1
|
Martin TD, Watson EV, Choi MY, Nabet B, Gray NS, Xu Q, Elledge SJ. Proteasomal control of anti-CRISPRs for the regulation of CRISPR/Cas9 activity using Cas9-ACROBAT. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.05.13.593596. [PMID: 38798327 PMCID: PMC11118331 DOI: 10.1101/2024.05.13.593596] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/29/2024]
Abstract
Small molecule-mediated proteasomal degradation of proteins is a powerful tool for synthetic regulation of biological activity. To control Cas9 activity in cells, we engineered an anti-CRISPR protein, AcrIIA4, fused to a degradation (dTAG) or small molecule assisted shutoff (SMASh) tag. Co-expression of the tagged AcrIIA4 along with Cas9 and riboswitch-regulated sgRNAs enables precise tunable control of CRISPR activity by small molecule addition.
Collapse
|
2
|
Bi M, Su W, Li J, Mo X. Insights into the inhibition of protospacer integration via direct interaction between Cas2 and AcrVA5. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3256. [PMID: 38627399 PMCID: PMC11021501 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47713-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2023] [Accepted: 04/10/2024] [Indexed: 04/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Spacer acquisition step in CRISPR-Cas system involves the recognition and subsequent integration of protospacer by the Cas1-Cas2 complex in CRISPR-Cas systems. Here we report an anti-CRISPR protein, AcrVA5, and reveal the mechanisms by which it strongly inhibits protospacer integration. Our biochemical data shows that the integration by Cas1-Cas2 was abrogated in the presence of AcrVA5. AcrVA5 exhibits low binding affinity towards Cas2 and acetylates Cas2 at Lys55 on the binding interface of the Cas2 and AcrVA5 N-terminal peptide complex to inhibit the Cas2-mediated endonuclease activity. Moreover, a detailed structural comparison between our crystal structure and homolog structure shows that binding of AcrVA5 to Cas2 causes steric hindrance to the neighboring protospacer resulting in the partial disassembly of the Cas1-Cas2 and protospacer complex, as demonstrated by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Our study focuses on this mechanism of spacer acquisition inhibition and provides insights into the biology of CRISPR-Cas systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mingfang Bi
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, 130062, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Wenjing Su
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, 130062, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Jiafu Li
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, 130062, Changchun, Jilin, China
| | - Xiaobing Mo
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, 130062, Changchun, Jilin, China.
- State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Key Laboratory for Zoonosis Research of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis, Jilin University, 130062, Changchun, Jilin, China.
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Ali Y, Inusa I, Sanghvi G, Mandaliya V, Bishoyi AK. The current status of phage therapy and its advancement towards establishing standard antimicrobials for combating multi drug-resistant bacterial pathogens. Microb Pathog 2023:106199. [PMID: 37336428 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2023.106199] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2023] [Revised: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 06/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/21/2023]
Abstract
Phage therapy; a revived antimicrobial weapon, has great therapeutic advantages with the main ones being its ability to eradicate multidrug-resistant pathogens as well as selective toxicity, which ensures that beneficial microbiota is not harmed, unlike antibiotics. These therapeutic properties make phage therapy a novel approach for combating resistant pathogens. Since millions of people across the globe succumb to multidrug-resistant infections, the implementation of phage therapy as a standard antimicrobial could transform global medicine as it offers greater therapeutic advantages than conventional antibiotics. Although phage therapy has incomplete clinical data, such as a lack of standard dosage and the ideal mode of administration, the conducted clinical studies report its safety and efficacy in some case studies, and therefore, this could lessen the concerns of its skeptics. Since its discovery, the development of phage therapeutics has been in a smooth progression. Concerns about phage resistance in populations of pathogenic bacteria are raised when bacteria are exposed to phages. Bacteria can use restriction-modification, Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) defense, or mutations in the phage receptors to prevent phage invasion. Phage resistance, however, is often costly for the bacteria and may lead to a reduction in its virulence. The ongoing competition between bacteria and phage, on the other hand, ensures the emergence of phage strains that have evolved to infect resistant bacteria. A phage can quickly adapt by altering one or more aspects of its mode of infection, evading a resistance mechanism through genetic modifications, or directly thwarting the CRISPR-Cas defense. Using phage-bacterium coevolution as a technique could be crucial in the development of phage therapy as well. Through its recent advancement, gene-editing tools such as CRISPR-Cas allow the bioengineering of phages to produce phage cocktails that have broad spectrum activities, which could maximize the treatment's efficacy. This review presents the current state of phage therapy and its progression toward establishing standard medicine for combating antibiotic resistance. Recent clinical trials of phage therapy, some important case studies, and other ongoing clinical studies of phage therapy are all presented in this review. Furthermore, the recent advancement in the development of phage therapeutics, its application in various sectors, and concerns regarding its implementation are also highlighted here. Phage therapy has great potential and could help the fight against drug-resistant bacterial pathogens.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yussuf Ali
- Department of Microbiology, Marwadi University, Gujarat, India
| | - Ibrahim Inusa
- Department of Information Technology, Marwadi University, Gujarat, India
| | - Gaurav Sanghvi
- Department of Microbiology, Marwadi University, Gujarat, India
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
4
|
McBride TM, Cameron SC, Fineran PC, Fagerlund RD. The biology and type I/III hybrid nature of type I-D CRISPR-Cas systems. Biochem J 2023; 480:471-488. [PMID: 37052300 DOI: 10.1042/bcj20220073] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2022] [Revised: 01/16/2023] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 04/14/2023]
Abstract
Prokaryotes have adaptive defence mechanisms that protect them from mobile genetic elements and viral infection. One defence mechanism is called CRISPR-Cas (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and CRISPR-associated proteins). There are six different types of CRISPR-Cas systems and multiple subtypes that vary in composition and mode of action. Type I and III CRISPR-Cas systems utilise multi-protein complexes, which differ in structure, nucleic acid binding and cleaving preference. The type I-D system is a chimera of type I and III systems. Recently, there has been a burst of research on the type I-D CRISPR-Cas system. Here, we review the mechanism, evolution and biotechnological applications of the type I-D CRISPR-Cas system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tess M McBride
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
- Genetics Otago, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Shaharn C Cameron
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
- Genetics Otago, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Bioprotection Aotearoa, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
| | - Peter C Fineran
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
- Genetics Otago, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Bioprotection Aotearoa, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
| | - Robert D Fagerlund
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
- Genetics Otago, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
- Bioprotection Aotearoa, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Yin P, Zhang Y, Yang L, Feng Y. Non-canonical inhibition strategies and structural basis of anti-CRISPR proteins targeting type I CRISPR-Cas systems. J Mol Biol 2023; 435:167996. [PMID: 36754343 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2023.167996] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2022] [Revised: 01/10/2023] [Accepted: 01/30/2023] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Mobile genetic elements (MGEs) such as bacteriophages and their host prokaryotes are trapped in an eternal battle against each other. To cope with foreign infection, bacteria and archaea have evolved multiple immune strategies, out of which CRISPR-Cas system is up to now the only discovered adaptive system in prokaryotes. Despite the fact that CRISPR-Cas system provides powerful and delicate protection against MGEs, MGEs have also evolved anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs) to counteract the CRISPR-Cas immune defenses. To date, 46 families of Acrs targeting type I CRISPR-Cas system have been characterized, out of which structure information of 21 families have provided insights on their inhibition strategies. Here, we review the non-canonical inhibition strategies adopted by Acrs targeting type I CRISPR-Cas systems based on their structure information by incorporating the most recent advances in this field, and discuss our current understanding and future perspectives. The delicate interplay between type I CRISPR-Cas systems and their Acrs provides us with important insights into the ongoing fierce arms race between prokaryotic hosts and their predators.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peipei Yin
- Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Natural Active Pharmaceutical Constituents, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Yichun University, Yichun 336000, China
| | - Yi Zhang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Lingguang Yang
- Jiangxi Provincial Key Laboratory of Natural Active Pharmaceutical Constituents, College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Yichun University, Yichun 336000, China
| | - Yue Feng
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Belato HB, Lisi GP. The Many (Inter)faces of Anti-CRISPRs: Modulation of CRISPR-Cas Structure and Dynamics by Mechanistically Diverse Inhibitors. Biomolecules 2023; 13:biom13020264. [PMID: 36830633 PMCID: PMC9953297 DOI: 10.3390/biom13020264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 01/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/27/2023] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
The discovery of protein inhibitors of CRISPR-Cas systems, called anti-CRISPRs (Acrs), has enabled the development of highly controllable and precise CRISPR-Cas tools. Anti-CRISPRs share very little structural or sequential resemblance to each other or to other proteins, which raises intriguing questions regarding their modes of action. Many structure-function studies have shed light on the mechanism(s) of Acrs, which can act as orthosteric or allosteric inhibitors of CRISPR-Cas machinery, as well as enzymes that irreversibly modify CRISPR-Cas components. Only recently has the breadth of diversity of Acr structures and functions come to light, and this remains a rapidly evolving field. Here, we draw attention to a plethora of Acr mechanisms, with particular focus on how their action toward Cas proteins modulates conformation, dynamic (allosteric) signaling, nucleic acid binding, and cleavage ability.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Helen B. Belato
- Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA
- Graduate Program in Therapeutic Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA
| | - George P. Lisi
- Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology & Biochemistry, Brown University, Providence, RI 02903, USA
- Correspondence:
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Wu Q, Cui L, Liu Y, Li R, Dai M, Xia Z, Wu M. CRISPR-Cas systems target endogenous genes to impact bacterial physiology and alter mammalian immune responses. MOLECULAR BIOMEDICINE 2022; 3:22. [PMID: 35854035 PMCID: PMC9296731 DOI: 10.1186/s43556-022-00084-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2022] [Accepted: 05/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/26/2022] Open
Abstract
CRISPR-Cas systems are an immune defense mechanism that is widespread in archaea and bacteria against invasive phages or foreign genetic elements. In the last decade, CRISPR-Cas systems have been a leading gene-editing tool for agriculture (plant engineering), biotechnology, and human health (e.g., diagnosis and treatment of cancers and genetic diseases), benefitted from unprecedented discoveries of basic bacterial research. However, the functional complexity of CRISPR systems is far beyond the original scope of immune defense. CRISPR-Cas systems are implicated in influencing the expression of physiology and virulence genes and subsequently altering the formation of bacterial biofilm, drug resistance, invasive potency as well as bacterial own physiological characteristics. Moreover, increasing evidence supports that bacterial CRISPR-Cas systems might intriguingly influence mammalian immune responses through targeting endogenous genes, especially those relating to virulence; however, unfortunately, their underlying mechanisms are largely unclear. Nevertheless, the interaction between bacterial CRISPR-Cas systems and eukaryotic cells is complex with numerous mysteries that necessitate further investigation efforts. Here, we summarize the non-canonical functions of CRISPR-Cas that potentially impact bacterial physiology, pathogenicity, antimicrobial resistance, and thereby altering the courses of mammalian immune responses.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Qun Wu
- Department of Pediatrics, Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, 58203-9037, USA
| | - Luqing Cui
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, 58203-9037, USA
- The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, P. R. China
| | - Yingying Liu
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, 58203-9037, USA
| | - Rongpeng Li
- Key Laboratory of Biotechnology for Medicinal Plants of Jiangsu Province, School of Life Sciences, Jiangsu Normal University, Xuzhou, 221116, China
| | - Menghong Dai
- The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, P. R. China.
