Increasing Cas9-mediated homology-directed repair efficiency through covalent tethering of DNA repair template.

The CRISPR-Cas9 system is a powerful genome-editing tool in which a guide RNA targets Cas9 to a site in the genome, where the Cas9 nuclease then induces a double-stranded break (DSB). The potential of CRISPR-Cas9 to deliver precise genome editing is hindered by the low efficiency of homology-directed repair (HDR), which is required to incorporate a donor DNA template encoding desired genome edits near the DSB. We present a strategy to enhance HDR efficiency by covalently tethering a single-stranded oligodeoxynucleotide (ssODN) to the Cas9-guide RNA ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complex via a fused HUH endonuclease, thus spatially and temporally co-localizing the DSB machinery and donor DNA. We demonstrate up to a 30-fold enhancement of HDR using several editing assays, including repair of a frameshift and in-frame insertions of protein tags. The improved HDR efficiency is observed in multiple cell types and target loci and is more pronounced at low RNP concentrations.

A fluorescent reporter for quantification and enrichment of DNA editing by APOBEC-Cas9 or cleavage by Cas9 in living cells.

Base editing is an exciting new genome engineering technology. C-to-T mutations in genomic DNA have been achieved using ribonucleoprotein complexes comprised of rat APOBEC1 single-stranded DNA deaminase, Cas9 nickase (Cas9n), uracil DNA glycosylase inhibitor (UGI), and guide (g)RNA. Here, we report the first real-time reporter system for quantification of APOBEC-mediated base editing activity in living mammalian cells. The reporter expresses eGFP constitutively as a marker for transfection or transduction, and editing restores functionality of an upstream mCherry cassette through the simultaneous processing of two gRNA binding regions that each contain an APOBEC-preferred 5'TCA target site. Using this system as both an episomal and a chromosomal editing reporter, we show that human APOBEC3A-Cas9n-UGI and APOBEC3B-Cas9n-UGI base editing complexes are more efficient than the original rat APOBEC1-Cas9n-UGI construct. We also demonstrate coincident enrichment of editing events at a heterologous chromosomal locus in reporter-edited, mCherry-positive cells. The mCherry reporter also quantifies the double-stranded DNA cleavage activity of Cas9, and may therefore be adaptable for use with many different CRISPR systems. The combination of a rapid, fluorescence-based editing reporter system and more efficient, structurally defined DNA editing enzymes broadens the versatility of the rapidly expanding toolbox of genome editing and engineering technologies.