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-Structure paper
| Title | Structural and functional bases of F. rodentium Cas9 provide insights into CRISPR-Cas protein engineering. |
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| Journal, issue, pages | Cell Genom, Vol. 6, Issue 1, Page 101039, Year 2026 |
| Publish date | Jan 14, 2026 |
Authors | Mei Yang / Siqi Liu / Guanqiao Chen / Xi Liu / Dapeng Sun / Jingjing Zhang / Yumei Wang / Shoudeng Chen / Rui Tian / Zheng Hu / ![]() |
| PubMed Abstract | The Faecalibaculum rodentium (Fr) CRISPR-Cas9 system exhibits enhanced gene-editing precision and efficiency compared to SpCas9, with distinctive advantages in targeting the TATA box in eukaryotic ...The Faecalibaculum rodentium (Fr) CRISPR-Cas9 system exhibits enhanced gene-editing precision and efficiency compared to SpCas9, with distinctive advantages in targeting the TATA box in eukaryotic promoters. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms remained unexplored. Here, we present cryo-electron microscopy structures of the FrCas9-single guide RNA (sgRNA)-DNA complex in both the R-loop expansion and pre-catalytic states, shedding light on its specialized recognition of the 5'-NRTA-3' protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) and the unusual overwinding of the sgRNA-DNA heteroduplex. Our investigations into the structure and extensive mutational analyses reveal that the phosphate lock loop plays a pivotal role in finely adjusting FrCas9's off-target sensitivity and catalytic efficiency. Remarkably, targeted residue substitutions in the phosphate lock loop and the PAM-distal region were found to synergistically enhance both the editing precision and efficiency of FrCas9. These findings advance our understanding of Cas9's accuracy and potency mechanisms while providing a molecular foundation for the rational design and development of next-generation CRISPR technologies. |
External links | Cell Genom / PubMed:41106392 |
| Methods | EM (single particle) |
| Resolution | 2.89 - 3.46 Å |
| Structure data | EMDB-61853, PDB-9jwk: EMDB-61854, PDB-9jwn: |
| Chemicals | ![]() ChemComp-HOH: |
| Source |
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Keywords | HYDROLASE/RNA/DNA / FrCas9 / high fidelity / off-target / nuclease protein / complex / HYDROLASE / HYDROLASE-RNA-DNA complex / DNA/RNA/HYDROLASE / DNA-RNA-HYDROLASE complex |
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faecalibaculum rodentium (bacteria)
homo sapiens (human)
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