Part:BBa_K5237003
Cas-Staple: SV40 NLS-dMbCas12a-dSpCas9-Nucleoplasmin NLS
Fusion of the Cas staple subunits dMbCas12a (BBa_K5237001) and dSpCas9 (BBa_K5237002) to generate a bivalent protein staple capable of bringing any two sequences into proximity. It can be combined with a fusion gRNA (BBa_K5237000)
Contents
While synthetic biology has in the past focused on engineering the genomic sequence of organisms, the 3D
spatial organization of DNA is well-known to be an important layer of information encoding in
particular in eukaryotes, playing a crucial role in
gene regulation and hence
cell fate, disease development, evolution, and more. However, tools to precisely manipulate and control the
genomic spatial
architecture are limited, hampering the exploration of
3D genome engineering in synthetic biology. We - the iGEM Team Heidelberg 2024 - have developed PICasSO, a
powerful
molecular toolbox for rationally engineering genome 3D architectures in living cells, based on
various DNA-binding proteins.
The PICasSO part collection offers a comprehensive, modular platform for precise manipulation and re-programming of DNA-DNA interactions using engineered "protein staples" in living cells. This enables researchers to recreate naturally occurring alterations of 3D genomic interactions, such as enhancer hijacking in cancer, or to design entirely new spatial architectures for artificial gene regulation and cell function control. Specifically, the fusion of two DNA binding proteins enables to artificially bring otherwise distant genomic loci into spatial proximity. To unlock the system's full potential, we introduce versatile chimeric CRISPR/Cas complexes, connected either at the protein or - in the case of CRISPR/Cas-based DNA binding moieties - the guide RNA level. These complexes are referred to as protein- or Cas staples, respectively. Beyond its versatility with regard to the staple constructs themselves, PICasSO includes robust assay systems to support the engineering, optimization, and testing of new staples in vitro and in vivo. Notably, the PICasSO toolbox was developed in a design-build-test-learn engineering cycle closely intertwining wet lab experiments and computational modeling and iterated several times, yielding a collection of well-functioning and -characterized parts.
At its heart, the PICasSO part collection consists of three categories.
(i) Our DNA-binding
proteins
include our
finalized Cas staple experimentally validated using an artificial "enhancer hijacking" system as well as
"half staples" that can be combined by scientists to compose entirely
new Cas staples in the future. We also include our Simple staples comprised of particularly small, simple
and robust DNA binding domains well-known to the synthetic biology community, which serve as controls for
successful stapling
and can be further engineered to create alternative, simpler, and more compact staples.
(ii) As functional elements, we list additional parts that enhance and expand the
functionality of our Cas and
Basic staples. These
consist of staples dependent on
cleavable peptide linkers targeted by cancer-specific proteases or inteins that allow condition-specific,
dynamic stapling in vivo.
We also include several engineered parts that enable the efficient delivery of PICasSO's constructs into
target cells, including mammalian cells,
with our new
interkingdom conjugation system.
(iii) As the final category of our collection, we provide parts that underlie our custom
readout
systems. These include components of our established FRET-based proximity assay system, enabling
users to
confirm
accurate stapling. Additionally, we offer a complementary, application-oriented testing system based on a
luciferase reporter, which allows for straightforward experimental assessment of functional enhancer
hijacking events
in mammalian cells.
The following table gives a comprehensive overview of all parts in our PICasSO toolbox. The highlighted parts showed
exceptional performance as described on our iGEM wiki and can serve as a reference. The other
parts in
the
collection are versatile building blocks designed to provide future iGEMers with the flexibility to engineer
their
own custom Cas staples, enabling further optimization and innovation in the new field of 3D genome
engineering.
Our part collection includes:
DNA-Binding Proteins: Modular building blocks for engineering of custom staples to mediate defined DNA-DNA interactions in vivo | ||
BBa_K5237000 | Fusion Guide RNA Entry Vector MbCas12a-SpCas9 | Entry vector for simple fgRNA cloning via SapI |
BBa_K5237001 | Staple Subunit: dMbCas12a-Nucleoplasmin NLS | Staple subunit that can be combined with crRNA or fgRNA and dSpCas9 to form a functional staple |
BBa_K5237002 | Staple Subunit: SV40 NLS-dSpCas9-SV40 NLS | Staple subunit that can be combined with a sgRNA or fgRNA and dMbCas12a to form a functional staple |
BBa_K5237003 | Cas Staple: SV40 NLS-dMbCas12a-dSpCas9-Nucleoplasmin NLS | Functional Cas staple that can be combined with sgRNA and crRNA or fgRNA to bring two DNA strands into close proximity |
BBa_K5237004 | Staple Subunit: Oct1-DBD | Staple subunit that can be combined to form a functional staple, for example with TetR. Can also be combined with a fluorescent protein as part of the FRET proximity assay |
BBa_K5237005 | Staple Subunit: TetR | Staple subunit that can be combined to form a functional staple, for example with Oct1. Can also be combined with a fluorescent protein as part of the FRET proximity assay |
BBa_K5237006 | Simple Staple: TetR-Oct1 | Functional staple that can be used to bring two DNA strands in close proximity |
BBa_K5237007 | Staple Subunit: GCN4 | Staple subunit that can be combined to form a functional staple, for example with rGCN4 |
BBa_K5237008 | Staple Subunit: rGCN4 | Staple subunit that can be combined to form a functional staple, for example with rGCN4 |
BBa_K5237009 | Mini Staple: bGCN4 | Assembled staple with minimal size that can be further engineered | Functional Elements: Protease-cleavable peptide linkers and inteins are used to control and modify staples for further optimization for custom applications |
BBa_K5237010 | Cathepsin B-cleavable Linker: GFLG | Cathepsin B-cleavable peptide linker that can be used to combine two staple subunits to make responsive staples |
BBa_K5237011 | Cathepsin B Expression Cassette | Expression cassette for the overexpression of cathepsin B |
BBa_K5237012 | Caged NpuN Intein | A caged NpuN split intein fragment that undergoes protein trans-splicing after protease activation, which can be used to create functionalized staple subunits |
BBa_K5237013 | Caged NpuC Intein | A caged NpuC split intein fragment that undergoes protein trans-splicing after protease activation, which can be used to create functionalized staple subunits |
BBa_K5237014 | Fusion Guide RNA Processing Casette | Processing cassette to produce multiple fgRNAs from one transcript, that can be used for multiplexed 3D genome reprogramming |
BBa_K5237015 | Intimin anti-EGFR Nanobody | Interkingdom conjugation between bacteria and mammalian cells, as an alternative delivery tool for large constructs |
BBa_K4643003 | IncP Origin of Transfer | Origin of transfer that can be cloned into the plasmid vector and used for conjugation as a means of delivery | Readout Systems: FRET and enhancer recruitment readout systems to rapidly assess successful DNA stapling in bacterial and mammalian cells |
BBa_K5237016 | FRET-Donor: mNeonGreen-Oct1 | FRET donor-fluorophore fused to Oct1-DBD that binds to the Oct1 binding cassette, which can be used to visualize DNA-DNA proximity |
BBa_K5237017 | FRET-Acceptor: TetR-mScarlet-I | Acceptor part for the FRET assay binding the TetR binding cassette, which can be used to visualize DNA-DNA proximity |
BBa_K5237018 | Oct1 Binding Casette | DNA sequence containing 12 Oct1 binding motifs, compatible with various assays such as the FRET proximity assay |
BBa_K5237019 | TetR Binding Cassette | DNA sequence containing 12 Oct1 binding motifs, can be used for different assays such as the FRET proximity assay | BBa_K5237020 | Cathepsin B-Cleavable Trans-Activator: NLS-Gal4-GFLG-VP64 | Readout system that responds to protease activity, which was used to test cathepsin B-cleavable linker |
BBa_K5237021 | NLS-Gal4-VP64 | Trans-activating enhancer, that can be used to simulate enhancer hijacking | BBa_K5237022 | mCherry Expression Cassette: UAS, minimal Promoter, mCherry | Readout system for enhancer binding, which was used to test cathepsin B-cleavable linker |
BBa_K5237023 | Oct1 - 5x UAS Binding Casette | Oct1 and UAS binding cassette, that was used for the simulated enhancer hijacking assay |