| | - Zhenwei Xia
- Department of Pediatrics, Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200025, China.
| | - Min Wu
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, School of Medicine and Health Sciences University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, North Dakota, 58203-9037, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Zhang H, Bamidele N, Liu P, Ojelabi O, Gao XD, Rodriguez T, Cheng H, Kelly K, Watts JK, Xie J, Gao G, Wolfe SA, Xue W, Sontheimer EJ. Adenine Base Editing In Vivo with a Single Adeno-Associated Virus Vector. GEN BIOTECHNOLOGY 2022; 1:285-299. [PMID: 35811581 PMCID: PMC9258002 DOI: 10.1089/genbio.2022.0015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/11/2022] [Indexed: 04/14/2023]
Abstract
Base editors (BEs) have opened new avenues for the treatment of genetic diseases. However, advances in delivery approaches are needed to enable disease targeting of a broad range of tissues and cell types. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors remain one of the most promising delivery vehicles for gene therapies. Currently, most BE/guide combinations and their promoters exceed the packaging limit (∼5 kb) of AAVs. Dual-AAV delivery strategies often require high viral doses that impose safety concerns. In this study, we engineered an adenine base editor (ABE) using a compact Cas9 from Neisseria meningitidis (Nme2Cas9). Compared with the well-characterized Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9-containing ABEs, ABEs using Nme2Cas9 (Nme2-ABE) possess a distinct protospacer adjacent motif (N4CC) and editing window, exhibit fewer off-target effects, and can efficiently install therapeutically relevant mutations in both human and mouse genomes. Importantly, we show that in vivo delivery of Nme2-ABE and its guide RNA by a single AAV vector can efficiently edit mouse genomic loci and revert the disease mutation and phenotype in an adult mouse model of tyrosinemia. We anticipate that Nme2-ABE, by virtue of its compact size and broad targeting range, will enable a range of therapeutic applications with improved safety and efficacy due in part to packaging in a single-vector system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Han Zhang
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Nathan Bamidele
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Pengpeng Liu
- Departments of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Ogooluwa Ojelabi
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Xin D. Gao
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Tomás Rodriguez
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Haoyang Cheng
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Karen Kelly
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jonathan K. Watts
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Departments of Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- NeuroNexus Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Jun Xie
- Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Viral Vector Core, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Departments of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases Research, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Guangping Gao
- Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Viral Vector Core, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Departments of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases Research, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Scot A. Wolfe
- Departments of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases Research, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Wen Xue
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Departments of Molecular, Cell and Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases Research, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
| | - Erik J. Sontheimer
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Li Weibo Institute for Rare Diseases Research, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Program in Molecular Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
- Address correspondence to: Erik J. Sontheimer, RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, 368 Plantation Street, AS5-2051, Worcester, MA 01605, USA,
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Review of CRISPR-Cas Systems in Listeria Species: Current Knowledge and Perspectives. Int J Microbiol 2022; 2022:9829770. [PMID: 35502187 PMCID: PMC9056214 DOI: 10.1155/2022/9829770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2021] [Revised: 03/03/2022] [Accepted: 03/28/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Listeria spp. are pathogens widely distributed in the environment and Listeria monocytogenes is associated with food-borne illness in humans. Food facilities represent an adverse environment for this bacterium, mainly due to the disinfection and cleaning processes included in good hygiene practices, and its virulence is related to stress responses. One of the recently described stress-response systems is CRISPR-Cas. Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated (cas) genes have been found in several bacteria. CRISPR-Cas has revolutionized biotechnology since it acts as an adaptive immune system of bacteria, which also helps in the evasion of the host immune response. There are three CRISPR systems described on Listeria species. Type II is present in many pathogenic bacteria and characterized by the presence of cas9 that becomes the main target of some anti-CRISPR proteins, such as AcrIIA1, encoded on Listeria phages. The presence of Cas9, either alone or in combination with anti-CRISPR proteins, suggests having a main role on the virulence of bacteria. In this review, we describe the most recent information on CRISPR-Cas systems in Listeria spp., particularly in L. monocytogenes, and their relationship with the virulence and pathogenicity of those bacteria. Besides, some applications of CRISPR systems and future challenges in the food processing industry, bacterial vaccination, antimicrobial resistance, pathogens biocontrol by phage therapy, and regulation of gene expression have been explored.
Collapse
|
10
|
Dong C, Wang X, Ma C, Zeng Z, Pu DK, Liu S, Wu CS, Chen S, Deng Z, Guo FB. Anti-CRISPRdb v2.2: an online repository of anti-CRISPR proteins including information on inhibitory mechanisms, activities and neighbors of curated anti-CRISPR proteins. Database (Oxford) 2022; 2022:6555051. [PMID: 35348649 PMCID: PMC9248852 DOI: 10.1093/database/baac010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2021] [Revised: 02/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
We previously released the Anti-CRISPRdb database hosting anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs) and associated information. Since then, the number of known Acr families, types, structures and inhibitory activities has accumulated over time, and Acr neighbors can be used as a candidate pool for screening Acrs in further studies. Therefore, we here updated the database to include the new available information. Our newly updated database shows several improvements: (i) it comprises more entries and families because it includes both Acrs reported in the most recent literatures and Acrs obtained via performing homologous alignment; (ii) the prediction of Acr neighbors is integrated into Anti-CRISPRdb v2.2, and users can identify novel Acrs from these candidates; and (iii) this version includes experimental information on the inhibitory strength and stage for Acr-Cas/Acr-CRISPR pairs, motivating the development of tools for predicting specific inhibitory abilities. Additionally, a parameter, the rank of codon usage bias (CUBRank), was proposed and provided in the new version, which showed a positive relationship with predicted result from AcRanker; hence, it can be used as an indicator for proteins to be Acrs. CUBRank can be used to estimate the possibility of genes occurring within genome island-a hotspot hosting potential genes encoding Acrs. Based on CUBRank and Anti-CRISPRdb, we also gave the first glimpse for the emergence of Acr genes (acrs). DATABASE URL http://guolab.whu.edu.cn/anti-CRISPRdb.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Chuan Dong
- Key Laboratory of Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Drug Discovery, Ministry of Education, and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan University, No. 185, Donghu Road, Wuchang, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Xin Wang
- School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, No. 2006, Xiyuan Ave, West Hi-Tech Zone, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Cong Ma
- School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, No. 2006, Xiyuan Ave, West Hi-Tech Zone, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Zhi Zeng
- School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, No. 2006, Xiyuan Ave, West Hi-Tech Zone, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Dong-Kai Pu
- School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, No. 2006, Xiyuan Ave, West Hi-Tech Zone, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Shuo Liu
- School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, No. 2006, Xiyuan Ave, West Hi-Tech Zone, Chengdu 611731, China
| | - Candy-S Wu
- Thomas Worthington High School, 300 West Granville Road, Worthington, OH 43085, USA
| | - Shixin Chen
- Key Laboratory of Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Drug Discovery, Ministry of Education, and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan University, No. 185, Donghu Road, Wuchang, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Zixin Deng
- Key Laboratory of Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Drug Discovery, Ministry of Education, and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan University, No. 185, Donghu Road, Wuchang, Wuhan 430071, China
| | - Feng-Biao Guo
- Key Laboratory of Combinatorial Biosynthesis and Drug Discovery, Ministry of Education, and School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Wuhan University, No. 185, Donghu Road, Wuchang, Wuhan 430071, China
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Sohail M, Qin L, Li S, Chen Y, Zaman MH, Zhang X, Li B, Huang H. Molecular reporters for CRISPR/Cas: from design principles to engineering for bioanalytical and diagnostic applications. Trends Analyt Chem 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2022.116539] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
|
12
|
Liu Y, Zhang L, Guo M, Chen L, Wu B, Huang H. Structural basis for anti-CRISPR repression mediated by bacterial operon proteins Aca1 and Aca2. J Biol Chem 2021; 297:101357. [PMID: 34756887 PMCID: PMC8633003 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2021.101357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/17/2021] [Revised: 10/25/2021] [Accepted: 10/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
It has been shown that phages have evolved anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins to inhibit host CRISPR-Cas systems. Most acr genes are located upstream of anti-CRISPR-associated (aca) genes, which is instrumental for identifying these acr genes. Thus far, eight Aca families (Aca1-Aca8) have been identified, all proteins of which share low sequence homology and bind to different target DNA sequences. Recently, Aca1 and Aca2 proteins were discovered to function as repressors by binding to acr-aca promoters, thus implying a potential anti-anti-CRISPR mechanism. However, the structural basis for the repression roles of Aca proteins is still unknown. Here, we elucidated apo-structures of Aca1 and Aca2 proteins and their complex structures with their cognate operator DNA in two model systems, the Pseudomonas phage JBD30 and the Pectobacterium carotovorum template phage ZF40. In combination with biochemical and cellular assays, our study unveils dimerization and DNA-recognition mechanisms of Aca1 and Aca2 family proteins, thus revealing the molecular basis for Aca1-and Aca2-mediated anti-CRISPR repression. Our results also shed light on understanding the repression roles of other Aca family proteins and autoregulation roles of acr-aca operons.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yanhong Liu
- School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China; Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Molecular Design for Plant Cell Factory of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Linsheng Zhang
- Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Molecular Design for Plant Cell Factory of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Maochao Guo
- Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Molecular Design for Plant Cell Factory of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Liu Chen
- Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Molecular Design for Plant Cell Factory of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China
| | - Baixing Wu
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Malignant Tumor Epigenetics and Gene Regulation, Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory for RNA Medicine, RNA Biomedical Institute, Medical Research Center, Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hospital, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, China.
