Synthetic Oligonucleotides Inhibit CRISPR-Cpf1-Mediated Genome Editing.

ABSTRACT: Previously, researchers discovered a series of anti-CRISPR proteins that inhibit CRISPR-Cas activity, such as Cas9 and Cpf1 (Cas12a). Herein, we constructed crRNA variants consisting of chemically modified DNA-crRNA and RNA-crRNA duplexes and identified that phosphorothioate (PS)-modified DNA-crRNA duplex completely blocked the function of Cpf1. More important, without prehybridization, these PS-modified DNA oligonucleotides showed the ability to suppress DNA double-strand breaks induced by two Cpf1 orthologs, AsCpf1 and LbCpf1. Time-dependent inhibitory effects were validated in multiple loci of different human cells. Further studies demonstrated that PS-modified DNA oligonucleotides were able to serve as Cpf1 inhibitors in a sequence-independent manner. Mechanistic studies indicate that

SUBMITTER: Li B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6326575 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature