The microbial adaptive immune system CRISPR mediates defense against foreign genetic elements through two classes of RNA-guided nuclease effectors. Class 1 effectors utilize multi-protein complexes, whereas Class 2 effectors rely on single-component effector proteins such as the well-characterized Cas9. Here we report characterization of Cpf1, a putative Class 2 CRISPR effector. We demonstrate that Cpf1 mediates robust DNA interference with features distinct from Cas9. Cpf1 is a single RNA-guided endonuclease lacking tracrRNA, and it utilizes a T-rich protospacer adjacent motif. Moreover, Cpf1 cleaves DNA via a staggered DNA double stranded break. Out of 16 Cpf1-family proteins, we identified two candidate enzymes, from Acidominococcus and Lachnospiraceae, with efficient genome editing activity in human cells. Identifying this mechanism of interference broadens our understanding of CRISPR-Cas systems and advances their genome editing applications.

The RNA-guided endonuclease Cas9 has emerged as a versatile genome-editing platform. However, the size of the commonly used Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9) limits its utility for basic research and therapeutic applications that employ the highly versatile adeno-associated virus (AAV) delivery vehicle. Here, we characterize six smaller Cas9 orthologs and show that Cas9 from Staphylococcus aureus (SaCas9) can edit the genome with efficiencies similar to those of SpCas9, while being >1kb shorter. We packaged SaCas9 and its sgRNA expression cassette into a single AAV vector and targeted the cholesterol regulatory gene Pcsk9 in the mouse liver. Within one week of injection, we observed >40% gene modification, accompanied by significant reductions in serum Pcsk9 and total cholesterol levels. We further demonstrate the power of using BLESS to assess the genome-wide targeting specificity of SaCas9 and SpCas9, and show that SaCas9 can mediate genome editing in vivo with high specificity.

The RNA-guided endonuclease Cas9 is a versatile genome editing tool with a broad range of applications from therapeutics to functional annotation of genes. Cas9 creates double-strand breaks (DSBs) at targeted genomic loci complementary to a short RNA guide. However, Cas9 can cleave off-target sites that are not fully complementary to the guide, which poses a major challenge for genome editing. Here, we use structure-guided protein engineering to improve the specificity of Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9). Using targeted deep sequencing and unbiased whole-genome off-target analysis to assess Cas9-mediated DNA cleavage in human cells, we demonstrate that “enhanced specificity” SpCas9 (eSpCas9) variants reduce off-target effects and maintain robust on-target cleavage. Thus, eSpCas9 could be broadly useful for genome editing applications requiring a high level of specificity.

Cpf1 is an RNA-guided endonuclease of a type V CRISPR-Cas system that has been recently harnessed for genome editing. Here, we report the crystal structure of Acidaminococcus sp. Cpf1 (AsCpf1) in complex with the guide RNA and its target DNA, at 2.8 Å resolution. AsCpf1 adopts a bilobed architecture, with the RNA–DNA heteroduplex bound inside the central channel. The structural comparison of AsCpf1 with Cas9, a type II CRISPR-Cas nuclease, reveals both striking similarity and major differences, thereby explaining their distinct functionalities. AsCpf1 contains the RuvC domain and a putative novel nuclease domain, which are responsible for the cleavage of the non-target and target strands, respectively, and jointly generate staggered DNA double-strand breaks. AsCpf1 recognizes the 5′-TTTN-3′ protospacer adjacent motif by base and shape readout mechanisms. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into RNA-guided DNA cleavage by Cpf1, and establish a framework for rational engineering of the CRISPR-Cpf1 toolbox.

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SUMMARY The RNA-guided DNA endonuclease Cas9 cleaves double-stranded DNA targets with a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) and complementarity to the guide RNA. Recently, we harnessed Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 (SaCas9), which is significantly smaller than Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9), to facilitate efficient in vivo genome editing. Here, we report the crystal structures of SaCas9 in complex with a single guide RNA (sgRNA) and its double-stranded DNA targets, containing the 5′-TTGAAT-3′ PAM and the 5′-TTGGGT-3′ PAM, at 2.6 and 2.7 Å resolutions, respectively. The structures revealed the mechanism of the relaxed recognition of the 5′-NNGRRT-3′ PAM by SaCas9. A structural comparison of SaCas9 with SpCas9 highlighted both structural conservation and divergence, explaining their distinct PAM specificities and orthologous sgRNA recognition. Finally, we applied the structural information about this minimal Cas9 to rationally design compact transcriptional activators and inducible nucleases, to further expand the CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing toolbox.

Background: Prokaryotes have evolved multiple systems to combat invaders such as viruses and plasmids. Examples of such defence systems include receptor masking, restriction-modification (R-M systems), DNA interference (Argonaute), bacteriophage exclusion (BREX or PGL) and abortive infection, all of which act in an innate, non-specific manner. In addition, prokaryotes have evolved adaptive, heritable immune systems, i.e. clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and the CRISPR-associated proteins (CRISPR-Cas). Adaptive immunity is conferred by the integration of DNA sequences from an invading element into the CRISPR array (adaptation), which is transcribed into long pre-CRISPR (pre-cr) RNAs and processed into short crRNAs (expression), which guide Cas proteins to specifically degrade the cognate DNA on subsequent exposures (interference). Advances:A plethora of distinct CRISPR-Cas systems are represented in genomes of most archaea and almost half of the bacteria. The latest CRISPR-Cas classification scheme delineates two classes that are each subdivided into three types. Integration of biochemistry and molecular genetics has contributed significantly to revealing many of the unique features of the variant CRISPR-Cas types. Additionally, structural analysis and single molecule studies have further advanced our understanding of the molecular basis of CRISPR-Cas functionality. Recent progress includes relevant steps in the adaptation stage, when fragments of foreign DNA are processed and incorporated as new spacers into the CRISPR array. In addition, three novel CRISPR-Cas types (IV, V, and VI) have been identified, and in particular, the type V interference complexes have been experimentally characterized. Moreover, the ability to easily program sequence-specific DNA targeting and cleavage by CRISPRCas components, as demonstrated for Cas9 and Cpf1, allows for the application of CRISPR-Cas components as highly effective tools for genetic engineering and gene regulation in a wide range of eukaryotes and prokaryotes.The pressing issue of off-target cleavage by the Cas9 nuclease is being actively addressed using structure-guided engineering.Outlook: Although our understanding of the CRISPR-Cas system has increased tremendously over the past few years, much remains to be done. About the evolution of CRISPR-Cas systems, the continuing discovery of novel CRISPR-Cas variants will provide direct tests of the recently proposed modular scenario. The recent discovery and characterization of new CRISPR-Cas types with many unique features implies that our current knowledge has relatively limited power for predicting the functional details of distantly related variants. Hence, newly discovered CRISPR-Cas systems need to be thoroughly dissected with the aforementioned multi-disciplinary approaches to gain insight in their biological role, to unravel their molecular mechanism, and to harness their potential for biotechnology. As to the biology, key outstanding questions include the ecological roles of microbial ...