| | - Hongda Huang
- Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Key Laboratory of Molecular Design for Plant Cell Factory of Guangdong Higher Education Institutes, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
| |
Collapse
|
13
|
Li X, Wang C, Peng T, Chai Z, Ni D, Liu Y, Zhang J, Chen T, Lu S. Atomic-scale insights into allosteric inhibition and evolutional rescue mechanism of Streptococcus thermophilus Cas9 by the anti-CRISPR protein AcrIIA6. Comput Struct Biotechnol J 2021; 19:6108-6124. [PMID: 34900128 PMCID: PMC8632846 DOI: 10.1016/j.csbj.2021.11.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/16/2021] [Revised: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 11/11/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
CRISPR-Cas systems are prokaryotic adaptive immunity against invading phages and plasmids. Phages have evolved diverse protein inhibitors of CRISPR-Cas systems, called anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins, to neutralize this CRISPR machinery. In response, bacteria have co-evolved Cas variants to escape phage's anti-CRISPR strategies, called anti-anti-CRISPR systems. Here we explore the anti-CRISPR allosteric inhibition and anti-anti-CRISPR rescue mechanisms between Streptococcus thermophilus Cas9 (St1Cas9) and the anti-CRISPR protein AcrIIA6 at the atomic level, by generating mutants of key residues in St1Cas9. Extensive unbiased molecular dynamics simulations show that the functional motions of St1Cas9 in the presence of AcrIIA6 differ substantially from those of St1Cas9 alone. AcrIIA6 binding triggers a shift of St1Cas9 conformational ensemble towards a less catalytically competent state; this state significantly compromises protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) recognition and nuclease activity by altering interdependently conformational dynamics and allosteric signals among nuclease domains, PAM-interacting (PI) regions, and AcrIIA6 binding motifs. Via in vitro DNA cleavage assays, we further elucidate the rescue mechanism of efficiently escaping AcrIIA6 inhibition harboring St1Cas9 triple mutations (G993K/K1008M/K1010E) in the PI domain and identify the evolutionary landscape of such mutational escape within species. Our results provide mechanistic insights into Acr proteins as natural brakes for the CRISPR-Cas systems and a promising potential for the design of allosteric Acr peptidomimetics.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xinyi Li
- Department of Cardiology, Changzheng Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200003, China
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Chengxiang Wang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Ting Peng
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Zongtao Chai
- Department of Hepatic Surgery VI, Eastern Hepatobiliary Surgery Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Duan Ni
- The Charles Perkins Centre, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
| | - Yaqin Liu
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Centre, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Jian Zhang
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Centre, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| | - Ting Chen
- Department of Cardiology, Changzheng Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai 200003, China
| | - Shaoyong Lu
- Department of Pathophysiology, Key Laboratory of Cell Differentiation and Apoptosis of Chinese Ministry of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
- Medicinal Chemistry and Bioinformatics Centre, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, School of Medicine, Shanghai 200025, China
| |
Collapse
|
14
|
Tyumentseva M, Mikhaylova Y, Prelovskaya A, Karbyshev K, Tyumentsev A, Petrova L, Mironova A, Zamyatin M, Shelenkov A, Akimkin V. CRISPR Element Patterns vs. Pathoadaptability of Clinical Pseudomonas aeruginosa Isolates from a Medical Center in Moscow, Russia. Antibiotics (Basel) 2021; 10:antibiotics10111301. [PMID: 34827239 PMCID: PMC8615150 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics10111301] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2021] [Revised: 10/15/2021] [Accepted: 10/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a member of the ESKAPE opportunistic pathogen group, which includes six species of the most dangerous microbes. This pathogen is characterized by the rapid acquisition of antimicrobial resistance, thus causing major healthcare concerns. This study presents a comprehensive analysis of clinical P. aeruginosa isolates based on whole-genome sequencing data. The isolate collection studied was characterized by a variety of clonal lineages with a domination of high-risk epidemic clones and different CRISPR/Cas element patterns. This is the first report on the coexistence of two and even three different types of CRISPR/Cas systems simultaneously in Russian clinical strains of P. aeruginosa. The data include molecular typing and genotypic antibiotic resistance determination, as well as the phylogenetic analysis of the full-length cas gene and anti-CRISPR genes sequences, predicted prophage sequences, and conducted a detailed CRISPR array analysis. The differences between the isolates carrying different types and quantities of CRISPR/Cas systems were investigated. The pattern of virulence factors in P. aeruginosa isolates lacking putative CRISPR/Cas systems significantly differed from that of samples with single or multiple putative CRISPR/Cas systems. We found significant correlations between the numbers of prophage sequences, antibiotic resistance genes, and virulence genes in P. aeruginosa isolates with different patterns of CRISPR/Cas-elements. We believe that the data presented will contribute to further investigations in the field of bacterial pathoadaptability, including antimicrobial resistance and the role of CRISPR/Cas systems in the plasticity of the P. aeruginosa genome.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marina Tyumentseva
- Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Novogireevskaya Str., 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia; (M.T.); (Y.M.); (A.P.); (K.K.); (A.T.); (V.A.)
| | - Yulia Mikhaylova
- Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Novogireevskaya Str., 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia; (M.T.); (Y.M.); (A.P.); (K.K.); (A.T.); (V.A.)
| | - Anna Prelovskaya
- Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Novogireevskaya Str., 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia; (M.T.); (Y.M.); (A.P.); (K.K.); (A.T.); (V.A.)
| | - Konstantin Karbyshev
- Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Novogireevskaya Str., 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia; (M.T.); (Y.M.); (A.P.); (K.K.); (A.T.); (V.A.)
| | - Aleksandr Tyumentsev
- Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Novogireevskaya Str., 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia; (M.T.); (Y.M.); (A.P.); (K.K.); (A.T.); (V.A.)
| | - Lyudmila Petrova
- National Medical and Surgical Center Named after N.I. Pirogov, Nizhnyaya Pervomayskaya Str., 70, 105203 Moscow, Russia; (L.P.); (A.M.); (M.Z.)
| | - Anna Mironova
- National Medical and Surgical Center Named after N.I. Pirogov, Nizhnyaya Pervomayskaya Str., 70, 105203 Moscow, Russia; (L.P.); (A.M.); (M.Z.)
| | - Mikhail Zamyatin
- National Medical and Surgical Center Named after N.I. Pirogov, Nizhnyaya Pervomayskaya Str., 70, 105203 Moscow, Russia; (L.P.); (A.M.); (M.Z.)
| | - Andrey Shelenkov
- Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Novogireevskaya Str., 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia; (M.T.); (Y.M.); (A.P.); (K.K.); (A.T.); (V.A.)
- Correspondence: or
| | - Vasiliy Akimkin
- Central Research Institute of Epidemiology, Novogireevskaya Str., 3a, 111123 Moscow, Russia; (M.T.); (Y.M.); (A.P.); (K.K.); (A.T.); (V.A.)
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Liu X, Zhang L, Xiu Y, Gao T, Huang L, Xie Y, Yang L, Wang W, Wang P, Zhang Y, Yang M, Feng Y. Insights into the dual functions of AcrIF14 during the inhibition of type I-F CRISPR-Cas surveillance complex. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:10178-10191. [PMID: 34432044 PMCID: PMC8464039 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab738] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2021] [Revised: 07/20/2021] [Accepted: 08/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
CRISPR–Cas systems are bacterial adaptive immune systems, and phages counteract these systems using many approaches such as producing anti-CRISPR (Acr) proteins. Here, we report the structures of both AcrIF14 and its complex with the crRNA-guided surveillance (Csy) complex. Our study demonstrates that apart from interacting with the Csy complex to block the hybridization of target DNA to the crRNA, AcrIF14 also endows the Csy complex with the ability to interact with non-sequence-specific dsDNA as AcrIF9 does. Further structural studies of the Csy–AcrIF14–dsDNA complex and biochemical studies uncover that the PAM recognition loop of the Cas8f subunit of the Csy complex and electropositive patches within the N-terminal domain of AcrIF14 are essential for the non-sequence-specific dsDNA binding to the Csy–AcrIF14 complex, which is different from the mechanism of AcrIF9. Our findings highlight the prevalence of Acr-induced non-specific DNA binding and shed light on future studies into the mechanisms of such Acr proteins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Xi Liu
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China
| | - Laixing Zhang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology, Beijing Frontier Research Center for Biological Structure, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, 100084 Beijing, China
| | - Yu Xiu
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China
| | - Teng Gao
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China
| | - Ling Huang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China
| | - Yongchao Xie
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China
| | - Lingguang Yang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China
| | - Wenhe Wang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology, Beijing Frontier Research Center for Biological Structure, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, 100084 Beijing, China
| | - Peiyi Wang
- Cryo-EM Centre, Department of Biology, Southern University of Science and Technology, 515055 Shenzhen, China
| | - Yi Zhang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China
| | - Maojun Yang
- Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Protein Science, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Structural Biology, Beijing Frontier Research Center for Biological Structure, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Tsinghua-Peking Center for Life Sciences, 100084 Beijing, China
| | - Yue Feng
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China
| |
Collapse
|
16
|
Lewis AM, Recalde A, Bräsen C, Counts JA, Nussbaum P, Bost J, Schocke L, Shen L, Willard DJ, Quax TEF, Peeters E, Siebers B, Albers SV, Kelly RM. The biology of thermoacidophilic archaea from the order Sulfolobales. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2021; 45:fuaa063. [PMID: 33476388 PMCID: PMC8557808 DOI: 10.1093/femsre/fuaa063] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Thermoacidophilic archaea belonging to the order Sulfolobales thrive in extreme biotopes, such as sulfuric hot springs and ore deposits. These microorganisms have been model systems for understanding life in extreme environments, as well as for probing the evolution of both molecular genetic processes and central metabolic pathways. Thermoacidophiles, such as the Sulfolobales, use typical microbial responses to persist in hot acid (e.g. motility, stress response, biofilm formation), albeit with some unusual twists. They also exhibit unique physiological features, including iron and sulfur chemolithoautotrophy, that differentiate them from much of the microbial world. Although first discovered >50 years ago, it was not until recently that genome sequence data and facile genetic tools have been developed for species in the Sulfolobales. These advances have not only opened up ways to further probe novel features of these microbes but also paved the way for their potential biotechnological applications. Discussed here are the nuances of the thermoacidophilic lifestyle of the Sulfolobales, including their evolutionary placement, cell biology, survival strategies, genetic tools, metabolic processes and physiological attributes together with how these characteristics make thermoacidophiles ideal platforms for specialized industrial processes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- April M Lewis
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Alejandra Recalde
- Institute for Biology, Molecular Biology of Archaea, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Christopher Bräsen
- Department of Molecular Enzyme Technology and Biochemistry, Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, and Centre for Water and Environmental Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - James A Counts
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Phillip Nussbaum
- Institute for Biology, Molecular Biology of Archaea, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Jan Bost
- Institute for Biology, Molecular Biology of Archaea, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Larissa Schocke
- Department of Molecular Enzyme Technology and Biochemistry, Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, and Centre for Water and Environmental Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Lu Shen
- Department of Molecular Enzyme Technology and Biochemistry, Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, and Centre for Water and Environmental Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Daniel J Willard
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| | - Tessa E F Quax
- Archaeal Virus–Host Interactions, Faculty of Biology, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Eveline Peeters
- Research Group of Microbiology, Department of Bioengineering Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, 1050 Brussels, Belgium
| | - Bettina Siebers
- Department of Molecular Enzyme Technology and Biochemistry, Environmental Microbiology and Biotechnology, and Centre for Water and Environmental Research, University of Duisburg-Essen, 45117 Essen, Germany
| | - Sonja-Verena Albers
- Institute for Biology, Molecular Biology of Archaea, University of Freiburg, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Robert M Kelly
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University. Raleigh, NC 27695, USA
| |
Collapse
|
17
|
Jia N, Patel DJ. Structure-based functional mechanisms and biotechnology applications of anti-CRISPR proteins. Nat Rev Mol Cell Biol 2021; 22:563-579. [PMID: 34089013 DOI: 10.1038/s41580-021-00371-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 04/07/2021] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
CRISPR loci and Cas proteins provide adaptive immunity in prokaryotes against invading bacteriophages and plasmids. In response, bacteriophages have evolved a broad spectrum of anti-CRISPR proteins (anti-CRISPRs) to counteract and overcome this immunity pathway. Numerous anti-CRISPRs have been identified to date, which suppress single-subunit Cas effectors (in CRISPR class 2, type II, V and VI systems) and multisubunit Cascade effectors (in CRISPR class 1, type I and III systems). Crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy structural studies of anti-CRISPRs bound to effector complexes, complemented by functional experiments in vitro and in vivo, have identified four major CRISPR-Cas suppression mechanisms: inhibition of CRISPR-Cas complex assembly, blocking of target binding, prevention of target cleavage, and degradation of cyclic oligonucleotide signalling molecules. In this Review, we discuss novel mechanistic insights into anti-CRISPR function that have emerged from X-ray crystallography and cryo-electron microscopy studies, and how these structures in combination with function studies provide valuable tools for the ever-growing CRISPR-Cas biotechnology toolbox, to be used for precise and robust genome editing and other applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ning Jia
- Structural Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA. .,Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, China.
