Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Center of Life Sciences, Moscow, 121205, Russia.
Center for Precision Genome Editing and Genetic Technologies for Biomedicine, Institute of Gene Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 119334, Russia.
Nucleic Acids Res. 2020 Dec 2;48(21):12297-12309. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaa998.
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.
CRISPR-Cas 防御系统因其易于利用效应 Cas 核酸酶与向导 RNA 结合而成为基因组编辑领域的研究热点,从而能够靶向理想的基因组位点。来自酿脓链球菌的 II-A 型 SpCas9 是最早用于基因组编辑的 Cas9 核酸酶,也是目前最受欢迎的 Cas9 酶。然而,SpCas9 存在一些缺点,包括相对较大的尺寸和只能靶向侧翼为“NGG”PAM 序列的靶标。更为紧凑的 II-C 型 Cas9 同源物有助于克服 SpCas9 的尺寸限制。然而,迄今为止,只有少数 II-C 型核酸酶得到了充分的表征。在这里,我们对来自 Defluviimonas sp.20V17 的 DfCas9 和来自巴氏嗜血杆菌的 PpCas9 这两种 Cas9 II-C 同源物进行了表征。DfCas9 和 PpCas9 都能在体外切割 DNA,并且具有新的 PAM 需求。与 DfCas9 不同,PpCas9 核酸酶在人细胞中具有活性。这种小的核酸酶需要与 SpCas9 正交的“NNNNRTT”PAM,因此有可能拓宽 Cas9 在生物医学和生物技术中的应用范围。
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