PAM-less conditional DNA substrates leverage trans-cleavage of CRISPR-Cas12a for versatile live-cell biosensing. Issue 7 (30th January 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chen, Siyu; Wang, Rujia; Peng, Shuang; Xie, Shiyi; Lei, Chunyang; Huang, Yan; Nie, Zhou
• Is Part Of: Chemical science. Volume 13:Issue 7(2022)
• Page Start: 2011
• Page End: 2020
• Publication Date: 2022-01-30
• Subjects: Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540.5
• DOI: 10.1039/d1sc05558e
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2041-6520

Abstract

Abstract : This work developed the PAM-less conditional DNA substrates that leverage the trans-cleavage effect of CRISPR-Cas12a to sense various biomolecules in living cells. Abstract : The CRISPR-Cas system has been repurposed as a powerful live-cell imaging tool, but its utility is limited to genomic loci and mRNA imaging in living cells. Here, we demonstrated the potential of the CRISPR-Cas system as a generalizable live-cell biosensing tool by extending its applicability to monitor diverse intracellular biomolecules. In this work, we engineered a CRISPR-Cas12a system with a generalized stimulus-responsive switch mechanism based on PAM-less conditional DNA substrates (pcDNAs). The pcDNAs with stimulus-responsiveness toward a trigger were constructed from the DNA substrates featuring no requirement of a protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM) and a bubble structure. With further leveraging the trans-cleavage activity of CRISPR-Cas12a for signal reporting, we established a versatile CRISPR-based live-cell biosensing system. This system enabled the sensitive sensing of various intracellular biomolecules, such as telomerase, ATP, and microRNA-21, making it a helpful tool for basic biochemical research and disease diagnostics.