| | - Dinshaw J Patel
- Structural Biology Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
18
|
Liu H, Zhu Y, Lu Z, Huang Z. Structural basis of Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 inhibition by AcrIIA14. Nucleic Acids Res 2021; 49:6587-6595. [PMID: 34107040 PMCID: PMC8216286 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/08/2021] [Revised: 05/14/2021] [Accepted: 06/07/2021] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Bacteriophages have evolved a range of anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs) to escape the adaptive immune system of prokaryotes, therefore Acrs can be used as switches to regulate gene editing. Herein, we report the crystal structure of a quaternary complex of AcrIIA14 bound SauCas9–sgRNA–dsDNA at 2.22 Å resolution, revealing the molecular basis for AcrIIA14 recognition and inhibition. Our structural and biochemical data analysis suggest that AcrIIA14 binds to a non-conserved region of SauCas9 HNH domain that is distinctly different from AcrIIC1 and AcrIIC3, with no significant effect on sgRNA or dsDNA binding. Further, our structural data shows that the allostery of the HNH domain close to the substrate DNA is sterically prevented by AcrIIA14 binding. In addition, the binding of AcrIIA14 triggers the conformational allostery of the HNH domain and the L1 linker within the SauCas9, driving them to make new interactions with the target-guide heteroduplex, enhancing the inhibitory ability of AcrIIA14. Our research both expands the current understanding of anti-CRISPRs and provides additional culues for the rational use of the CRISPR-Cas system in genome editing and gene regulation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Hongnan Liu
- Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150080 Harbin, China
| | - Yuwei Zhu
- Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150080 Harbin, China
| | - Zebin Lu
- Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150080 Harbin, China
| | - Zhiwei Huang
- Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, 150080 Harbin, China
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey K Cornuault
- Département de biochimie, de microbiologie et de bio-informatique, Faculté des sciences et de génie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada; Université Laval, Québec, Canada.,Groupe de recherche en écologie buccale, Faculté de médecine dentaire, Université Laval, Québec, Canada; and Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| | - Sylvain Moineau
- Département de biochimie, de microbiologie et de bio-informatique, Faculté des sciences et de génie, Université Laval, Québec, Canada; Université Laval, Québec, Canada.,Groupe de recherche en écologie buccale, Faculté de médecine dentaire, Université Laval, Québec, Canada; and Université Laval, Québec, Canada.,Félix d'Hérelle Reference Center for Bacterial Viruses, Université Laval, Québec, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
Isaev AB, Musharova OS, Severinov KV. Microbial Arsenal of Antiviral Defenses - Part I. BIOCHEMISTRY (MOSCOW) 2021; 86:319-337. [PMID: 33838632 DOI: 10.1134/s0006297921030081] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
Bacteriophages or phages are viruses that infect bacterial cells (for the scope of this review we will also consider viruses that infect Archaea). Constant threat of phage infection is a major force that shapes evolution of the microbial genomes. To withstand infection, bacteria had evolved numerous strategies to avoid recognition by phages or to directly interfere with phage propagation inside the cell. Classical molecular biology and genetic engineering have been deeply intertwined with the study of phages and host defenses. Nowadays, owing to the rise of phage therapy, broad application of CRISPR-Cas technologies, and development of bioinformatics approaches that facilitate discovery of new systems, phage biology experiences a revival. This review describes variety of strategies employed by microbes to counter phage infection, with a focus on novel systems discovered in recent years. First chapter covers defense associated with cell surface, role of small molecules, and innate immunity systems relying on DNA modification.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Artem B Isaev
- Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, 143028, Russia.
| | - Olga S Musharova
- Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, 143028, Russia. .,Institute of Molecular Genetics, Moscow, 119334, Russia
| | - Konstantin V Severinov
- Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, 143028, Russia. .,Waksman Institute of Microbiology, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA
| |
Collapse
|
21
|
Wheatley RM, MacLean RC. CRISPR-Cas systems restrict horizontal gene transfer in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. THE ISME JOURNAL 2021; 15:1420-1433. [PMID: 33349652 PMCID: PMC8105352 DOI: 10.1038/s41396-020-00860-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2020] [Revised: 11/06/2020] [Accepted: 11/26/2020] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
CRISPR-Cas systems provide bacteria and archaea with an adaptive immune system that targets foreign DNA. However, the xenogenic nature of immunity provided by CRISPR-Cas raises the possibility that these systems may constrain horizontal gene transfer. Here we test this hypothesis in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which has emerged as an important model system for understanding CRISPR-Cas function. Across the diversity of P. aeruginosa, active CRISPR-Cas systems are associated with smaller genomes and higher GC content, suggesting that CRISPR-Cas inhibits the acquisition of foreign DNA. Although phage is the major target of CRISPR-Cas spacers, more than 80% of isolates with an active CRISPR-Cas system have spacers that target integrative conjugative elements (ICE) or the conserved conjugative transfer machinery used by plasmids and ICE. Consistent with these results, genomes containing active CRISPR-Cas systems harbour a lower abundance of both prophage and ICE. Crucially, spacers in genomes with active CRISPR-Cas systems map to ICE and phage that are integrated into the chromosomes of closely related genomes lacking CRISPR-Cas immunity. We propose that CRISPR-Cas acts as an important constraint to horizontal gene transfer, and the evolutionary mechanisms that ensure its maintenance or drive its loss are key to the ability of this pathogen to adapt to new niches and stressors.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - R Craig MacLean
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PS, UK
| |
Collapse
|
22
|
Abstract
Developments in genome editing offer potential solutions to challenges in agriculture, industry, medicine, and the environment. However, many technologies remain unexploited due to limitations in the use of genetically altered organisms. In this study, we use B. subtilis spores to explore the possibility of bioengineering organisms while leaving their genome intact. Taking advantage of the differential expression between the mother cell and the fore-spore compartments during sporulation, we created plasmids programmed to modify the spore phenotype from the mother cell compartment, but to "self-digest" in the fore-spore. At the end of sporulation, the mother cell undergoes lysis and releases the phenotypically engineered, genetically unaltered spores. Using this approach, we demonstrated the potential to express foreign proteins in B. subtilis spores without genome alterations by producing spores expressing GFP in their protective coats, where approximately 90% of the spore population had no detectable plasmid or chromosome alterations. In a separate demonstration, we programmed KinA overexpression during vegetative growth to artificially induce sporulation, and also obtained spores with nearly 90% of them free of detectable plasmid. Artificial induction of sporulation could potentially simplify the bioprocess for industrial spore production, as it reduces the number of steps involved. Overall, these findings demonstrate the potential to create genetically intact bioengineered organisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Juan F. Quijano
- Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, 10027, United States
- Department of Biological Sciences and Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, 10027, United States
| | - Ozgur Sahin
- Department of Biological Sciences, Columbia University, New York, 10027, United States
- Department of Biological Sciences and Department of Physics, Columbia University, New York, 10027, United States
| |
Collapse
|
23
|
Matsumoto D, Nomura W. Molecular Switch Engineering for Precise Genome Editing. Bioconjug Chem 2021; 32:639-648. [PMID: 33825445 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.1c00088] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Genome editing technology commenced in 1996 with the discovery of the first zinc-finger nuclease. Application of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat (CRISPR) associated protein 9 (Cas9) technology to genome editing of mammalian cells allowed researchers to use genome editing more easily and cost-effectively. However, one of the technological problems that remains to be solved is "off-target effects", which are unexpected mutations in nontarget DNA. One significant improvement in genome editing technology has been achieved with molecular/protein engineering. The key to this engineering is a "switch" to control function. In this review, we discuss recent efforts to design novel "switching" systems for precise editing using genome editing tools.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daisuke Matsumoto
- Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8553, Japan
| | - Wataru Nomura
- Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8553, Japan
| |
Collapse
|
24
|
Benler S, Yutin N, Antipov D, Rayko M, Shmakov S, Gussow AB, Pevzner P, Koonin EV. Thousands of previously unknown phages discovered in whole-community human gut metagenomes. MICROBIOME 2021; 9:78. [PMID: 33781338 PMCID: PMC8008677 DOI: 10.1186/s40168-021-01017-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 28.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2020] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 05/07/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Double-stranded DNA bacteriophages (dsDNA phages) play pivotal roles in structuring human gut microbiomes; yet, the gut virome is far from being fully characterized, and additional groups of phages, including highly abundant ones, continue to be discovered by metagenome mining. A multilevel framework for taxonomic classification of viruses was recently adopted, facilitating the classification of phages into evolutionary informative taxonomic units based on hallmark genes. Together with advanced approaches for sequence assembly and powerful methods of sequence analysis, this revised framework offers the opportunity to discover and classify unknown phage taxa in the human gut. RESULTS A search of human gut metagenomes for circular contigs encoding phage hallmark genes resulted in the identification of 3738 apparently complete phage genomes that represent 451 putative genera. Several of these phage genera are only distantly related to previously identified phages and are likely to found new families. Two of the candidate families, "Flandersviridae" and "Quimbyviridae", include some of the most common and abundant members of the human gut virome that infect Bacteroides, Parabacteroides, and Prevotella. The third proposed family, "Gratiaviridae," consists of less abundant phages that are distantly related to the families Autographiviridae, Drexlerviridae, and Chaseviridae. Analysis of CRISPR spacers indicates that phages of all three putative families infect bacteria of the phylum Bacteroidetes. Comparative genomic analysis of the three candidate phage families revealed features without precedent in phage genomes. Some "Quimbyviridae" phages possess Diversity-Generating Retroelements (DGRs) that generate hypervariable target genes nested within defense-related genes, whereas the previously known targets of phage-encoded DGRs are structural genes. Several "Flandersviridae" phages encode enzymes of the isoprenoid pathway, a lipid biosynthesis pathway that so far has not been known to be manipulated by phages. The "Gratiaviridae" phages encode a HipA-family protein kinase and glycosyltransferase, suggesting these phages modify the host cell wall, preventing superinfection by other phages. Hundreds of phages in these three and other families are shown to encode catalases and iron-sequestering enzymes that can be predicted to enhance cellular tolerance to reactive oxygen species. CONCLUSIONS Analysis of phage genomes identified in whole-community human gut metagenomes resulted in the delineation of at least three new candidate families of Caudovirales and revealed diverse putative mechanisms underlying phage-host interactions in the human gut. Addition of these phylogenetically classified, diverse, and distinct phages to public databases will facilitate taxonomic decomposition and functional characterization of human gut viromes. Video abstract.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sean Benler
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland 20894 USA
| | - Natalya Yutin
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland 20894 USA
| | - Dmitry Antipov
- Center for Algorithmic Biotechnology, Institute for Translational Biomedicine, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, 199004 Russia
| | - Mikhail Rayko
- Center for Algorithmic Biotechnology, Institute for Translational Biomedicine, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, 199004 Russia
| | - Sergey Shmakov
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland 20894 USA
| | - Ayal B. Gussow
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland 20894 USA
| | - Pavel Pevzner
- Center for Algorithmic Biotechnology, Institute for Translational Biomedicine, St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, 199004 Russia
- Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA 92093 USA
| | - Eugene V. Koonin
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland 20894 USA
| |
Collapse
|
25
|
Diversity of molecular mechanisms used by anti-CRISPR proteins: the tip of an iceberg? Biochem Soc Trans 2021; 48:507-516. [PMID: 32196554 DOI: 10.1042/bst20190638] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2019] [Revised: 02/27/2020] [Accepted: 02/28/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Bacteriophages (phages) and their preys are engaged in an evolutionary arms race driving the co-adaptation of their attack and defense mechanisms. In this context, phages have evolved diverse anti-CRISPR proteins to evade the bacterial CRISPR-Cas immune system, and propagate. Anti-CRISPR proteins do not share much resemblance with each other and with proteins of known function, which raises intriguing questions particularly relating to their modes of action. In recent years, there have been many structure-function studies shedding light on different CRISPR-Cas inhibition strategies. As the anti-CRISPR field of research is rapidly growing, it is opportune to review the current knowledge on these proteins, with particular emphasis on the molecular strategies deployed to inactivate distinct steps of CRISPR-Cas immunity. Anti-CRISPR proteins can be orthosteric or allosteric inhibitors of CRISPR-Cas machineries, as well as enzymes that irreversibly modify CRISPR-Cas components. This repertoire of CRISPR-Cas inhibition mechanisms will likely expand in the future, providing fundamental knowledge on phage-bacteria interactions and offering great perspectives for the development of biotechnological tools to fine-tune CRISPR-Cas-based gene edition.
