2. Academic Validation
  3. CRISPR-iPAS: a novel dCAS13-based method for alternative polyadenylation interference

CRISPR-iPAS: a novel dCAS13-based method for alternative polyadenylation interference

  • Nucleic Acids Res. 2022 Mar 21;50(5):e26. doi: 10.1093/nar/gkac108.
Shuye Tian 1,  Bin Zhang 2,  Yuhao He 1,  Zhiyuan Sun 1,  Jun Li 1 3,  Yisheng Li 1,  Hongyang Yi 1,  Yan Zhao 1,  Xudong Zou 1,  Yunfei Li 1,  Huanhuan Cui 1 3,  Liang Fang 1 3,  Xin Gao 2,  Yuhui Hu 1 3,  Wei Chen 1 3
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Shenzhen Key Laboratory of Gene Regulation and Systems Biology, Department of Biology, School of Life Sciences, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
  • 2 Computational Bioscience Research Center (CBRC), Computer, Electrical and Mathematical Sciences and Engineering Division, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Thuwal, Saudi Arabia.
  • 3 Academy for Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
PMID: 35191504 DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkac108
Abstract

Alternative polyadenylation (APA) plays an important role in gene regulation. With the recent application of novel Sequencing technology in APA profiling, an ever-increasing number of APA genes/sites have been identified. However, the phenotypic relevance of most of these APA isoforms remains elusive, which is largely due to the lack of a convenient genetics tool for APA interference. To address this issue, herein, an efficient method is developed based on the CRISPR-dCas13 system, termed as CRISPR-iPAS. Out of eight different dCas13 proteins, Porphyromonas gulae (Pgu) dCas13b, is identified as the most effective one in blocking the usage of the polyadenylation site (PAS). With guide RNAs targeting at core regulatory elements, dPguCas13b enabled APA regulation of endogenous genes with different APA types, including tandem 3'UTR, alternative terminal exon, as well as intronic PAS. Finally, we demonstrated that the proposed APA perturbation tool could be used to investigate the functional relevance of APA isoforms.

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