Class 2 CRISPR-Cas RNA-guided endonucleases: Swiss Army knives of genome editing

Stefano Stella, Pablo Alcón, Guillermo Montoya

Research output: Contribution to journalReviewResearchpeer-review

56 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

CRISPR-Cas is a bacterial defense system against phage infection and nucleic acid invasion. Class 2 type II CRISPR-Cas9 has also been widely used for genome engineering. Here, we review novel insights into the CRISPR class 2 type V enzymes, specifically Cpf1 and C2c1, which display different DNA-recognition and cleavage characteristics than those of Cas9, the best-characterized member of class 2. Recent structures of these ribonucleoprotein complexes that capture several stages of the endonuclease reaction have provided molecular details of recognition, unzipping and cleavage of the target DNA, allowing their comparison with Cas9. A detailed understanding of these mechanisms is crucial for improving these genome engineering tools and expanding the genomic space that can be targeted.

Original languageEnglish
JournalNature Structural and Molecular Biology
Volume24
Issue number11
Pages (from-to)882-892
Number of pages11
ISSN1545-9993
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2017

Keywords

  • CRISPR-Cas Systems
  • Endonucleases
  • Gene Editing
  • RNA
  • Recombinant Proteins

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