Collapse
|
26
|
Wu H, Chen X, Zhang M, Wang X, Chen Y, Qian C, Wu J, Xu J. Versatile detection with CRISPR/Cas system from applications to challenges. Trends Analyt Chem 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.trac.2020.116150] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
|
27
|
Royer S, Morais AP, da Fonseca Batistão DW. Phage therapy as strategy to face post-antibiotic era: a guide to beginners and experts. Arch Microbiol 2021; 203:1271-1279. [PMID: 33474609 DOI: 10.1007/s00203-020-02167-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Revised: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 12/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Interest in the therapeutic use of bacteriophages (phages) has emerged in recent years, driven mainly by the antimicrobial resistance crisis. This review aimed to summarize some important studies addressing the use of phages as a therapeutic alternative for multiresistant bacterial infections. To this end, a literature search was conducted to address the efficacy and versatility of phage therapy, the advantages and disadvantages of its use, and potential limitations for the application of phage therapy that need to be overcome, especially in Western countries. Thus, this review highlights that phage therapy may be a promising route in the treatment of infections caused by multidrug-resistant pathogens and that a combined approach has the potential to prolong the life of the current available antimicrobials. In addition, standardized clinical trials using monoclonal or polyclonal phages, alone or in combination with antimicrobials, are crucial to determine the real potential of these treatments in clinical practice.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sabrina Royer
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Biomedical Science Institute, Federal University of Uberlandia, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil. .,Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Biomedical Science Institute, Federal University of Uberlandia, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
| | - Aléxia Pinheiro Morais
- Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Biomedical Science Institute, Federal University of Uberlandia, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil.,Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Biomedical Science Institute, Federal University of Uberlandia, Uberlandia, Minas Gerais, Brazil
| | | |
Collapse
|
28
|
Abstract
Since their discovery more than 100 years ago, the viruses that infect bacteria (bacteriophages) have been widely studied as model systems. Largely overlooked, however, have been "jumbo phages," with genome sizes ranging from 200 to 500 kbp. Jumbo phages generally have large virions with complex structures and a broad host spectrum. While the majority of jumbo phage genes are poorly functionally characterized, recent work has discovered many unique biological features, including a conserved tubulin homolog that coordinates a proteinaceous nucleus-like compartment that houses and segregates phage DNA. The tubulin spindle displays dynamic instability and centers the phage nucleus within the bacterial host during phage infection for optimal reproduction. The shell provides robust physical protection for the enclosed phage genomes against attack from DNA-targeting bacterial immune systems, thereby endowing jumbo phages with broad resistance. In this review, we focus on the current knowledge of the cytoskeletal elements and the specialized nuclear compartment derived from jumbo phages, and we highlight their importance in facilitating spatial and temporal organization over the viral life cycle. Additionally, we discuss the evolutionary relationships between jumbo phages and eukaryotic viruses, as well as the therapeutic potential and drawbacks of jumbo phages as antimicrobial agents in phage therapy.
Collapse
|
29
|
Porto EM, Komor AC, Slaymaker IM, Yeo GW. Base editing: advances and therapeutic opportunities. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2020; 19:839-859. [PMID: 33077937 PMCID: PMC7721651 DOI: 10.1038/s41573-020-0084-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 196] [Impact Index Per Article: 49.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Base editing - the introduction of single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) into DNA or RNA in living cells - is one of the most recent advances in the field of genome editing. As around half of known pathogenic genetic variants are due to SNVs, base editing holds great potential for the treatment of numerous genetic diseases, through either temporary RNA or permanent DNA base alterations. Recent advances in the specificity, efficiency, precision and delivery of DNA and RNA base editors are revealing exciting therapeutic opportunities for these technologies. We expect the correction of single point mutations will be a major focus of future precision medicine.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth M Porto
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alexis C Komor
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Ian M Slaymaker
- Synthetic Biology Department, Beam Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, USA
| | - Gene W Yeo
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Biomedical Sciences and Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Graduate Programs, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Institute for Genomic Medicine, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| |
Collapse
|
30
|
Manav MC, Van LB, Lin J, Fuglsang A, Peng X, Brodersen DE. Structural basis for inhibition of an archaeal CRISPR-Cas type I-D large subunit by an anti-CRISPR protein. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5993. [PMID: 33239638 PMCID: PMC7689449 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19847-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 11/03/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
A hallmark of type I CRISPR-Cas systems is the presence of Cas3, which contains both the nuclease and helicase activities required for DNA cleavage during interference. In subtype I-D systems, however, the histidine-aspartate (HD) nuclease domain is encoded as part of a Cas10-like large effector complex subunit and the helicase activity in a separate Cas3' subunit, but the functional and mechanistic consequences of this organisation are not currently understood. Here we show that the Sulfolobus islandicus type I-D Cas10d large subunit exhibits an unusual domain architecture consisting of a Cas3-like HD nuclease domain fused to a degenerate polymerase fold and a C-terminal domain structurally similar to Cas11. Crystal structures of Cas10d both in isolation and bound to S. islandicus rod-shaped virus 3 AcrID1 reveal that the anti-CRISPR protein sequesters the large subunit in a non-functional state unable to form a cleavage-competent effector complex. The architecture of Cas10d suggests that the type I-D effector complex is similar to those found in type III CRISPR-Cas systems and that this feature is specifically exploited by phages for anti-CRISPR defence.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M Cemre Manav
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10c, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
- MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge, CB2 0QH, UK
| | - Lan B Van
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10c, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Jinzhong Lin
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløes Vej 5, DK-2200, København N, Denmark
| | - Anders Fuglsang
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløes Vej 5, DK-2200, København N, Denmark
| | - Xu Peng
- Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Ole Maaløes Vej 5, DK-2200, København N, Denmark.
| | - Ditlev E Brodersen
- Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 10c, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark.
| |
Collapse
|
31
|
Song G, Zhang F, Zhang X, Gao X, Zhu X, Fan D, Tian Y. AcrIIA5 Inhibits a Broad Range of Cas9 Orthologs by Preventing DNA Target Cleavage. Cell Rep 2020; 29:2579-2589.e4. [PMID: 31775029 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.10.078] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2019] [Revised: 09/15/2019] [Accepted: 10/18/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
CRISPR-Cas9 is an adaptive immune system for prokaryotes to defend against invasive genetic elements such as phages and has been used as a powerful tool for genome editing and modulation. To overcome CRISPR immunity, phages encode anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs) to inhibit Cas9, providing an efficient "off-switch" tool for Cas9-based applications. Here, we characterized AcrIIA5, which is a Cas9 inhibitor discovered in a virulent phage of Streptococcus thermophilus. We found that AcrIIA5 is a potent and broad-spectrum inhibitor of CRISPR-Cas9, which can inhibit diverse Cas9 orthologs of type II-A, type II-B, and type II-C. AcrIIA5 inhibits Cas9 by preventing DNA target cleavage, but DNA target binding of Cas9 is unaffected. Importantly, it can affect the activity of the RuvC nuclease domain of Cas9 independent of the HNH nuclease domain. Our work expands the diversity of the inhibitory mechanisms used by Acrs and provides the guidance for developing controlling tools in Cas9-based applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Guoxu Song
- CAS Key Laboratory of RNA Biology, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Fei Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of RNA Biology, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Xuewen Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of RNA Biology, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xing Gao
- CAS Key Laboratory of RNA Biology, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Xiaoxiao Zhu
- CAS Key Laboratory of RNA Biology, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Dongdong Fan
- CAS Key Laboratory of RNA Biology, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
| | - Yong Tian
- CAS Key Laboratory of RNA Biology, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
| |
Collapse
|
32
|
Niu Y, Yang L, Gao T, Dong C, Zhang B, Yin P, Hopp AK, Li D, Gan R, Wang H, Liu X, Cao X, Xie Y, Meng X, Deng H, Zhang X, Ren J, Hottiger MO, Chen Z, Zhang Y, Liu X, Feng Y. A Type I-F Anti-CRISPR Protein Inhibits the CRISPR-Cas Surveillance Complex by ADP-Ribosylation. Mol Cell 2020; 80:512-524.e5. [PMID: 33049228 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2020.09.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2020] [Revised: 08/11/2020] [Accepted: 09/11/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
CRISPR-Cas systems are bacterial anti-viral systems, and phages use anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs) to inactivate these systems. Here, we report a novel mechanism by which AcrIF11 inhibits the type I-F CRISPR system. Our structural and biochemical studies demonstrate that AcrIF11 functions as a novel mono-ADP-ribosyltransferase (mART) to modify N250 of the Cas8f subunit, a residue required for recognition of the protospacer-adjacent motif, within the crRNA-guided surveillance (Csy) complex from Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The AcrIF11-mediated ADP-ribosylation of the Csy complex results in complete loss of its double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) binding activity. Biochemical studies show that AcrIF11 requires, besides Cas8f, the Cas7.6f subunit for binding to and modifying the Csy complex. Our study not only reveals an unprecedented mechanism of type I CRISPR-Cas inhibition and the evolutionary arms race between phages and bacteria but also suggests an approach for designing highly potent regulatory tools in the future applications of type I CRISPR-Cas systems.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Yiying Niu
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Lingguang Yang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Teng Gao
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Changpeng Dong
- Key Laboratory of Livestock Infectious Diseases in Northeast China, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Liaoning Province, Shenyang 110866, China
| | - Buyu Zhang
- Institute of Analytical Chemistry, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Peipei Yin
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Ann-Katrin Hopp
- Department of Molecular Mechanisms of Disease, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Dongdong Li
- The Protein Preparation and Characterization Core Facility of Tsinghua University, The China National Center for Protein Sciences (Beijing) Tsinghua University Branch, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Rui Gan
- HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150080, China
| | - Hongou Wang
- Department of Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Xi Liu
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Xueli Cao
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Yongchao Xie
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Xianbin Meng
- MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Haiteng Deng
- MOE Key Laboratory of Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
| | - Xiaohui Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100191, China
| | - Jie Ren
- State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests/Key Laboratory of Control of Biological Hazard Factors (Plant Origin) for Agri-product Quality and Safety, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - Michael O Hottiger
- Department of Molecular Mechanisms of Disease, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Zeliang Chen
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China; Key Laboratory of Livestock Infectious Diseases in Northeast China, Ministry of Education, College of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Shenyang Agricultural University, Liaoning Province, Shenyang 110866, China.
