Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31041385›Full record

ArticleACS central science2019

Deciphering Off-Target Effects in CRISPR-Cas9 through Accelerated Molecular Dynamics.

Clarisse G Ricci, Janice S Chen, Yinglong Miao, Martin Jinek, Jennifer A Doudna, J Andrew McCammon, Giulia Palermo

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in ACS central science, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 70 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
70citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

70 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

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10 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Clarisse G RicciDepartment of Pharmacology, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and National Biomedical Computation Resource, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States.
Janice S ChenDepartment of Molecular and Cell Biology, Department of Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Innovative Genomics Institute, and Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
Yinglong MiaoCenter for Computational Biology and Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66047, United States.
Martin JinekDepartment of Biochemistry, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
Jennifer A DoudnaDepartment of Molecular and Cell Biology, Department of Chemistry, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Innovative Genomics Institute, and Molecular Biophysics and Integrated Bioimaging Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, United States.
J Andrew McCammonDepartment of Pharmacology, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and National Biomedical Computation Resource, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093, United States.
Giulia PalermoDepartment of Bioengineering, Bourns College of Engineering, University of California Riverside, 900 University Avenue, Riverside, California 92521, United States.

Funding

THEORY OF BIOMOLECULAR DIFFUSIONR01GM031749 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON · PI HUBER, GARY ALEXANDER, MCCAMMON, JAMES ANDREW · 1985 to 2022
$7.8M
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM031749
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

CRISPR-Cas9 is the state-of-the-art technology for editing and manipulating nucleic acids. However, the occurrence of off-target mutations can limit its applicability. Here, all-atom enhanced molecular dynamics (MD) simulations-using Gaussian accelerated MD (GaMD)-are used to decipher the mechanism of off-target binding at the molecular level. GaMD reveals that base pair mismatches in the target DNA at distal sites with respect to the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) can induce an extended opening of the RNA:DNA heteroduplex, which leads to newly formed interactions between the unwound DNA and the L2 loop of the catalytic HNH domain. These conserved interactions constitute a "lock" effectively decreasing the conformational freedom of the HNH domain and hampering its activation for cleavage. Remarkably, depending on their positions at PAM distal sites, DNA mismatches responsible for off-target cleavages are unable to "lock" the HNH domain, thereby leading to the unselective cleavage of DNA sequences. In consistency with the available experimental data, the ability to "lock" the catalytic HNH domain in an inactive "conformational checkpoint" is shown to be a key determinant in the onset of off-target effects. This mechanistic rationale contributes in clarifying a long lasting open issue in the CRISPR-Cas9 function and poses the foundation for designing novel and more specific Cas9 variants, which could be obtained by magnifying the "locking" interactions between HNH and the target DNA in the presence of any incorrect off-target sequence, thus preventing undesired cleavages.

Identifiers

PMID31041385
PMCPMC6487449

What OpenQuestion holds

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Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.