Difference between revisions of "Part:BBa K3286010"

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dCas9-AcrIIA4 gene circuit

Usage and Biology

CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) makes use of catalytically inactive variants of Cas9 (dCas9) or Cas12a (dCas12a) proteins to suppress gene expression [1]. Identical to their active counterparts, the co-expression of guide RNAs directs the ribonuclease protein (RNP) to its specific DNA target sequence. However, introduction of mutations in the RuvC1 and HNH nuclease domains of Cas9, and the RuvC I and RuvC II domains of Cas12a, cause the Cas protein to lose endonuclease activity, without impeding the DNA binding [2; 3]. This enables the reversible transcriptional inhibition by tightly DNA-bound dCas proteins, contrary to irreversible cleavage by active Cas9 or Cas12a. One way to reverse the effect of dCas-mediated gene repression is through their natural inhibitors, known as anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins. Acrs are small, phage-derived proteins blocking the natural CRISPR immune system of bacteria [4]. In most cases, they directly interfere with Cas nucleases, blocking binding or cleavage of the target DNA [5]. Therefore, Acrs may represent a powerful tool for the optimization of CRISPR/Cas-based genome editing approaches or the construction of synthetic circuits [6].

Sequence and Features

The dCas9-AcrIIA4 gene circuit mainly consists out of three parts; the AcrIIA4, the dCas9, and the sgRNA expression module (Part:BBa_K3286009, Part:BBa_K3286008, Part:BBa_K3286003). The acr expression is under the control of the L-rhamnose inducible promoter (Prha) and shares a bi-directional terminator with the dCas9 gene . The dCas9 is being expressed via the tetracyclin promoter regulated via the IPTG-inducible lacI/lac operator (Ptet/lac). The sgRNA (spacer and scaffold) are expressed by the strong constitutive J23119 promoter. The circuit was inserted and tested in the pACYC184 vector with p15a ori and chloramphenicol resistance using High Fidelity Assembly.

Sequence and Features

Functional Characterization

Fluorescence Loss Assay

dCas9 and Acr-dCas9 constructs with three different spacers each where tested in a plate reader experiment for the loss of Gfp fluorescence and restoration of Gfp signal upon acr induction. Assays were conducted in the E. coli DH10B strain carrying a genomically inserted lacUV5_gfp expression cassette. Spacers were designed to either target the –10 element of the lacUV5 promoter or within the first 100 nucleotides of the gfp cds. Figure 1 shows reduction of relative Gfp fluorescence by 90 – 99% for constructs dCas9 spacer 1 – 3. A trend is visible pointing towards spacer 1 being most effective, spacer 2 less, and spacer 3 least. The effectiveness of gfp repression correlates with the distance of the spacers from the lacUV5 promoter region. The results therefore confirm the findings of Larson et al., 2013 [16], who stated that targeting the promoter region is most effective as compared to targeting the 5’ UTR or cds further downstream. For constructs Acr-dCas spacer 1 – 3 the effect of the Acr is clearly visible as 0,2 and 1% L-rhamnose induction results in up to 90% of Gfp signal restoration. However, even if not induced via L-rhamnose, leaky acr expression restores fluorescence to an extend of 50 - 80%. Again, the efficiency of repression decreases from Spacer 1 to Spacer 3. The strong influence of acr promoter leakiness does not meet the requirements of a tight genetic switch mechanism.