CRISPR-Cas3 induces broad and unidirectional genome editing in human cells

• Main Authors: Hiroyuki Morisaka, Kazuto Yoshimi, Yuya Okuzaki, Peter Gee, Yayoi Kunihiro, Ekasit Sonpho, Huaigeng Xu, Noriko Sasakawa, Yuki Naito, Shinichiro Nakada, Takashi Yamamoto, Shigetoshi Sano, Akitsu Hotta, Junji Takeda, Tomoji Mashimo
• Other Authors: Center for iPS Cell Research and Application
• Format: Article
• Published: 2020
• Subjects: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology; Chemistry
• Online Access: https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/123456789/50021
• Institution: Mahidol University

© 2019, The Author(s). Although single-component Class 2 CRISPR systems, such as type II Cas9 or type V Cas12a (Cpf1), are widely used for genome editing in eukaryotic cells, the application of multi-component Class 1 CRISPR has been less developed. Here we demonstrate that type I-E CRISPR mediates distinct DNA cleavage activity in human cells. Notably, Cas3, which possesses helicase and nuclease activity, predominantly triggered several thousand base pair deletions upstream of the 5′-ARG protospacer adjacent motif (PAM), without prominent off-target activity. This Cas3-mediated directional and broad DNA degradation can be used to introduce functional gene knockouts and knock-ins. As an example of potential therapeutic applications, we show Cas3-mediated exon-skipping of the Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene in patient-induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). These findings broaden our understanding of the Class 1 CRISPR system, which may serve as a unique genome editing tool in eukaryotic cells distinct from the Class 2 CRISPR system.