Harvard College

The Broad Institute, Inc.

University of California

The Scripps Research Institute

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Monsanto Company

The Brigham and Women's Hospital, Inc.

Cornell University

Ipsen Biopharm Limited

Helicos Biosciences Corporation

Beam Therapeutics Inc.

Liu, David R.

Tang, Weixin

Guilinger, John Paul

David R Liu

David B Thompson

Lei Wang

Peter G Schultz

John Christopher Anderson

Thomas J Magliery

Ryan Aaron Mehl

Eric L Meggers

Miro Pastrnak

Zhiwen Zhang

Juan Pablo Maianti

Jason W Chin

John Zuris

Alexis Christine Komor

Vikram Pattanayak

Ahmed Hussein Badran

Stephen William Santoro

John Paul Guilinger

Zev J Gartner

Kevin Michael Esvelt

Matthew William Kanan

Yongjoo Kim

Johnny Hao Hu

Andrew Vito Anzalone

Zheng-Yi Chen

Jacob Charles Carlson

Nicole Marie Gaudelli

Luke W Koblan

Holly A Rees

Michael S Packer

Margie Li

Jason William Chin

Jeffrey L Bessen

Christopher T Calderone

Steven William Santoro

Kevin Davis

Kevin John Phillips

Michael S Lawrence

Jonathan Ma Levy

Lynn Marie McGregor

David Gorin

James William Nelson

Christoph Erich Dumelin

Ralph E Kleiner

Christopher Gerard Wilson

Allen R Buskirk

Kevin Tianmeng Zhao

Alan Saghatelian

Daniel M Rosenbaum

Bryan Dickinson

Joshua A Bittker

Gregory Newby

Brent M Dorr

Weixin Tang

Tina Wang

Adam Kamlet

Basil Hubbard

Xin Gao

Christopher J Podracky

Mary M Rozenman

Jeffrey B Doyon

Michal Lipson

Steven G Johnson

David Kenneth Gifford

Victor M Guzov

Thomas M Snyder

Prashanth Vishwanath

Brian Chaikind

Matthew Beard

Lucas Heitzmann Gabrielli

Xiaoyu Li

Qing Huai

Keith Alan Foster

Richard Irving Sherwood

Mathias Gruen

Kelcee Everette

David Irby Bryson, Jr

Tom Malvar

Jeff Nageotte

Melissa Kemp

Zhen Chen

Phillip Andrew Lichtor

Dmitry L Usanov

Alix I Chan

Wei Hsi Yeh

Ben Thuronyi

Irwin Chen

Brian R McNaughton

James Joseph Cronican

Benjamin Thuronyi

Sun H Peck

Max Walt Shen

Mandana Arbab

Jordan Leigh Doman

Travis R Blum

Jonathan Yee-Ting Hsu

Liwei Chen

Kaori Sakurai

Polina D Kehayova

The present disclosure provides novel adenine base editors that retain ability to edit DNA efficiently but show greatly reduced off-target effects, such as reduced RNA editing activity, as well as lower off-target DNA editing activity and reduced indel by product formation. Also provided are base editing methods comprising contacting a nucleic acid molecule with an adenine base editor and a guide RNA that has complementarity to a target sequence. Further provided are complexes comprising a guide RNA bound to a base editor provided herein; and kits and pharmaceutical compositions for the administration of adenine base editor variants to a host cell.

Adenine base editors with reduced off-target effects

Some aspects of this disclosure provide compositions, strategies, systems, reagents, methods, and kits that are useful for the targeted editing of nucleic acids, including editing a single site within the genome of a cell or subject, e.g., within the human genome. In some embodiments, fusion proteins capable of inducing a cytosine (C) to guanine (G) change in a nucleic acid (e.g., genomic DNA) are provided. In some embodiments, fusion proteins of a nucleic acid programmable DNA binding protein (e.g., Cas9) and nucleic acid editing proteins or protein domains, e.g., deaminase domains, polymerase domains, and/or base excision enzymes are provided. In some embodiments, methods for targeted nucleic acid editing are provided. In some embodiments, reagents and kits for the generation of targeted nucleic acid editing proteins, e.g., fusion proteins of a nucleic acid programmable DNA binding protein (e.g., Cas9), and nucleic acid editing proteins or domains, are provided.

