Project description:APOBEC-AID family of cytidine deaminase prefers single-stranded nucleic acids for cytidine to uracil deamination. Single-stranded nucleic acids are commonly involved in the DNA repair system for breaks generated by CRISPR-Cas9. Here, we show in human cells that APOBEC3s can trigger the cytidine deamination of single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotides, which ultimately results in base substitution mutations in genomic DNA through the homology-directed repair (HDR) of Cas9-generated double-strand breaks . In addition, the APOBEC3-catalyzed deamination in genomic single-stranded DNA formed during the repair of Cas9 nickase-generated single-strand breaks can be further processed to yield mutations mainly involving insertions or deletions (indels). Mechanistically, both APOBEC3-mediated deamination and DNA repair proteins play important roles in the generation of these indels. Correspondingly, optimizing conditions for the repair of CRISPR-Cas9-generated DNA breaks, such as using double-stranded donors in HDR or temporarily suppressing endogenous APOBEC3s, can substantially repress these unwanted mutations in genomic DNA.
Project description:The RNA-guided DNA endonuclease Cas9 has emerged as a powerful new tool for genome engineering. Cas9 creates targeted double-strand breaks (DSBs) in the genome. Knock-in of specific mutations (precision genome editing) requires homology-directed repair (HDR) of the DSB by synthetic donor DNAs containing the desired edits, but HDR has been reported to be variably efficient. Here, we report that linear DNAs (single and double-stranded) engage in a high-efficiency HDR mechanism that requires only ~35 nucleotides of homology with the targeted locus to introduce edits ranging from 1 to 1000 nucleotides. We demonstrate the utility of linear donors by introducing fluorescent protein tags in human cells and mouse embryos using PCR fragments. We find that repair is local, polarity-sensitive, and prone to template switching, characteristics that are consistent with gene conversion by synthesis-dependent strand-annealing (SDSA). Our findings enable rational design of synthetic donor DNAs for efficient genome editing.
Project description:Gene disruption by CRISPR/Cas9 is highly efficient and relies on the error-prone non-homologous end-joining (NHEJ) pathway. Conversely, precise gene editing requires homology-directed repair (HDR), which occurs at a lower frequency than NHEJ in mammalian cells. Here, by testing whether manipulation of DNA repair factors would improve HDR efficacy, we show that transient ectopic co-expression of RAD52 and a dominant-negative 53BP1 (dn53BP1) synergize to enable efficient HDR using a single-stranded oligonucleotide DNA donor template at multiple loci in human cells, including patient-derived induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells. Co-expression of RAD52 and dn53BP1 improves multiplexed HDR-mediated editing, whereas expression of RAD52 alone enhances HDR with Cas9 nickase. Our data show that the frequency of NHEJ-mediated DSB repair in the presence of these two factors is not suppressed, and suggest that dn53BP1 competitively antagonizes 53BP1 to augment HDR in combination with RAD52. Importantly, co-expression of RAD52 and dn53BP1 does not alter Cas9 off-target activity. These findings support the use of RAD52 and dn53BP1 co-expression to overcome bottlenecks that limit HDR in precision genome editing.
Project description:Undesired on- and off-target effects of CRISPR-Cas nucleases remain a challenge in therapeutic genome editing. While the use of Cas9 nickases has been shown to minimize off-target mutagenesis, their use in therapeutic genome editing has been hampered by a lack of efficacy. To overcome this limitation, we and others have developed double nickase-based strategies to generate staggered DNA double breaks to mediate gene disruption or gene correction with high efficiency. However, the impact of paired single-strand nicks on genome integrity has remained largely unexplored. Here, we developed a novel CAST-Seq pipeline, D-CAST, to characterize chromosomal rearrangements induced by paired CRISPR-Cas9 nickases at three different loci in primary keratinocytes derived from epidermolysis bullosa patients. While targeting COL7A1, COL17A1, or LAMA3 with Cas9 nucleases caused previously undescribed chromosomal rearrangements, no chromosomal translocations were detected following single or paired Cas9-based nickase editing. Conversely, whereas single nickase applications did not result in gross genomic aberrations, the double nicking strategy induced large deletions/inversions within a 10 kb region surrounding the target sites at all three loci, similar to the nucleases. Taken together, our data indicate that double-nickase approaches combine efficient editing with greatly reduced off-target effects, but still leave substantial chromosomal rearrangements at on-target sites.
Project description:Undesired on- and off-target effects of CRISPR-Cas nucleases remain a challenge in therapeutic genome editing. While the use of Cas9 nickases has been shown to minimize off-target mutagenesis, their use in therapeutic genome editing has been hampered by a lack of efficacy. To overcome this limitation, we and others have developed double nickase-based strategies to generate staggered DNA double breaks to mediate gene disruption or gene correction with high efficiency. However, the impact of paired single-strand nicks on genome integrity has remained largely unexplored. Here, we developed a novel CAST-Seq pipeline, D-CAST, to characterize chromosomal rearrangements induced by paired CRISPR-Cas9 nickases at three different loci in primary keratinocytes derived from epidermolysis bullosa patients. While targeting COL7A1, COL17A1, or LAMA3 with Cas9 nucleases caused previously undescribed chromosomal rearrangements, no chromosomal translocations were detected following single or paired Cas9-based nickase editing. Conversely, whereas single nickase applications did not result in gross genomic aberrations, the double nicking strategy induced large deletions/inversions within a 10 kb region surrounding the target sites at all three loci, similar to the nucleases. Taken together, our data indicate that double-nickase approaches combine efficient editing with greatly reduced off-target effects, but still leave substantial chromosomal rearrangements at on-target sites.