BBa_K5237024 | TRE-minimal Promoter- Firefly Luciferase | Contains firefly luciferase controlled by a minimal promoter, which was used as a luminescence readout for simulated enhancer hijacking |
1. Sequence overview
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In 2012, Jinek et al. discovered the use of the Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats
(CRISPR)/Cas system to induce double-strand breaks in DNA. Since then, the system has been well established as a
tool for genome editing. The CRISPR/Cas system, which originates from the bacterial immune system, is constituted
by a ribonucleoprotein complex. For class 1 CRISPR systems, the RNA is complexed by multiple Cas proteins, whereas
class 2 systems consist of a singular protein and RNA. The class 2 type II system describes all ribonucleoprotein
complexes with Cas9 (Pacesa et al., 2024). They include a CRISPR RNA (crRNA), which specifies the target
with a 20
nucleotide (nt) spacer sequence, and a transactivating CRISPR RNA (tracrRNA), which induces the processing by the
Cas protein (Jinek et al., 2012) (Fig. 2 A). Furthermore, a specific three
nucleotide sequence (NGG) on the 3' end in the targeted DNA is needed for binding and cleavage. This is referred
to as the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) (Sternberg et al., 2014). The most commonly used Cas9 protein is
SpCas9
or SpyCas9, which originates from Streptococcus pyogenes (Pacesa et al., 2024).
A significant enhancement of this system was the introduction of single guide RNA (sgRNA)s, which combine the
functions of a tracrRNA and crRNA (Mali et al., 2013).
Moreover, Cong (2013) established precise targeting of human endogenous loci by designing the 20 nt spacer
sequence accordingly.
Over the following years, further CRISPR/Cas systems have been discovered, including the Cpf1 system, which has
been
classified as Cas12a since then (Zetsche et al., 2015).
Cas12a forms a class 2 type V system with its RNA, that in comparison to the type II
systems, only requires a crRNA for targeting and activation. Cas12a is capable of processing the precursor crRNA
into crRNA independently, whereas Cas9 requires the RNase III enzyme and tracrRNA for this process (Paul and
Montoya, 2020). This crRNA is often also referred to as a guide RNA (gRNA). However, the stem loop that is formed
when binding the Cas protein is structurally distinct to the Cas9 gRNA and positioned on the 5' side of the crRNA
(Fig. 2 B). Similarly, the PAM (TTTV) is also on the 5' side (Pacesa et al.,
2024). Cas9 possesses RuvC and HNH domains that are catalytically active, each of which cleaves one of the DNA
strands at the same site, resulting in the formation of blunt end cuts (Nishimasu et al., 2014). Cas12a
possesses
one RuvC-like domain that creates staggered cuts with overhangs that are about 5nt long (Paul and Montoya, 2020).
Specific mutations of these domains result in catalytic inactivity and therefore allow for the creation of
nickases that only cut one of the DNA strands, or completely inactive Cas proteins (Koonin et al., 2023)
(Kleinstiver et al., 2019). These are referred to as dead Cas proteins or dCas9 and dCas12a. These Cas
proteins
can be used to activate (CRISPRa) or inhibit (CRISPRi) the expression of genes by fusing them to effector domains
and targeting the respective gene with the spacer sequence (Kampmann, 2017). A common approach for CRISPRa
involves fusing Cas9 with the transcriptional activator VP64 (Kampmann, 2017).
Kweon et al. (2017) further expanded the ways in which the CRISPR/Cas system could be used by introducing
the concept of fusion guide RNA
(fgRNA)s. By fusing the 3' end of a Cas12a gRNA to the 5' end of a Cas9 gRNA, the newly created fgRNA could be
used by both proteins independently for either multiplex genome editing or transcriptional regulation and genome
editing in parallel (Fig. 3). Similarly, this is also
possible using the Cas Hybrid for Multiplexed Editing and screening Applications (CHyMErA) system
(Gonatopoulos-Pournatzis et al., 2020).
In this instance, the gRNAs of Cas12a and Cas9 are connected in the
opposite direction (3' Cas9 gRNA to 5' Cas12a gRNA), allowing for Cas12a to process the RNA into individual units
(Fig. 3). Amongst other things, this allows for the analysis
of the interaction between different genes by targeting them simultaneously with the two distinct spacers (Aregger
et al., 2021) (Fig. 3).
