Controlled genome editing moves a step closer

The synthetic AcrX protein ( in orange ) acts as a pause button giving greater control over CRISPR-Cas9 (in grey) genome-editing © 2020 EPFL - Scientists at EPFL have developed an artificial protein that can keep the CRISPR genome-editing tool on its tracks. The research appears in a paper Chemical Biology - A team at EPFL's Laboratory of Protein Design & Immunoengineering (LDPI), led by Professor Bruno Correia, working with Dominik Niopek's lab at Heidelberg University Hospital and the BioQuant Center, Heidelberg, Germany, have designed a protein (AcrX in short), using computational approaches, that can control CRISPR genome-editing in human cells. The study just appeared Chemical Biology. Pause button Acr (Anti-CRISPR) proteins are powerful tools to control CRISPR-Cas technologies. However, the available Acr repertoire is limited to naturally occurring variants. In order to make the breakthrough, the team had to think laterally. "Our artificial protein is an upgrade to proteins existent in nature", says Prof. Correia of EPFL's School of Engineering (STI).