Improved prime editors enable pathogenic allele correction and cancer modelling in adult mice [preprint]

Prime editors (PEs) mediate genome modification without utilizing double-stranded DNA breaks or exogenous donor DNA as a template. PEs facilitate nucleotide substitutions or local insertions or deletions within the genome based on the template sequence encoded within the prime editing guide RNA (pegRNA). However, the efficacy of prime editing in adult mice has not been established. Here we report an NLS-optimized SpCas9-based prime editor that improves genome editing efficiency in both fluorescent reporter cells and at endogenous loci in cultured cell lines. Using this genome modification system, we could also seed tumor formation through somatic cell editing in the adult mouse. Finally, we successfully utilize dual adeno-associated virus (AAVs) for the delivery of a split-intein prime editor and demonstrate that this system enables the correction of a pathogenic mutation in the mouse liver. Our findings further establish the broad potential of this new genome editing technology for the directed installation of sequence modifications in vivo, with important implications for disease modeling and correction

Enhanced Cas12a editing in mammalian cells and zebrafish

Type V CRISPR-Cas12a systems provide an alternate nuclease platform to Cas9, with potential advantages for specific genome editing applications. Here we describe improvements to the Cas12a system that facilitate efficient targeted mutagenesis in mammalian cells and zebrafish embryos. We show that engineered variants of Cas12a with two different nuclear localization sequences (NLS) on the C terminus provide increased editing efficiency in mammalian cells. Additionally, we find that pre-crRNAs comprising a full-length direct repeat (full-DR-crRNA) sequence with specific stem-loop G-C base substitutions exhibit increased editing efficiencies compared with the standard mature crRNA framework. Finally, we demonstrate in zebrafish embryos that the improved LbCas12a and FnoCas12a nucleases in combination with these modified crRNAs display high mutagenesis efficiencies and low toxicity when delivered as ribonucleoprotein complexes at high concentration. Together, these results define a set of enhanced Cas12a components with broad utility in vertebrate systems