Structural insights into the inactivation of CRISPR-Cas systems by diverse anti-CRISPR proteins

Yuwei Zhu; Fan Zhang; Zhiwei Huang

doi:10.1186/s12915-018-0504-9

Structural insights into the inactivation of CRISPR-Cas systems by diverse anti-CRISPR proteins

BMC Biol. 2018 Mar 19;16(1):32. doi: 10.1186/s12915-018-0504-9.

Authors

Yuwei Zhu¹, Fan Zhang², Zhiwei Huang³

Affiliations

¹ HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China. yuweizhu@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
² HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China.
³ HIT Center for Life Sciences, School of Life Science and Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China. huangzhiwei@hit.edu.cn.

Abstract

A molecular arms race is progressively being unveiled between prokaryotes and viruses. Prokaryotes utilize CRISPR-mediated adaptive immune systems to kill the invading phages and mobile genetic elements, and in turn, the viruses evolve diverse anti-CRISPR proteins to fight back. The structures of several anti-CRISPR proteins have now been reported, and here we discuss their structural features, with a particular emphasis on topology, to discover their similarities and differences. We summarize the CRISPR-Cas inhibition mechanisms of these anti-CRISPR proteins in their structural context. Considering anti-CRISPRs in this way will provide important clues for studying their origin and evolution.

Keywords: Adaptive immune; Anti-CRISPR; CRISPR-Cas system; Structure; Viral infection.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Adaptive Immunity / genetics
Adaptive Immunity / physiology
Animals
CRISPR-Cas Systems / genetics
CRISPR-Cas Systems / physiology*
Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats / genetics
Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats / physiology
Evolution, Molecular*
Humans
Protein Conformation