Isabel Strohkendl, Aakash Saha, Catherine Moy, Alexander-Hoi Nguyen, Mohd Ahsan, Rick Russell, Giulia Palermo, David W. Taylor
{"title":"Cas12a domain flexibility guides R-loop formation and forces RuvC resetting","authors":"Isabel Strohkendl, Aakash Saha, Catherine Moy, Alexander-Hoi Nguyen, Mohd Ahsan, Rick Russell, Giulia Palermo, David W. Taylor","doi":"10.1016/j.molcel.2024.06.007","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The specific nature of CRISPR-Cas12a makes it a desirable RNA-guided endonuclease for biotechnology and therapeutic applications. To understand how R-loop formation within the compact Cas12a enables target recognition and nuclease activation, we used cryo-electron microscopy to capture wild-type <em>Acidaminococcus</em> <em>sp</em>. Cas12a R-loop intermediates and DNA delivery into the RuvC active site. Stages of Cas12a R-loop formation—starting from a 5-bp seed—are marked by distinct REC domain arrangements. Dramatic domain flexibility limits contacts until nearly complete R-loop formation, when the non-target strand is pulled across the RuvC nuclease and coordinated domain docking promotes efficient cleavage. Next, substantial domain movements enable target strand repositioning into the RuvC active site. Between cleavage events, the RuvC lid conformationally resets to occlude the active site, requiring re-activation. These snapshots build a structural model depicting Cas12a DNA targeting that rationalizes observed specificity and highlights mechanistic comparisons to other class 2 effectors.</p>","PeriodicalId":18950,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Cell","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":14.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Molecular Cell","FirstCategoryId":"99","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2024.06.007","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BIOCHEMISTRY & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The specific nature of CRISPR-Cas12a makes it a desirable RNA-guided endonuclease for biotechnology and therapeutic applications. To understand how R-loop formation within the compact Cas12a enables target recognition and nuclease activation, we used cryo-electron microscopy to capture wild-type Acidaminococcussp. Cas12a R-loop intermediates and DNA delivery into the RuvC active site. Stages of Cas12a R-loop formation—starting from a 5-bp seed—are marked by distinct REC domain arrangements. Dramatic domain flexibility limits contacts until nearly complete R-loop formation, when the non-target strand is pulled across the RuvC nuclease and coordinated domain docking promotes efficient cleavage. Next, substantial domain movements enable target strand repositioning into the RuvC active site. Between cleavage events, the RuvC lid conformationally resets to occlude the active site, requiring re-activation. These snapshots build a structural model depicting Cas12a DNA targeting that rationalizes observed specificity and highlights mechanistic comparisons to other class 2 effectors.
期刊介绍:
Molecular Cell is a companion to Cell, the leading journal of biology and the highest-impact journal in the world. Launched in December 1997 and published monthly. Molecular Cell is dedicated to publishing cutting-edge research in molecular biology, focusing on fundamental cellular processes. The journal encompasses a wide range of topics, including DNA replication, recombination, and repair; Chromatin biology and genome organization; Transcription; RNA processing and decay; Non-coding RNA function; Translation; Protein folding, modification, and quality control; Signal transduction pathways; Cell cycle and checkpoints; Cell death; Autophagy; Metabolism.