| | - Yi Zhang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
| | - Xiaoyun Liu
- Department of Microbiology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China.
| | - Yue Feng
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China.
| |
Collapse
|
33
|
Wang J, Dai W, Li J, Xie R, Dunstan RA, Stubenrauch C, Zhang Y, Lithgow T. PaCRISPR: a server for predicting and visualizing anti-CRISPR proteins. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:W348-W357. [PMID: 32459325 PMCID: PMC7319593 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa432] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/02/2020] [Revised: 04/22/2020] [Accepted: 05/13/2020] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Anti-CRISPRs are widespread amongst bacteriophage and promote bacteriophage infection by inactivating the bacterial host's CRISPR–Cas defence system. Identifying and characterizing anti-CRISPR proteins opens an avenue to explore and control CRISPR–Cas machineries for the development of new CRISPR–Cas based biotechnological and therapeutic tools. Past studies have identified anti-CRISPRs in several model phage genomes, but a challenge exists to comprehensively screen for anti-CRISPRs accurately and efficiently from genome and metagenome sequence data. Here, we have developed an ensemble learning based predictor, PaCRISPR, to accurately identify anti-CRISPRs from protein datasets derived from genome and metagenome sequencing projects. PaCRISPR employs different types of feature recognition united within an ensemble framework. Extensive cross-validation and independent tests show that PaCRISPR achieves a significantly more accurate performance compared with homology-based baseline predictors and an existing toolkit. The performance of PaCRISPR was further validated in discovering anti-CRISPRs that were not part of the training for PaCRISPR, but which were recently demonstrated to function as anti-CRISPRs for phage infections. Data visualization on anti-CRISPR relationships, highlighting sequence similarity and phylogenetic considerations, is part of the output from the PaCRISPR toolkit, which is freely available at http://pacrispr.erc.monash.edu/.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jiawei Wang
- Infection and Immunity Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Wei Dai
- Infection and Immunity Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
- School of Computer Science and Information Security, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China
| | - Jiahui Li
- School of Computer Science and Information Security, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China
| | - Ruopeng Xie
- School of Computer Science and Information Security, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China
| | - Rhys A Dunstan
- Infection and Immunity Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Christopher Stubenrauch
- Infection and Immunity Program, Biomedicine Discovery Institute and Department of Microbiology, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Yanju Zhang
- School of Computer Science and Information Security, Guilin University of Electronic Technology, Guilin 541004, China
| | - Trevor Lithgow
- To whom correspondence should be addressed. Tel: +61 3 9902 9217; Fax: +61 3 9905 3726;
| |
Collapse
|
34
|
Yu L, Marchisio MA. Types I and V Anti-CRISPR Proteins: From Phage Defense to Eukaryotic Synthetic Gene Circuits. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2020; 8:575393. [PMID: 33102460 PMCID: PMC7556299 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.575393] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas (CRISPR-associated proteins), a prokaryotic RNA-mediated adaptive immune system, has been repurposed for gene editing and synthetic gene circuit construction both in bacterial and eukaryotic cells. In the last years, the emergence of the anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs), which are natural OFF-switches for CRISPR-Cas, has provided a new means to control CRISPR-Cas activity and promoted a further development of CRISPR-Cas-based biotechnological toolkits. In this review, we focus on type I and type V-A anti-CRISPR proteins. We first narrate Acrs discovery and analyze their inhibitory mechanisms from a structural perspective. Then, we describe their applications in gene editing and transcription regulation. Finally, we discuss the potential future usage-and corresponding possible challenges-of these two kinds of anti-CRISPR proteins in eukaryotic synthetic gene circuits.
Collapse
|
35
|
Eitzinger S, Asif A, Watters KE, Iavarone AT, Knott GJ, Doudna JA, Minhas FUAA. Machine learning predicts new anti-CRISPR proteins. Nucleic Acids Res 2020; 48:4698-4708. [PMID: 32286628 PMCID: PMC7229843 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkaa219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2019] [Revised: 03/23/2020] [Accepted: 03/25/2020] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The increasing use of CRISPR–Cas9 in medicine, agriculture, and synthetic biology has accelerated the drive to discover new CRISPR–Cas inhibitors as potential mechanisms of control for gene editing applications. Many anti-CRISPRs have been found that inhibit the CRISPR–Cas adaptive immune system. However, comparing all currently known anti-CRISPRs does not reveal a shared set of properties for facile bioinformatic identification of new anti-CRISPR families. Here, we describe AcRanker, a machine learning based method to aid direct identification of new potential anti-CRISPRs using only protein sequence information. Using a training set of known anti-CRISPRs, we built a model based on XGBoost ranking. We then applied AcRanker to predict candidate anti-CRISPRs from predicted prophage regions within self-targeting bacterial genomes and discovered two previously unknown anti-CRISPRs: AcrllA20 (ML1) and AcrIIA21 (ML8). We show that AcrIIA20 strongly inhibits Streptococcus iniae Cas9 (SinCas9) and weakly inhibits Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpyCas9). We also show that AcrIIA21 inhibits SpyCas9, Streptococcus aureus Cas9 (SauCas9) and SinCas9 with low potency. The addition of AcRanker to the anti-CRISPR discovery toolkit allows researchers to directly rank potential anti-CRISPR candidate genes for increased speed in testing and validation of new anti-CRISPRs. A web server implementation for AcRanker is available online at http://acranker.pythonanywhere.com/.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Simon Eitzinger
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Amina Asif
- Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), PO Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan.,FAST School of Computing, National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences (NUCES), Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - Kyle E Watters
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Anthony T Iavarone
- QB3/Chemistry Mass Spectrometry Facility, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Gavin J Knott
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Jennifer A Doudna
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.,Department of Chemistry, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.,Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.,Gladstone Institute of Data Science and Biotechnology, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158.,Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.,Molecular Biophysics & Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
| | - Fayyaz Ul Amir Afsar Minhas
- Department of Computer and Information Sciences, Pakistan Institute of Engineering and Applied Sciences (PIEAS), PO Nilore, Islamabad, Pakistan.,Department of Computer Science, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| |
Collapse
|
36
|
Affiliation(s)
- Karen L. Maxwell
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Abstract
The ability to edit DNA at the nucleotide level using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) systems is a relatively new investigative tool that is revolutionizing the analysis of many aspects of human health and disease, including orthopaedic disease. CRISPR, adapted for mammalian cell genome editing from a bacterial defence system, has been shown to be a flexible, programmable, scalable, and easy-to-use gene editing tool. Recent improvements increase the functionality of CRISPR through the engineering of specific elements of CRISPR systems, the discovery of new, naturally occurring CRISPR molecules, and modifications that take CRISPR beyond gene editing to the regulation of gene transcription and the manipulation of RNA. Here, the basics of CRISPR genome editing will be reviewed, including a description of how it has transformed some aspects of molecular musculoskeletal research, and will conclude by speculating what the future holds for the use of CRISPR-related treatments and therapies in clinical orthopaedic practice. Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2020;9(7):351–359.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Fitzgerald
- Bone and Joint Center, Henry Ford Hospital, Integrative Biosciences Center, Detroit, Michigan, USA
| |
Collapse
|
38
|
Osuna BA, Karambelkar S, Mahendra C, Christie KA, Garcia B, Davidson AR, Kleinstiver BP, Kilcher S, Bondy-Denomy J. Listeria Phages Induce Cas9 Degradation to Protect Lysogenic Genomes. Cell Host Microbe 2020; 28:31-40.e9. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2020.04.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2019] [Revised: 03/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
|
39
|
Wiegand T, Karambelkar S, Bondy-Denomy J, Wiedenheft B. Structures and Strategies of Anti-CRISPR-Mediated Immune Suppression. Annu Rev Microbiol 2020; 74:21-37. [PMID: 32503371 DOI: 10.1146/annurev-micro-020518-120107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
More than 50 protein families have been identified that inhibit CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas-mediated adaptive immune systems. Here, we analyze the available anti-CRISPR (Acr) structures and describe common themes and unique mechanisms of stoichiometric and enzymatic suppressors of CRISPR-Cas. Stoichiometric inhibitors often function as molecular decoys of protein-binding partners or nucleic acid targets, while enzymatic suppressors covalently modify Cas ribonucleoprotein complexes or degrade immune signaling molecules. We review mechanistic insights that have been revealed by structures of Acrs, discuss some of the trade-offs associated with each of these strategies, and highlight how Acrs are regulated and deployed in the race to overcome adaptive immunity.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Tanner Wiegand
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717, USA;
| | - Shweta Karambelkar
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Quantitative Biosciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA
| | - Joseph Bondy-Denomy
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology and Quantitative Biosciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco, California 94143, USA.,Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, California 94720, USA
| | - Blake Wiedenheft
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, Bozeman, Montana 59717, USA;
| |
Collapse
|
40
|
Zuo Z, Liu J. Allosteric regulation of CRISPR-Cas9 for DNA-targeting and cleavage. Curr Opin Struct Biol 2020; 62:166-174. [PMID: 32070859 PMCID: PMC7308215 DOI: 10.1016/j.sbi.2020.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2019] [Revised: 01/15/2020] [Accepted: 01/16/2020] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
Abstract
The CRISPR-Cas9 system from Streptococcus pyogenes has been exploited as a programmable RNA-guided DNA-targeting and DNA-editing platform. This evolutionary tool enables diverse genetic manipulations with unprecedented precision and ease. Cas9 is an allosteric enzyme, which is allosterically regulated in conformational activation, target recognition, and DNA cleavage. Here, we outline the underlying allosteric control over the Cas9 complex assembly and targeting specificity. We further review the strategies for mitigating intrinsic Cas9 off-target effects through allosteric modulations and the advances in engineering controllable Cas9 systems that are responsive to external allosteric signals. Future development of highly specific, tunable CRISPR-Cas9 systems through allosteric modulations would greatly benefit applications that require both conditional control and high precision.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Zhicheng Zuo
- College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai University of Engineering Science, Shanghai 201620, China
| | - Jin Liu
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of North Texas System College of Pharmacy, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX 76107, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
41
|
Laanto E, Mäkelä K, Hoikkala V, Ravantti JJ, Sundberg LR. Adapting a Phage to Combat Phage Resistance. Antibiotics (Basel) 2020; 9:E291. [PMID: 32486059 PMCID: PMC7345892 DOI: 10.3390/antibiotics9060291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2020] [Revised: 05/27/2020] [Accepted: 05/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Phage therapy is becoming a widely recognized alternative for fighting pathogenic bacteria due to increasing antibiotic resistance problems. However, one of the common concerns related to the use of phages is the evolution of bacterial resistance against the phages, putatively disabling the treatment. Experimental adaptation of the phage (phage training) to infect a resistant host has been used to combat this problem. Yet, there is very little information on the trade-offs of phage infectivity and host range. Here we co-cultured a myophage FCV-1 with its host, the fish pathogen Flavobacterium columnare, in lake water and monitored the interaction for a one-month period. Phage resistance was detected within one day of co-culture in the majority of the bacterial isolates (16 out of the 18 co-evolved clones). The primary phage resistance mechanism suggests defense via surface modifications, as the phage numbers rose in the first two days of the experiment and remained stable thereafter. However, one bacterial isolate had acquired a spacer in its CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeat)-Cas locus, indicating that also CRISPR-Cas defense was employed in the phage-host interactions. After a week of co-culture, a phage isolate was obtained that was able to infect 18 out of the 32 otherwise resistant clones isolated during the experiment. Phage genome sequencing revealed several mutations in two open reading frames (ORFs) likely to be involved in the regained infectivity of the evolved phage. Their location in the genome suggests that they encode tail genes. Characterization of this evolved phage, however, showed a direct cost for the ability to infect several otherwise resistant clones-adsorption was significantly lower than in the ancestral phage. This work describes a method for adapting the phage to overcome phage resistance in a fish pathogenic system.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Elina Laanto
- Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Molecular and Integrative Biosciences Research Programme, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland;
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Nanoscience Center, University of Jyvaskyla, 40014 Jyvaskyla, Finland; (K.M.); (V.H.); (L.R.S.)
