Prediction of the sequence-specific cleavage activity of Cas9 variants

Nat Biotechnol. 2020 Nov;38(11):1328-1336. doi: 10.1038/s41587-020-0537-9. Epub 2020 Jun 8.

Abstract

Several Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) variants have been developed to improve an enzyme's specificity or to alter or broaden its protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM) compatibility, but selecting the optimal variant for a given target sequence and application remains difficult. To build computational models to predict the sequence-specific activity of 13 SpCas9 variants, we first assessed their cleavage efficiency at 26,891 target sequences. We found that, of the 256 possible four-nucleotide NNNN sequences, 156 can be used as a PAM by at least one of the SpCas9 variants. For the high-fidelity variants, overall activity could be ranked as SpCas9 ≥ Sniper-Cas9 > eSpCas9(1.1) > SpCas9-HF1 > HypaCas9 ≈ xCas9 >> evoCas9, whereas their overall specificities could be ranked as evoCas9 >> HypaCas9 ≥ SpCas9-HF1 ≈ eSpCas9(1.1) > xCas9 > Sniper-Cas9 > SpCas9. Using these data, we developed 16 deep-learning-based computational models that accurately predict the activity of these variants at any target sequence.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Base Sequence
  • CRISPR-Associated Protein 9 / genetics*
  • Deep Learning
  • Gene Library
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • INDEL Mutation / genetics
  • Lentivirus / genetics
  • Models, Genetic
  • Mutation / genetics*

Substances

  • CRISPR-Associated Protein 9