Project description:Undesired on- and off-target effects of CRISPR-Cas nucleases remain a challenge in therapeutic genome editing. While the use of Cas9 nickases has been shown to minimize off-target mutagenesis, their use in therapeutic genome editing has been hampered by a lack of efficacy. To overcome this limitation, we and others have developed double nickase-based strategies to generate staggered DNA double breaks to mediate gene disruption or gene correction with high efficiency. However, the impact of paired single-strand nicks on genome integrity has remained largely unexplored. Here, we developed a novel CAST-Seq pipeline, D-CAST, to characterize chromosomal rearrangements induced by paired CRISPR-Cas9 nickases at three different loci in primary keratinocytes derived from epidermolysis bullosa patients. While targeting COL7A1, COL17A1, or LAMA3 with Cas9 nucleases caused previously undescribed chromosomal rearrangements, no chromosomal translocations were detected following single or paired Cas9-based nickase editing. Conversely, whereas single nickase applications did not result in gross genomic aberrations, the double nicking strategy induced large deletions/inversions within a 10 kb region surrounding the target sites at all three loci, similar to the nucleases. Taken together, our data indicate that double-nickase approaches combine efficient editing with greatly reduced off-target effects, but still leave substantial chromosomal rearrangements at on-target sites.
Project description:Undesired on- and off-target effects of CRISPR-Cas nucleases remain a challenge in therapeutic genome editing. While the use of Cas9 nickases has been shown to minimize off-target mutagenesis, their use in therapeutic genome editing has been hampered by a lack of efficacy. To overcome this limitation, we and others have developed double nickase-based strategies to generate staggered DNA double breaks to mediate gene disruption or gene correction with high efficiency. However, the impact of paired single-strand nicks on genome integrity has remained largely unexplored. Here, we developed a novel CAST-Seq pipeline, D-CAST, to characterize chromosomal rearrangements induced by paired CRISPR-Cas9 nickases at three different loci in primary keratinocytes derived from epidermolysis bullosa patients. While targeting COL7A1, COL17A1, or LAMA3 with Cas9 nucleases caused previously undescribed chromosomal rearrangements, no chromosomal translocations were detected following single or paired Cas9-based nickase editing. Conversely, whereas single nickase applications did not result in gross genomic aberrations, the double nicking strategy induced large deletions/inversions within a 10 kb region surrounding the target sites at all three loci, similar to the nucleases. Taken together, our data indicate that double-nickase approaches combine efficient editing with greatly reduced off-target effects, but still leave substantial chromosomal rearrangements at on-target sites.
Project description:Undesired on- and off-target effects of CRISPR-Cas nucleases remain a challenge in genome editing. While the use of Cas9 nickases has been shown to minimize off-target mutagenesis, their use in therapeutic genome editing has been hampered by a lack of efficacy. To overcome this limitation, we and others have developed double nickase-based strategies to generate staggered DNA double-strand breaks to mediate gene disruption or gene correction with high efficiency. However, the impact of paired single-strand nicks on genome integrity has remained largely unexplored. Here, we developed a novel CAST-Seq pipeline, D-CAST, to characterize chromosomal aberrations induced by paired CRISPR-Cas9 nickases at three different loci in primary keratinocytes derived from epidermolysis bullosa patients. While targeting COL7A1, COL17A1, or LAMA3 with Cas9 nucleases caused previously undescribed chromosomal rearrangements, no chromosomal translocations were detected following paired nickase editing. While the double nicking strategy induced large deletions/inversions within a 10 kb region surrounding the target sites at all three loci, similar to the nucleases, the chromosomal on-target aberrations were qualitatively different and included a high proportion of insertions. Taken together, our data indicate that double-nickase approaches combine efficient editing with greatly reduced off-target effects, but still leave substantial chromosomal aberrations at on-target sites.
Project description:DNA methyltransferases (DNMTs) are thought to be involved in the cellular response to DNA damage, thus linking DNA repair mechanisms with DNA methylation. This study presents a novel method of targeted DNA methylation that utilizes endogenous DNA double strand break repair pathways and applies it to the neurodegenerative disease gene C9orf72. A double strand break induced by CRISPR/cas9 in the promoter of C9orf72 is sufficient to induce DNA methylation, and methylation can be precisely targeted through the process of homology directed repair (HDR) via delivery of an in vitro methylated exogenous repair template. Long methylated double stranded DNA templates induce more methylation than shorter templates and with higher efficiency than a dCas9-DNMT3a fusion protein construct. Genome-wide methylation analysis reveals no significant off-target methylation changes when inducing methylation via HDR, whereas the dCas9-DNMT3a fusion construct causes significant off-target methylation at over 67,000 sites. This method is applied to generate a patient derived iPSC model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia (ALS/FTD) that exhibits stable DNA methylation patterns similar to those seen in patients. Using this model, it’s shown for the first time that DNA methylation of the 5’ regulatory region directly reduces C9orf72 expression and increases histone H3K9 tri-methylation levels.