| | - Kati Mäkelä
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Nanoscience Center, University of Jyvaskyla, 40014 Jyvaskyla, Finland; (K.M.); (V.H.); (L.R.S.)
| | - Ville Hoikkala
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Nanoscience Center, University of Jyvaskyla, 40014 Jyvaskyla, Finland; (K.M.); (V.H.); (L.R.S.)
| | - Janne J. Ravantti
- Faculty of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Molecular and Integrative Biosciences Research Programme, University of Helsinki, 00014 Helsinki, Finland;
| | - Lotta-Riina Sundberg
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science, Nanoscience Center, University of Jyvaskyla, 40014 Jyvaskyla, Finland; (K.M.); (V.H.); (L.R.S.)
| |
Collapse
|
42
|
Bleriot I, Trastoy R, Blasco L, Fernández-Cuenca F, Ambroa A, Fernández-García L, Pacios O, Perez-Nadales E, Torre-Cisneros J, Oteo-Iglesias J, Navarro F, Miró E, Pascual A, Bou G, Martínez-Martínez L, Tomas M. Genomic analysis of 40 prophages located in the genomes of 16 carbapenemase-producing clinical strains of Klebsiella pneumoniae. Microb Genom 2020; 6:e000369. [PMID: 32375972 PMCID: PMC7371120 DOI: 10.1099/mgen.0.000369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Klebsiella pneumoniae is the clinically most important species within the genus Klebsiella and, as a result of the continuous emergence of multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains, the cause of severe nosocomial infections. The decline in the effectiveness of antibiotic treatments for infections caused by MDR bacteria has generated particular interest in the study of bacteriophages. In this study, we characterized a total of 40 temperate bacteriophages (prophages) with a genome range of 11.454-84.199 kb, predicted from 16 carbapenemase-producing clinical strains of K. pneumoniae belonging to different sequence types, previously identified by multilocus sequence typing. These prophages were grouped into the three families in the order Caudovirales (27 prophages belonging to the family Myoviridae, 10 prophages belonging to the family Siphoviridae and 3 prophages belonging to the family Podoviridae). Genomic comparison of the 40 prophage genomes led to the identification of four prophages isolated from different strains and of genome sizes of around 33.3, 36.1, 39.6 and 42.6 kb. These prophages showed sequence similarities (query cover >90 %, identity >99.9 %) with international Microbe Versus Phage (MVP) (http://mvp.medgenius.info/home) clusters 4762, 4901, 3499 and 4280, respectively. Phylogenetic analysis revealed the evolutionary proximity among the members of the four groups of the most frequently identified prophages in the bacterial genomes studied (33.3, 36.1, 39.6 and 42.6 kb), with bootstrap values of 100 %. This allowed the prophages to be classified into three clusters: A, B and C. Interestingly, these temperate bacteriophages did not infect the highest number of strains as indicated by a host-range assay, these results could be explained by the development of superinfection exclusion mechanisms. In addition, bioinformatic analysis of the 40 identified prophages revealed the presence of 2363 proteins. In total, 59.7 % of the proteins identified had a predicted function, mainly involving viral structure, transcription, replication and regulation (lysogenic/lysis). Interestingly, some proteins had putative functions associated with bacterial virulence (toxin expression and efflux pump regulators), phage defence profiles such as toxin-antitoxin modules, an anti-CRISPR/Cas9 protein, TerB protein (from terZABCDE operon) and methyltransferase proteins.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ines Bleriot
- Microbiology Department, Research Institute Biomedical A Coruña (INIBIC), Hospital A Coruña (CHUAC), University of A Coruña (UDC), A Coruña, Spain
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
| | - Rocío Trastoy
- Microbiology Department, Research Institute Biomedical A Coruña (INIBIC), Hospital A Coruña (CHUAC), University of A Coruña (UDC), A Coruña, Spain
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
| | - Lucia Blasco
- Microbiology Department, Research Institute Biomedical A Coruña (INIBIC), Hospital A Coruña (CHUAC), University of A Coruña (UDC), A Coruña, Spain
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
| | - Felipe Fernández-Cuenca
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
- Clinical Unit for Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena. Deparment of Microbiology and Medicine, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
- Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases, REIPI, Seville, Spain
| | - Antón Ambroa
- Microbiology Department, Research Institute Biomedical A Coruña (INIBIC), Hospital A Coruña (CHUAC), University of A Coruña (UDC), A Coruña, Spain
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
| | - Laura Fernández-García
- Microbiology Department, Research Institute Biomedical A Coruña (INIBIC), Hospital A Coruña (CHUAC), University of A Coruña (UDC), A Coruña, Spain
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
| | - Olga Pacios
- Microbiology Department, Research Institute Biomedical A Coruña (INIBIC), Hospital A Coruña (CHUAC), University of A Coruña (UDC), A Coruña, Spain
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
| | - Elena Perez-Nadales
- Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases, REIPI, Seville, Spain
- Microbiology Unit, Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), University Hospital Reina Sofía, University of Córdoba, Cordoba, Spain
| | - Julian Torre-Cisneros
- Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases, REIPI, Seville, Spain
- Microbiology Unit, Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), University Hospital Reina Sofía, University of Córdoba, Cordoba, Spain
| | - Jesús Oteo-Iglesias
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
- Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases, REIPI, Seville, Spain
- Reference and Research Laboratory for Antibiotic Resistance and Health Care Infections, National Centre for Microbiology, Institute of Health Carlos III, Majadahonda, Madrid, Spain
| | - Ferran Navarro
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
- Microbiology Department, Sant Pau Hospital, Autonomous University of Barcelona (Bellaterra), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Elisenda Miró
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
- Microbiology Department, Sant Pau Hospital, Autonomous University of Barcelona (Bellaterra), Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alvaro Pascual
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
- Clinical Unit for Infectious Diseases, Microbiology and Preventive Medicine, Hospital Universitario Virgen Macarena. Deparment of Microbiology and Medicine, University of Seville, Seville, Spain
- Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases, REIPI, Seville, Spain
| | - German Bou
- Microbiology Department, Research Institute Biomedical A Coruña (INIBIC), Hospital A Coruña (CHUAC), University of A Coruña (UDC), A Coruña, Spain
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
- Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases, REIPI, Seville, Spain
| | - Luis Martínez-Martínez
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
- Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases, REIPI, Seville, Spain
- Microbiology Unit, Maimonides Biomedical Research Institute of Cordoba (IMIBIC), University Hospital Reina Sofía, University of Córdoba, Cordoba, Spain
| | - Maria Tomas
- Microbiology Department, Research Institute Biomedical A Coruña (INIBIC), Hospital A Coruña (CHUAC), University of A Coruña (UDC), A Coruña, Spain
- Study Group on Mechanisms of Action and Resistance to Antimicrobials (GEMARA), Spanish Society of Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology (SEIMC), Madrid
- Spanish Network for the Research in Infectious Diseases, REIPI, Seville, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
43
|
Osuna BA, Karambelkar S, Mahendra C, Sarbach A, Johnson MC, Kilcher S, Bondy-Denomy J. Critical Anti-CRISPR Locus Repression by a Bi-functional Cas9 Inhibitor. Cell Host Microbe 2020; 28:23-30.e5. [PMID: 32325051 DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2020.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2019] [Revised: 03/05/2020] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Bacteriophages must rapidly deploy anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs) to inactivate the RNA-guided nucleases that enforce CRISPR-Cas adaptive immunity in their bacterial hosts. Listeria monocytogenes temperate phages encode up to three anti-Cas9 proteins, with acrIIA1 always present. AcrIIA1 binds and inhibits Cas9 with its C-terminal domain; however, the function of its highly conserved N-terminal domain (NTD) is unknown. Here, we report that the AcrIIA1NTD is a critical transcriptional repressor of the strong anti-CRISPR promoter. A rapid burst of anti-CRISPR transcription occurs during phage infection and the subsequent negative feedback by AcrIIA1NTD is required for optimal phage replication, even in the absence of CRISPR-Cas immunity. In the presence of CRISPR-Cas immunity, full-length AcrIIA1 uses its two-domain architecture to act as a "Cas9 sensor," tuning acr expression according to Cas9 levels. Finally, we identify AcrIIA1NTD homologs in other Firmicutes and demonstrate that they have been co-opted by hosts as "anti-anti-CRISPRs," repressing phage anti-CRISPR deployment.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Beatriz A Osuna
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Shweta Karambelkar
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Caroline Mahendra
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Anne Sarbach
- Institute of Food, Nutrition, and Health, ETH Zurich, Zurich CH 8092, Switzerland
| | - Matthew C Johnson
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
| | - Samuel Kilcher
- Institute of Food, Nutrition, and Health, ETH Zurich, Zurich CH 8092, Switzerland.
