CRISPR/dCas9‐mediated transposition with specificity and efficiency of site‐directed genomic insertions

The ability and efficiency of targeted nucleases to perform sequence replacements or insertions into the genome are limited. This limited efficiency for sequence replacements or insertions can be explained by the dependency on DNA repair pathways, the possibility of cellular toxicity, and unwanted a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The FASEB journal 2021-02, Vol.35 (2), p.e21359-n/a
Main Authors: Goshayeshi, Lena, Yousefi Taemeh, Sara, Dehdilani, Nima, Nasiri, Mohammadreza, Ghahramani Seno, Mohammad M., Dehghani, Hesam
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
CRISPR-Associated Protein 9 - metabolism
CRISPR-Cas Systems
CRISPR‐associated protein 9
gene insertion
Gene Knock-In Techniques - methods
Genes, Reporter
HEK293 Cells
Humans
Insertional mutagenesis
Mutagenesis, Insertional
piggyBac transposase
RNA, Guide, CRISPR-Cas Systems - metabolism
transposases
Transposases - genetics
Transposases - metabolism
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Summary:The ability and efficiency of targeted nucleases to perform sequence replacements or insertions into the genome are limited. This limited efficiency for sequence replacements or insertions can be explained by the dependency on DNA repair pathways, the possibility of cellular toxicity, and unwanted activation of proto‐oncogenes. The piggyBac (PB) transposase uses a very efficient enzymatic mechanism to integrate DNA fragments into the genome in a random manner. In this study, we fused an RNA‐guided catalytically inactive Cas9 (dCas9) to the PB transposase and used dual sgRNAs to localize this molecule to specific genomic targets. We designed and used a promoter/reporter complementation assay to register and recover cells harboring‐specific integrations, where only by complementation upon correct genomic integration, the reporter can be activated. Using an RNA‐guided piggyBac transposase and dual sgRNAs, we were able to achieve site‐directed integrations in the human ROSA26 safe harbor region in 0.32% of cells. These findings show that the methodology used in this study can be used for targeting genomic regions. An application for this finding could be in cancer cells to insert sequences into specific target regions that are intended to be destroyed, or to place promoter cargos behind the tumor suppressor genes to activate them.
ISSN:0892-6638
1530-6860
DOI:10.1096/fj.202001830RR