Rational engineering of a modular bacterial CRISPR-Cas activation platform with expanded target range.

ABSTRACT: CRISPR-Cas activator (CRISPRa) systems that selectively turn on transcription of a target gene are a potentially transformative technology for programming cellular function. While in eukaryotes versatile CRISPRa systems exist, in bacteria these systems suffer from a limited ability to activate different genes due to strict distance-dependent requirements of functional target binding sites, and require greater customization to optimize performance in different genetic and cellular contexts. To address this, we apply a rational protein engineering approach to create a new CRISPRa platform that is highly modular to allow for easy customization and has increased targeting flexibility through harnessing engineered Cas proteins. We first demonstrate that transcription activation domains can be r

SUBMITTER: Villegas Kcam MC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8096225 | biostudies-literature | 2021 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature