The major mechanism by which the zinc finger plays this role appears to be the recognition of polyubiquitinated upstream signalling intermediates. This assertion reinforces the current notion that ubiquitination plays a major role in mediating protein–protein interactions in the NF-κB signalling pathway. Because the zinc finger domain of IKKγ is very likely involved in mediating interactions with ubiquitinated proteins, investigations that look for upstream activators or inhibitors of the IKK complex that bind to and interact with the zinc finger of IKKγ are required to gain a better insight into the exact roles of this domain and into the pathogenesis of HED-ID.     

Understanding the folding and stability of a zinc finger-based full sequence design protein with replica exchange molecular dynamics simulations

Full sequence design protein FSD-1 is a designed protein based on the motif of zinc finger protein. In this work, its folding mechanism and thermal stability are investigated using the replica exchange molecular dynamics model with the water molecules being treated explicitly. The results show that the folding of the FSD-1 is initiated by the hydrophobic collapse, which is accompanied with the formation of the C-terminal alpha-helix. Then the folding proceeds with the formation of the beta-hairpin and the further package of the hydrophobic core. Compared with the beta-hairpin, the alpha-helix has much higher stability. It is also found that the N-capping motif adopted by the FSD-1 contributes to the stability of the alpha-helix dramatically. The hydrophobic contacts made by the side chain of Tyr3 in the native state are essential for the stabilization of the beta-hairpin. It is also found that the folding of the N-terminal beta-hairpin and the C-terminal alpha-helix exhibits weak cooperativity, which is consistent with the experimental data. Meanwhile, the folding pathway is compared between the FSD-1 and the target zinc finger peptide, and the possible role of the zinc ion on the folding pathway of zinc finger is proposed. Proteins 2007. (c) 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Cell-free selection of zinc finger DNA-binding proteins using in vitro compartmentalization

We have exploited emulsion-based in vitro compartmentalization (IVC) to devise a method for the selection of zinc finger proteins (ZFPs) on the basis of their DNA-binding specificity. A library of ZFPs fused to a C-terminal peptide tag is encoded by a set of DNA cassettes that are prepared wholly in vitro. In addition to the ZFP gene, each DNA cassette also carries a given DNA target binding site sequence for which one wishes to isolate ZFP binders. An aliquot of the library is added to bacterial S30 extract and emulsified in mineral oil so that most of the aqueous droplets contain, on average, no more than one gene. If an intra-compartmentally expressed ZFP binds specifically to its encoding DNA via the target binding site, the complex can be purified by affinity capture via the peptide tag after breaking the emulsion, thus rescuing the gene. We present proof-of-principle for this IVC selection method by selecting a specific high-affinity ZFP gene from a high background of a related gene. We also propose that high-affinity ZFPs can be used as genotype-phenotype linkages to enable selection of other proteins using IVC.     

锌指核酸酶技术的应用

锌指核酸酶(zinc finger nuclease,ZFN)技术是近年来发展起来的一种对基因组DNA实现靶向修饰的新技术。ZFN通过作用于基因组DNA上特异的靶位点产生DNA双链切口(double strand break,DSB),然后经过非同源末端连接(non-homologous end joining,NHEJ)或同源重组(homologous recombination,HR)途径实现对基因组DNA的靶向敲除或者替换。该技术近些年来已经被广泛应用于基因靶向修饰的研究。本文在简要介绍ZFN技术的基础上,重点综述了目前该技术在基因靶向修饰中的应用研究进展,并同时对该技术目前所需解决的一些问题以及未来的研究方向进行了分析。     

Re-programming DNA-binding specificity in zinc finger proteins for targeting unique address in a genome

Recent studies provide a glimpse of future potential therapeutic applications of custom-designed zinc finger proteins in achieving highly specific genomic manipulation. Custom-design of zinc finger proteins with tailor-made specificity is currently limited by the availability of information on recognition helices for all possible DNA targets. However, recent advances suggest that a combination of design and selection method is best suited to identify custom zinc finger DNA-binding proteins for known genome target sites. Design of functionally self-contained zinc finger proteins can be achieved by (a) modular protein engineering and (b) computational prediction. Here, we explore the novel functionality obtained by engineered zinc finger proteins and the computational approaches for prediction of recognition helices of zinc finger proteins that can raise our ability to re-program zinc finger proteins with desired novel DNA-binding specificities.     

A multiscale approach to simulating the conformational properties of unbound multi‐C2H2 zinc finger proteins

The conformational properties of unbound multi‐Cys₂His₂ (mC₂H₂) zinc finger proteins, in which zinc finger domains are connected by flexible linkers, are studied by a multiscale approach. Three methods on different length scales are utilized. First, atomic detail molecular dynamics simulations of one zinc finger and its adjacent flexible linker confirmed that the zinc finger is more rigid than the flexible linker. Second, the end‐to‐end distance distributions of mC₂H₂ zinc finger proteins are computed using an efficient atomistic pivoting algorithm, which only takes excluded volume interactions into consideration. The end‐to‐end distance distribution gradually changes its profile, from left‐tailed to right‐tailed, as the number of zinc fingers increases. This is explained by using a worm‐like chain model. For proteins of a few zinc fingers, an effective bending constraint favors an extended conformation. Only for proteins containing more than nine zinc fingers, is a somewhat compacted conformation preferred. Third, a mesoscale model is modified to study both the local and the global conformational properties of multi‐C₂H₂ zinc finger proteins. Simulations of the CCCTC‐binding factor (CTCF), an important mC₂H₂ zinc finger protein for genome spatial organization, are presented. Proteins 2015; 83:1604–1615. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.