| | - Joseph Bondy-Denomy
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Quantitative Biosciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA; Innovative Genomics Institute, Berkeley, CA, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
44
|
Watters KE, Shivram H, Fellmann C, Lew RJ, McMahon B, Doudna JA. Potent CRISPR-Cas9 inhibitors from Staphylococcus genomes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2020; 117:6531-6539. [PMID: 32156733 PMCID: PMC7104187 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1917668117] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Anti-CRISPRs (Acrs) are small proteins that inhibit the RNA-guided DNA targeting activity of CRISPR-Cas enzymes. Encoded by bacteriophage and phage-derived bacterial genes, Acrs prevent CRISPR-mediated inhibition of phage infection and can also block CRISPR-Cas-mediated genome editing in eukaryotic cells. To identify Acrs capable of inhibiting Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 (SauCas9), an alternative to the most commonly used genome editing protein Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpyCas9), we used both self-targeting CRISPR screening and guilt-by-association genomic search strategies. Here we describe three potent inhibitors of SauCas9 that we name AcrIIA13, AcrIIA14, and AcrIIA15. These inhibitors share a conserved N-terminal sequence that is dispensable for DNA cleavage inhibition and have divergent C termini that are required in each case for inhibition of SauCas9-catalyzed DNA cleavage. In human cells, we observe robust inhibition of SauCas9-induced genome editing by AcrIIA13 and moderate inhibition by AcrIIA14 and AcrIIA15. We also find that the conserved N-terminal domain of AcrIIA13-AcrIIA15 binds to an inverted repeat sequence in the promoter of these Acr genes, consistent with its predicted helix-turn-helix DNA binding structure. These data demonstrate an effective strategy for Acr discovery and establish AcrIIA13-AcrIIA15 as unique bifunctional inhibitors of SauCas9.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Kyle E Watters
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Haridha Shivram
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Christof Fellmann
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Gladstone Institute of Data Science and Biotechnology, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158
| | - Rachel J Lew
- Gladstone Institute of Data Science and Biotechnology, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158
| | - Blake McMahon
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
| | - Jennifer A Doudna
- Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720;
- Gladstone Institute of Data Science and Biotechnology, Gladstone Institutes, San Francisco, CA 94158
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Innovative Genomics Institute, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720
| |
Collapse
|
45
|
The arms race between bacteria and their phage foes. Nature 2020; 577:327-336. [PMID: 31942051 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1894-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 403] [Impact Index Per Article: 100.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
Bacteria are under immense evolutionary pressure from their viral invaders-bacteriophages. Bacteria have evolved numerous immune mechanisms, both innate and adaptive, to cope with this pressure. The discovery and exploitation of CRISPR-Cas systems have stimulated a resurgence in the identification and characterization of anti-phage mechanisms. Bacteriophages use an extensive battery of counter-defence strategies to co-exist in the presence of these diverse phage defence mechanisms. Understanding the dynamics of the interactions between these microorganisms has implications for phage-based therapies, microbial ecology and evolution, and the development of new biotechnological tools. Here we review the spectrum of anti-phage systems and highlight their evasion by bacteriophages.
Collapse
|
46
|
An anti-CRISPR viral ring nuclease subverts type III CRISPR immunity. Nature 2020; 577:572-575. [PMID: 31942067 PMCID: PMC6986909 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1909-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 107] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2019] [Accepted: 11/14/2019] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
The CRISPR system in bacteria and archaea provides adaptive immunity against mobile genetic elements. Type III CRISPR systems detect viral RNA, resulting in the activation of two regions of the Cas10 protein: an HD nuclease domain (which degrades viral DNA)1,2 and a cyclase domain (which synthesizes cyclic oligoadenylates from ATP)3-5. Cyclic oligoadenylates in turn activate defence enzymes with a CRISPR-associated Rossmann fold domain6, sculpting a powerful antiviral response7-10 that can drive viruses to extinction7,8. Cyclic nucleotides are increasingly implicated in host-pathogen interactions11-13. Here we identify a new family of viral anti-CRISPR (Acr) enzymes that rapidly degrade cyclic tetra-adenylate (cA4). The viral ring nuclease AcrIII-1 is widely distributed in archaeal and bacterial viruses and in proviruses. The enzyme uses a previously unknown fold to bind cA4 specifically, and a conserved active site to rapidly cleave this signalling molecule, allowing viruses to neutralize the type III CRISPR defence system. The AcrIII-1 family has a broad host range, as it targets cA4 signalling molecules rather than specific CRISPR effector proteins. Our findings highlight the crucial role of cyclic nucleotide signalling in the conflict between viruses and their hosts.
Collapse
|
47
|
Cas9 Allosteric Inhibition by the Anti-CRISPR Protein AcrIIA6. Mol Cell 2019; 76:922-937.e7. [PMID: 31604602 DOI: 10.1016/j.molcel.2019.09.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2019] [Revised: 08/02/2019] [Accepted: 09/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/26/2022]
Abstract
In the arms race against bacteria, bacteriophages have evolved diverse anti-CRISPR proteins (Acrs) that block CRISPR-Cas immunity. Acrs play key roles in the molecular coevolution of bacteria with their predators, use a variety of mechanisms of action, and provide tools to regulate Cas-based genome manipulation. Here, we present structural and functional analyses of AcrIIA6, an Acr from virulent phages, exploring its unique anti-CRISPR action. Our cryo-EM structures and functional data of AcrIIA6 binding to Streptococcus thermophilus Cas9 (St1Cas9) show that AcrIIA6 acts as an allosteric inhibitor and induces St1Cas9 dimerization. AcrIIA6 reduces St1Cas9 binding affinity for DNA and prevents DNA binding within cells. The PAM and AcrIIA6 recognition sites are structurally close and allosterically linked. Mechanistically, AcrIIA6 affects the St1Cas9 conformational dynamics associated with PAM binding. Finally, we identify a natural St1Cas9 variant resistant to AcrIIA6 illustrating Acr-driven mutational escape and molecular diversification of Cas9 proteins.
Collapse
|
48
|
Knott GJ, Cress BF, Liu JJ, Thornton BW, Lew RJ, Al-Shayeb B, Rosenberg DJ, Hammel M, Adler BA, Lobba MJ, Xu M, Arkin AP, Fellmann C, Doudna JA. Structural basis for AcrVA4 inhibition of specific CRISPR-Cas12a. eLife 2019; 8:e49110. [PMID: 31397669 PMCID: PMC6711708 DOI: 10.7554/elife.49110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2019] [Accepted: 08/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
CRISPR-Cas systems provide bacteria and archaea with programmable immunity against mobile genetic elements. Evolutionary pressure by CRISPR-Cas has driven bacteriophage to evolve small protein inhibitors, anti-CRISPRs (Acrs), that block Cas enzyme function by wide-ranging mechanisms. We show here that the inhibitor AcrVA4 uses a previously undescribed strategy to recognize the L. bacterium Cas12a (LbCas12a) pre-crRNA processing nuclease, forming a Cas12a dimer, and allosterically inhibiting DNA binding. The Ac. species Cas12a (AsCas12a) enzyme, widely used for genome editing applications, contains an ancestral helical bundle that blocks AcrVA4 binding and allows it to escape anti-CRISPR recognition. Using biochemical, microbiological, and human cell editing experiments, we show that Cas12a orthologs can be rendered either sensitive or resistant to AcrVA4 through rational structural engineering informed by evolution. Together, these findings explain a new mode of CRISPR-Cas inhibition and illustrate how structural variability in Cas effectors can drive opportunistic co-evolution of inhibitors by bacteriophage.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gavin J Knott
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Brady F Cress
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Jun-Jie Liu
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Brittney W Thornton
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | | | - Basem Al-Shayeb
- Department of Plant and Microbial BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Daniel J Rosenberg
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging DivisionLawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeleyUnited States
- Graduate Group in BiophysicsUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Michal Hammel
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging DivisionLawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Benjamin A Adler
- UC Berkeley-UCSF Graduate Program in BioengineeringUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
- Department of BioengineeringUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Marco J Lobba
- Department of ChemistryUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Michael Xu
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Adam P Arkin
- Department of BioengineeringUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
- Environmental Genomics and Systems Biology DivisionLawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeleyUnited States
| | - Christof Fellmann
- Gladstone InstitutesSan FranciscoUnited States
- Department of Cellular and Molecular PharmacologyUniversity of California, San FranciscoSan FranciscoUnited States
| | - Jennifer A Doudna
- Department of Molecular and Cell BiologyUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
- Gladstone InstitutesSan FranciscoUnited States
- Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging DivisionLawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeleyUnited States
- Department of ChemistryUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
- Innovative Genomics InstituteUniversity of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
- California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3)University of California, BerkeleyBerkeleyUnited States
| |
Collapse
|
49
|
Zhang F, Song G, Tian Y. Anti-CRISPRs: The natural inhibitors for CRISPR-Cas systems. Animal Model Exp Med 2019; 2:69-75. [PMID: 31392299 PMCID: PMC6600654 DOI: 10.1002/ame2.12069] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2019] [Revised: 04/29/2019] [Accepted: 05/06/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)-Cas (CRISPR associated protein) systems serve as the adaptive immune system by which prokaryotes defend themselves against phages. It has also been developed into a series of powerful gene-editing tools. As the natural inhibitors of CRISPR-Cas systems, anti-CRISPRs (Acrs) can be used as the "off-switch" for CRISPR-Cas systems to limit the off-target effects caused by Cas9. Since the discovery of CRISPR-Cas systems, much research has focused on the identification, mechanisms and applications of Acrs. In light of the rapid development and scientific significance of this field, this review summarizes the history and research status of Acrs, and considers future applications.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Fei Zhang
- CAS Key Laboratory of RNA BiologyInstitute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Guoxu Song
- CAS Key Laboratory of RNA BiologyInstitute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| | - Yong Tian
- CAS Key Laboratory of RNA BiologyInstitute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
- University of Chinese Academy of SciencesBeijingChina
| |
Collapse
|