Cytosine to guanine base editor

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for the targeted modification of RNA molecules by RNA prime editing. The compositions and methods may be conducted invitro or in vivo within cells (e.g., human cells) for the therapeutic correction of disease-causing mutations and/or installation of motifs or mutations in RNA molecules of interest as a tool for scientific research. The disclosure provides compositions and methods for conducting RNA prime editing of a target RNA molecule (e.g., an RNA transcript) that enables the incorporation of one or more nucleotide changes and/or targeted mutagenesis of a target RNA molecule. The nucleotide change can include a single-nucleotide change, an insertion of one or more nucleotides, or a deletion of one or more nucleotides. More in particular, the disclosure provides a variety of configurations of the RNA prime editors each comprising a nucleic acid programmable RNA binding proteins (napRNAbp), such as Cas13, and an RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RDRP), which are provided as fusion proteins or which can be separately provided in trans. The RNA prime editors are guided to a target RNA site by a guide RNA, which can be a rpegRNA that includes a template region for the synthesis of an RNA sequence to be installed on the RNA molecule attached to an available 3' terminus. In others embodiments, the RNA template can be provided in trans.

Methods and compositions for prime editing RNA

The specification provides methods for introducing a desired genetic change in a nucleotide sequence using a double-strand break (DSB)-inducing genome editing system, the method comprising: identifying one or more available cut sites in a nucleotide sequence; analyzing the nucleotide sequence and available cut sites with a computational model to identify the optimal cut site for introducing the desired genetic change into the nucleotide sequence; and contacting the nucleotide sequence with a DSB-inducing genome editing system, thereby introducing the desired genetic change in the nucleotide sequence at the cut site.

Systems and methods for predicting repair outcomes in genetic engineering

Some aspects of this disclosure provide compositions, methods, systems, and kits for controlling the activity of RNA-programmable endonucleases, such as Cas9, or for controlling the activity of proteins comprising a Cas9 variant fused to a functional effector domain, such as a nuclease, nickase, recombinase, deaminase, transcriptional activator, transcriptional repressor, or epigenetic modifying domain. For example, the inventive proteins provided comprise a ligand-dependent intein, the presence of which inhibits one or more activities of the protein (e.g., gRNA binding, enzymatic activity, target DNA binding). The binding of a ligand to the intein results in self-excision of the intein, restoring the activity of the protein.

CAS9 proteins including ligand-dependent inteins

Strategies, systems, methods, reagents, and kits for phage-assisted continuous evolution are provided herein. These include strategies, systems, methods, reagents, and kits allowing for stringency modulation to evolve weakly active or inactive biomolecule variants, negative selection of undesired properties, and/or positive selection of desired properties.

Negative selection and stringency modulation in continuous evolution systems

Provided herein are systems, compositions, and methods for generating immunogenic peptides or epitopes from tumor associated antigens (e.g., in vivo or ex vivo). Polynucleotides (e.g., genes) encoding the tumor associated antigens may be edited at selected target sites by nucleobase editors comprising a catalytically-inactive Cas9 and a cytosine deaminase, leading to the expression of heteroclitic or cryptic peptides that are more immunogenic than the native peptide derived from the tumor associated antigens. The heteroclitic or cryptic peptide elicit strong tumor-specific immune response (e.g., T-cell response or B-cell response), which inhibits tumor growth and metastasis.

Cancer vaccine

The invention provides systems, methods, reagents, apparatuses, vectors, and host cells for the continuous evolution of nucleic acids. For example, a lagoon is provided in which a population of viral vectors comprising a gene of interest replicates in a stream of host cells, wherein the viral vectors lack a gene encoding a protein required for the generation of infectious viral particles, and wherein that gene is expressed in the host cells under the control of a conditional promoter, the activity of which depends on a function of the gene of interest to be evolved. Some aspects of this invention provide evolved products obtained from continuous evolution procedures described herein. Kits containing materials for continuous evolution are also provided.

Continuous directed evolution

The instant specification provides for evolved base editors which overcome deficiencies of those in art (including increased efficiency and/or decreased requirement for specific sequence-context at an editing site) and which are obtained a result of a phage-assisted continuous evolution (PACE) system. In particular, the instant specification provides for evolved cytidine base editors (e.g., based on APOBEC1, CDA, or AID cytidine deaminase domains) which overcome deficiencies of those in art (including increased efficiency and/or decreased requirement for specific sequence-context at an editing site) and which are obtained a result of a phage-assisted continuous evolution (PACE) system.

