Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42549572›Full record

ArticleNucleic acids research2026

RAPID: evaluation of Cas12a protospacer nicking and chimeric reporters for PAM-independent RNA and DNA diagnostics.

Idorenyin A Iwe, Frank X Liu, Ariel Corsano, Severino Jefferson Ribeiro da Silva, Jennifer Doucet, Serena Singh, Gabriel Lamothe, Riham Zayani, Jessica Nguyen, Quinn Matthews and 17 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nucleic acids research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–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

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

27 authors.

Idorenyin A IweDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.
Frank X LiuDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong.
Ariel CorsanoDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.ORCID 0009-0001-5681-1895
Severino Jefferson Ribeiro da SilvaDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.
Jennifer DoucetDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.ORCID 0009-0004-6032-8830
Serena SinghDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.ORCID 0009-0007-0017-0324
Gabriel LamotheDepartment of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec G1V 4G2 Québec, Canada.
Riham ZayaniDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.
Jessica NguyenDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.
Quinn MatthewsDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.
Justin R J VigarDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.
Pouriya BayatDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.
Mohammad SimchiDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-0236-5516
Kristof BozovicarDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.
Moiz CharaniaDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.
Sabina PanfilovDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.
Paul KellyDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.ORCID 0009-0005-6377-3822
Rita CaiDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5G 2C8, Canada.
Basil P HubbardDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.ORCID 0000-0003-4353-9674
XiuJun LiDepartment of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, United States.
Tony MazzulliDepartment of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-2682-8792
Jacques P TremblayDepartment of Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Université Laval, Québec G1V 4G2 Québec, Canada.
Yufeng ZhaoDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.
Alexander A GreenDepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, United States.ORCID 0000-0003-2058-1204
Zhigang LiDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong.
Shuhuai YaoDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong.
Keith PardeeDepartment of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3M2, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-3812-8013

Funding

Canada Research Chairs Program 950-231075Canada Research Chairs Program 950-233107Canadian Institute of Health Research 202410MFE-531769-419793Canadian Institute of Health Research PRMUHT2024-001CIHR PJT-189974CIHR Foundation 201610FDN-375469Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency N66001-23-2-4042NSERC Discovery RGPIN-2016-06352Ontario Graduate ScholarshipPrecision Medicine Initiative
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

CRISPR-Cas nucleases have revolutionized diagnostics and biotechnology by providing programmable specificity. Here, we extend the understanding of Cas12a biology with a screen that, unexpectedly, finds that Cas12a trans-cleavage activity can be modulated by nicks in the protospacer in a position-dependent manner. Wanting to explore the impact of non-conventional trans-cleavage substrates, we subsequently find that non-specific Cas12a cleavage can be significantly reduced with RNA and chimeric (mixed RNA/DNA) reporter sequences. Exploiting these features and building on emerging protospacer adjacent motif (PAM)-independent Cas12a diagnostics that use engineered DNA activators and split-guide architectures, we introduce RAPID (RNA/DNA Advanced chimeric, PAM-independent, Integrated Nicking, Diagnostics), a nick-tuned, PAM-duplex-mediated platform for PAM-independent RNA and DNA detection. By strategically introducing a nick within the spacer region, RAPID expands Cas12a detection to include target RNAs, which can be ligated in situ to create a hybrid protospacer-target with trans-cleavage activity matching conventional Cas12a. We then apply RAPID to detect single-point mutations in ssDNA and RNA substrates, a challenge for traditional Cas12 and Cas13 systems. In combination with RT-LAMP, RAPID is used for PAM-independent RNA detection in clinical samples, achieving sensitivity down to ∼1 aM and 100% concordance with RT-qPCR for samples with Ct ≤ 33.

Indexed as

Bacterial ProteinsCRISPR-Associated ProteinsCRISPR-Cas SystemsDNAEndodeoxyribonucleasesRNAGenes, ReporterBacterial ProteinsCas12a proteinCRISPR-Associated ProteinsDNAEndodeoxyribonucleasesRNA

Identifiers

PMID42549572
PMCPMC13434338

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.