CRISPR-Cas systems, defense systems in bacteria, have become a plentiful source of technologies for molecular diagnostics.
Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research Jul 17 2024 Research ers at the Helmholtz Institute for RNA-based Infection Research in Würzburg have expanded this extensive toolbox. Their novel method, called PUMA, enables the detection of RNA with Cas12 nucleases, which naturally target DNA . PUMA promises a wide range of applications and high accuracy. The team published its results in the journal Nature Communications.
The diagnostic platform LEOPARD, developed by Beisel's lab in cooperation with JMU in 2021, also leverages CRISPR as a technology. LEOPARD has the potential to detect a variety of disease-related biomarkers in just one test. The approach is based on reprogramming RNA factors, so-called tracrRNAs. Those RNAs are naturally involved in helping produce guide RNAs used by Cas9 and different Cas12 nucleases.
While both Cas9 and Cas12 cut DNA targets, Cas12 can increase the output signal by performing cuts on "collateral" DNA. This can make detection technologies more sensitive and, therefore, more efficient. Related StoriesPUMA elegantly addresses these challenges. Like LEOPARD, this new method also relies on tracrRNAs. "Using PUMA, we can reprogram the tracrRNAs. This allows us to decide which RNA biomarker becomes a guide RNA. This guide RNA, in turn, directs Cas12 to a DNA molecule that we provide and activates the gene scissors," explains the study's first author, Chunlei Jiao.
Gene RNA Bacteria Biomarker Cas9 Diagnostic Diagnostics DNA Genome Molecule Nuclease Research Ribonucleic Acid Synthetic Biology Technology
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