Key Laboratory of Livestock Biology, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China.
College of Veterinary Medicine, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, China.
Int J Mol Sci. 2024 Aug 31;25(17):9486. doi: 10.3390/ijms25179486.
Prime editor, an editing tool based on the CRISPR/Cas9 system, allows for all 12 types of nucleotide exchanges and arbitrary indels in genomic sequences without the need for inducing DNA double-strand breaks. Despite its flexibility and precision, prime editing efficiency is still low and hindered by various factors such as target sites, editing types, and the length of the primer binding site. In this study, we developed a prime editing system by incorporating an RNA motif at the 3' terminal of the pegRNA and integrating all twin prime editor factors into a single plasmid. These two strategies enhanced prime editing efficiency at target sites by up to 3.58-fold and 2.19-fold, respectively. Subsequently, enhanced prime editor was employed in cells and embryos to efficiently insert a 38 bp attB sequence into the () and () loci. The enhanced prime editor can mediate 11.9% and 6.8% editing efficiency in parthenogenetic activation of embryos through embryo microinjection. In summary, our study introduces a modified prime editing system with improved editing and transfection efficiency, making it more suitable for inserting foreign sequences into primary cells and embryos. These results broaden the potential applications of prime editing technologies in the production of transgenic animals.
主要编辑,一种基于 CRISPR/Cas9 系统的编辑工具,允许在不诱导 DNA 双链断裂的情况下,对基因组序列进行所有 12 种核苷酸的交换和任意的缺失插入。尽管它具有灵活性和精确性,但主要编辑效率仍然较低,并受到目标位点、编辑类型和引物结合位点长度等各种因素的限制。在这项研究中,我们通过在 pegRNA 的 3' 末端加入一个 RNA 基序,并将所有双主要编辑器因子整合到一个单一的质粒中,开发了一个主要编辑系统。这两种策略分别将靶位点的主要编辑效率提高了 3.58 倍和 2.19 倍。随后,增强型主要编辑器被用于细胞和胚胎中,有效地将一个 38 个碱基对的 attB 序列插入到()和()基因座中。通过胚胎微注射,增强型主要编辑器可以介导胚胎孤雌激活的 11.9%和 6.8%的编辑效率。总之,我们的研究介绍了一种改良的主要编辑系统,具有提高的编辑和转染效率,使其更适合于将外源序列插入原代细胞和胚胎中。这些结果拓宽了主要编辑技术在转基因动物生产中的应用潜力。