Building on the CRISPR/Cas system's versatile functionality in genome editing, recent advances have extended its
applications into DNA nanotechnology. Traditionally, DNA nanostructures have been constructed through the
hybridization
of multiple single-stranded DNAs. However, a new strategy leverages the CRISPR system to create double-stranded
DNA-ribonucleoprotein (RNP) hybrid nanostructures. Using the dCas proteins, which were previously described for
their
gene regulation capabilities (Wu et al.(2022)). Once the RNP has formed, the bivalent fusion dCas
can precisely recognize target sequences on a double-stranded DNA, pulling them together to form intricate hybrid
nanostructures. These nanostructures resemble DNA-protein hybrids found in chromosomes, mimicking the genomic
structure
and enabling stimuli-responsive gene regulation. This innovative use of dCas proteins not only extends the
capabilities
of the CRISPR system but also presents new opportunities for advancing DNA nanotechnology.
As one part of our staple we decided on SpCas9, as it well characterized. Three different orthologs were
ordered
from Addgene:
AsCas12a (#69982), LbCas12a (#69988),
and MbCas12a (#115142).
Since the T7EI assay can only be used to qualitatively compare editing efficiencies, it was hard to distinguish
between the better editing ortholog.
For the single co-transfected Cas proteins the SpCas9 showed, as expected, the highest editing efficiency, shown
by
low
relative luminescence units. Contradicting the T7EI, but being in-line with the previous dual luciferase,
MbCas12a
showed better editing efficiency compared to AsCas12a (p=0.005). The Fusion Cas proteins exhibited less editing
efficiency compared to the single counterparts. Of the MbCas12a-SpCas9 fusion, SpCas9 showed higher efficiency.
For
the
Cas12s in the fusion Cas, both proteins exhibit low editing activity, with no significant difference.
Testing showed simultaneous editing of both MbCas12a and SpCas9. Therefore we wanted to test protein-protein
fusion,
potentially giving us another way of Cas stapling. Our goal was to find out how well MbCas12a can stay active
while
being fused to SpCas9. Therefore we employed the previously engineered dual luciferase assay to allow us for
testing two
catalytically active Cas proteins at once, this time being fused to each other (see figure Fusion Cas registry).
For the MbCas12a we have a highly significant editing rate in the single cut, meaning only MbCas12a has a
targeting
gRNA. When introducing a targeting gRNA for SpCas9 we see no reduction in the highly significant editing of
MbCas12a,
strongly suggesting both Cas proteins in the fusion Cas to be able to edit simultaneously. Same results could be
observed for SpCas9 with the single cut showing highly significant editing. When introducing targeting gRNAs for
both
Cas proteins we see no reduction in the highly significant editing compared to only one targeting, strongly
suggesting
both Cas proteins in the fusion Cas to be able to edit simultaneously.
The capability of the fusion Cas was tested by assessing the editing rates via a T7EI assay. For this, the same
target
sequences as before were used, namely FANCF and VEGFA in both configurations. We included biological duplicates
in this
assay.
Continuing the procedure in a similar manner, we focused on inducing proximity between genetic loci using the
fusion
dCas next, consisting of dMbCas12a fused to dSpCas9. The dual luciferase assay was used, with one enhancer
plasmid and
one reporter plasmid. The fusion Cas proteins can be used to increase expression levels of the reporter firefly
luciferase (see figure 12). While using sgRNAs results in similar relative luciferase activity as for the
negative
control between 0.1 and 0.2., using a fgRNA with a 20 to 30 nt linker consistently resulted in activities at
0.25.
Fusion guide RNAs without a linker and with a 40 nt linker had on average about the same activity, but with a
higher
spread over the biological replicates. Nonetheless this showed the dMbCas12a fused to the dSpCas9 to be working
as a Cas
staple. Further tweaking is needed to get better results.
