CRISPR-Cas9 genome engineering is a powerful technology for correcting genetic diseases. However, the targeting range of Cas9 proteins is limited by their requirement for a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM), and in vivo delivery is challenging due to their large size. Here, we use phage-assisted continuous directed evolution to broaden the PAM compatibility of Campylobacter jejuni Cas9 (CjCas9), the smallest Cas9 ortholog characterized to date. The identified variant, termed evoCjCas9, primarily recognizes NAH and NHA PAM sequences, which occur tenfold more frequently in the genome than the canonical NVRYAC PAM site. Moreover, evoCjCas9 exhibits higher nuclease activity than wild-type CjCas9 on canonical PAMs, with editing rates comparable to commonly used PAM-relaxed SpCas9 variants. Combined with deaminases or reverse transcriptases, evoCjCas9 enables robust base and prime editing, with the small size of evoCjCas9 base editors allowing for tissue-specific installation of A-to-G or C-to-T transition mutations from single adeno-associated virus vector systems.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41589-023-01427-x | DOI Listing |
PLoS Pathog
January 2025
Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington, United States of America.
Host-pathogen interactions represent a dynamic evolutionary process, wherein both hosts and pathogens continuously develop complex mechanisms to outmaneuver each other. Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease pathogen, has evolved an intricate antigenic variation mechanism to evade the host immune response, enabling its dissemination, persistence, and pathogenicity. Despite the discovery of this mechanism over two decades ago, the precise processes, genetic elements, and proteins involved in this system remain largely unknown.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Chem Soc
January 2025
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Sciences, Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tianjin University and Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin 300072, China.
High mobility emissive organic semiconductors (HMEOSCs) are a kind of unique semiconducting material that simultaneously integrates high charge carrier mobility and strong emission features, which are not only crucial for overcoming the performance bottlenecks of current organic optoelectronic devices but also important for constructing high-density integrated devices/circuits for potential smart display technologies and electrically pumped organic lasers. However, the development of HMEOSCs is facing great challenges due to the mutually exclusive requirements of molecular structures and packing modes between high charge carrier mobility and strong solid-state emission. Encouragingly, considerable advances on HMEOSCs have been made with continuous efforts, and the successful integration of these two properties within individual organic semiconductors currently presents a promising research direction in organic electronics.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAm J Ther
January 2025
Faculty of Medicine, "Transilvania" University, Brasov, Romania; and.
Background: Dementia leads to cognitive decline affecting memory, thinking, and behavior. Current pharmaceutical treatments are symptomatic, with limited efficacy and significant drawbacks. Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb761) is being explored as an adjuvant therapy for dementia because of its potential neuroprotective effects.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Phys Chem Lett
January 2025
Clausius Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Bonn, Bonn 53115, Germany.
The carpet growth of alkali halide (AH) layers across step edges of substrates enables the growth of seamless and continuous large domains. Yet, information about how the AH layer adapts continuously to the height difference between the terraces on the two sides of a step is only described by continuum models, which do not give details of the ionic displacements. Here, we present a first study of thin epitaxial KCl(100) layers grown on the Ag(111) surface by scanning tunneling microscopy that provides atomistic details for the first time.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Res Transl Med
January 2025
Department of Research and Innovation, Medway NHS Foundation Trust, Gillingham ME7 5NY, United Kingdom; Faculty of Medicine, Health and Social Care, Canterbury Christ Church University, United Kingdom.
This narrative review examines the transformative role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in organ retrieval and transplantation. AI and ML technologies enhance donor-recipient matching by integrating and analyzing complex datasets encompassing clinical, genetic, and demographic information, leading to more precise organ allocation and improved transplant success rates. In surgical planning, AI-driven image analysis automates organ segmentation, identifies critical anatomical features, and predicts surgical outcomes, aiding pre-operative planning and reducing intraoperative risks.
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