CRISPR/Cas9 searches for a protospacer adjacent motif by lateral diffusion

ABSTRACT: The Streptococcus pyogenes CRISPR/Cas9 nuclease (SpyCas9) has been widely applied in genetic engineering. Despite its importance in genome editing, aspects of the precise molecular mechanism of Cas9 activity remain ambiguous. In particular, because of the lack of a method with high spatio-temporal resolution, transient interactions between Cas9 and DNA could not be reliably investigated. It therefore remains controversial how Cas9 searches for protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequences. We have developed single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (smFRET) assays to monitor transient interactions of Cas9 and DNA in real time. Our study shows that Cas9 interacts with the PAM sequence weakly, yet probing neighboring sequences via facilitated diffusion. This dynamic mode of interactions

SUBMITTER: Viktorija Globyte 

PROVIDER: S-SCDT-EMBOJ-2018-99466 | biostudies-other |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other