Jinek, M., Chylinski, K., Fonfara, I., Hauer, M., Doudna, J. A., & Charpentier, E. (2012). A Programmable
Dual-RNA-Guided DNA Endonuclease in Adaptive Bacterial Immunity. Science, 337, 816-821. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1225829. Kampmann, M. (2017). CRISPRi and CRISPRa Screens in Mammalian Cells for Precision Biology and Medicine. ACS
Chemical Biology, 13, 406-416. https://doi.org/10.1021/acschembio.7b00657. Kleinstiver, B. P., Sousa, A. A., Walton, R. T., Tak, Y. E., Hsu, J. Y., Clement, K., Welch, M. M., Horng, J. E.,
Malagon-Lopez, J., Scarfò, I., Maus, M. V., Pinello, L., Aryee, M. J., & Joung, J. K. (2019). Engineered
CRISPR-Cas12a variants with increased activities and improved targeting ranges for gene, epigenetic and base
editing. Nature Biotechnology, 37, 276-282. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41587-018-0011-0. Koonin, E. V., Gootenberg, J. S., & Abudayyeh, O. O. (2023). Discovery of Diverse CRISPR-Cas Systems and
Expansion of the Genome Engineering Toolbox. Biochemistry, 62, 3465-3487. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biochem.3c00159. Mali, P., Yang, L., Esvelt, K. M., Aach, J., Guell, M., DiCarlo, J. E., Norville, J. E., & Church, G. M.
(2013). RNA-Guided Human Genome Engineering via Cas9. Science, 339, 823-826. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1232033. Nishimasu, H., Ran, F. A., Hsu, P. D., Konermann, S., Shehata, S. I., Dohmae, N., Ishitani, R., Zhang, F., &
Nureki, O. (2014). Crystal Structure of Cas9 in Complex with Guide RNA and Target DNA. Cell, 156, 935-949.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2014.02.001. Pacesa, M., Pelea, O., & Jinek, M. (2024). Past, present, and future of CRISPR genome editing technologies.
Cell, 187, 1076-1100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2024.01.042. Sternberg, S. H., Redding, S., Jinek, M., Greene, E. C., & Doudna, J. A. (2014). DNA interrogation by the
CRISPR RNA-guided endonuclease Cas9. Nature, 507, 62-67. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature13011.2. Usage and Biology
2.1 Discovery and Mechanism of CRISPR/Cas9
2.2 Differences between Cas9 and Cas12a
2.3 dCas Proteins and their Application
2.4 fgRNA and CHyMErA System
3. Assembly and part evolution
3.1 Decision of Cas proteins for the staple
We assessed their performance using a T7 Endonuclease I (T7EI) assay on three genomic loci: RUNX1, DNMT1, and
FANCF.
For
comparison, we also included SpCas9 editing the CCR5 locus (Fig. 3). Editing was only observed at the
RUNX1 locus, where we used the qualitative assay to compare the editing efficiencies of the Cas12a orthologs.
3.2 Quantitative comparison between AsCas12a and MbCas12a
For the next assay we constructed an AsCas12a fusion with SpCas9 and a MbCas12a fusion with SpCas9 by PCR
amplifying
the
Cas12a orthologs out of the plasmids used in prior tests and cloning them into the plasmid containing the
SpCas9.
To accurately quantify the editing efficiency, we conducted a dual luciferase assay. This assay measures the
luminescence
of Firefly luciferase, which decreases proportionally to the editing efficiency at the target site.
To account for variations in cell count and transfection efficiency, the luminescence is normalized
to Renilla luciferase, which acts as an internal control (Fig. 4).
The results revealed a clear difference, with MbCas12a demonstrating significantly higher editing efficiency
compared to
AsCas12a (p=0.005). Based on these findings, we decided to proceed with MbCas12a.
These results left us with the conclusion to further pursue MbCas12a for fusion Cas construction. Further
testing
of the catalytically active version is needed before cloning the dMbCas12a variant.
3.3 MbCas12a and SpCas9 remain functional after fusion
3.4 Combining fusion Cas editing with fgRNA
MbCas12a editing rates were significantly lower, dropping to about 1%. At the same time, when targeting VEGFA
they
resulted in a higher editing efficiency than FANCF.
4. Results
4.1 Forming a Cas staple with fusion Cas and fgRNA
5. References
None |