gDesigner: computational design of synthetic gRNAs for Cas12a-based transcriptional repression in mammalian cells
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Published version
Author(s)
Crone, Michael
MacDonald, james
Freemont, Paul
Siciliano, Velia
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Synthetic networks require complex intertwined genetic regulation often relying on transcriptional activation or repression of target genes. CRISPRi-based transcription factors facilitate the programmable modulation of endogenous or synthetic promoter activity and can be aided by using software to select appropriate gRNAs and limit non-specific gene modulation. Here, we develop a computational software pipeline, gDesigner, that enables the automated selection of orthogonal gRNAs with minimized off-target effects and promoter crosstalk. We next engineered a Lachnospiraceae bacterium Cas12a (dLbCas12a)-based repression system that downregulates target gene expression by means of steric hindrance of the cognate promoter. Finally, we generated a library of orthogonal synthetic dCas12a-repressed promoters and experimentally demonstrated it in HEK293FT, U2OS and H1299 cells lines. Our system expands the toolkit of mammalian synthetic promoters with a new complementary and orthogonal CRISPRi-based system, ultimately enabling the design of synthetic promoter libraries for multiplex gene perturbation that facilitate the understanding of complex cellular phenotypes.
Date Issued
2022-09-16
Date Acceptance
2022-07-28
Citation
npj Systems Biology and Applications, 2022, 8 (34), pp.1-7
ISSN
2056-7189
Publisher
Nature Research
Start Page
1
End Page
7
Journal / Book Title
npj Systems Biology and Applications
Volume
8
Issue
34
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2022. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41540-022-00241-w
Subjects
Animals
CRISPR-Cas Systems
Gene Expression
Mammals
Promoter Regions, Genetic
RNA, Guide
Transcription Factors
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2022-09-16