Methods and compositions for evolving base editors using phage-assisted continuous evolution (PACE)

Provided herein are compositions, systems, and methods for delivering an effector protein into a cell. The present disclosure, in some aspects, provide novel proteins delivering an effector protein into a cell. The novel proteins are supernegatively charged proteins derived from highly anionic proteins identified from the proteome (e.g., human proteome). The novel protein tags can be associated (e.g., covalently or nocovalently) with the protein to be delivered to facilitate delivery of the effector protein into a cell.

Supernegatively charged proteins and uses thereof

Some aspects of this disclosure provide strategies, systems, reagents, methods, and kits that are useful for the targeted editing of nucleic acids, including editing a single site within the genome of a cell or subject, e.g., within the human genome. In some embodiments, fusion proteins of Cas9 and nucleic acid editing proteins or protein domains, e.g., deaminase domains, are provided. In some embodiments, methods for targeted nucleic acid editing are provided. In some embodiments, reagents and kits for the generation of targeted nucleic acid editing proteins, e.g., fusion proteins of Cas9 and nucleic acid editing proteins or domains, are provided.

Nucleobase editors and uses thereof

Compositions and methods are provided herein for conducting prime editing of a target DNA molecule (e.g., a genome) that enables the incorporation of a nucleotide change and/or targeted mutagenesis. The compositions include fusion proteins comprising nucleic acid programmable DNA binding proteins (napDNAbp) and a polymerase (e.g., reverse transcriptase), which is guided to a specific DNA sequence by a modified guide RNA, named an PEgRNA. The PEgRNA has been altered (relative to a standard guide RNA) to comprise an extended portion that provides a DNA synthesis template sequence which encodes a single strand DNA flap which is synthesized by the polymerase of the fusion protein and which becomes incorporated into the target DNA molecule.

Methods and compositions for prime editing nucleotide sequences

Some aspects of this disclosure provide strategies, systems, reagents, methods, and kits that are useful for the targeted editing of nucleic acids or the modification of nucleic acids or proteins, including editing a single site within the genome of a cell or subject, e.g., within the human genome. In some embodiments, fusion proteins of nucleic acid programmable DNA binding proteins e.g., GeoCas9 or variants thereof, and effector domains, e.g., deaminase domains, are provided. In some embodiments, methods for targeted nucleic acid editing or protein modification are provided. In some embodiments, reagents and kits for the generation of targeted nucleic acid editing proteins, e.g., fusion proteins of a GeoCas9 and effector domains, are provided.

Nucleobase editors comprising GeoCas9 and uses thereof

Some aspects of this disclosure provide strategies, systems, reagents, methods, and kits that are useful for the targeted editing of nucleic acids, including editing a single site within the genome of a cell or subject, e.g., within the human genome. In some embodiments, fusion proteins of Cas9 and nucleic acid editing enzymes or enzyme domains, e.g., deaminase domains, are provided. In some embodiments, methods for targeted nucleic acid editing are provided. In some embodiments, reagents and kits for the generation of targeted nucleic acid editing proteins, e.g., fusion proteins of Cas9 and nucleic acid editing enzymes or domains, are provided.

Cas variants for gene editing

Some aspects of this disclosure provide strategies, systems, reagents, methods, and kits that are useful for the targeted editing of nucleic acids, including editing a single site within the genome of a cell or subject, e.g., within the human genome. The disclosure provides fusion proteins of nucleic acid programmable DNA binding proteins (napDNAbp), e.g., Cas9 or variants thereof, and nucleic acid editing proteins such as cytidine deaminase domains (e.g., novel cytidine deaminases generated by ancestral sequence reconstruction), and adenosine deaminases that deaminate adenine in DNA. Aspects of the disclosure relate to fusion proteins (e.g., base editors) that have improved expression and/or localize efficiently to the nucleus. In some embodiments, base editors are codon optimized for expression in mammalian cells. In some embodiments, base editors include multiple nuclear localization sequences (e.g., bipartite NLSs), e.g., at least two NLSs. In some embodiments, methods for targeted nucleic acid editing are provided.

Base editors and uses thereof

Growing community of inventors

Lexington, MA, United States of America

David R Liu