Single-stranded binding proteins and helicase enhance the activity of prokaryotic argonautes in vitro

PLoS One. 2018 Aug 29;13(8):e0203073. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0203073. eCollection 2018.

Abstract

Prokaryotic argonautes are a unique class of nucleic acid-guided endonucleases putatively involved in cellular defense against foreign genetic elements. While their eukaryotic homologs and Cas protein counterparts require single-stranded RNAs as guides, some prokaryotic argonautes are able to utilize short single-stranded DNAs as guides for sequence-specific endonuclease activity. Many complications currently prevent the use of prokaryotic argonautes for in vivo gene-editing applications; however, they do exhibit potential as a new class of in vitro molecular tools if certain challenges can be overcome, specifically the limitations on substrate accessibility which leads to unequal levels of activity across a broad palate of substrates and the inability to act on double-stranded DNA substrates. Here we demonstrate the use of accessory factors, including thermostable single-stranded DNA binding proteins and UvrD-like helicase, in conjunction with prokaryotic argonautes to significantly improve enzymatic activity and enable functionality with a broader range of substrates, including linear double-stranded DNA substrates. We also demonstrate the use of Thermus thermophilus argonaute with accessory factors as a programmable restriction enzyme to generate long, unique single-stranded overhangs from linear double-stranded substrates compatible with downstream ligation.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Argonaute Proteins / metabolism*
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • DNA Breaks, Double-Stranded
  • DNA Helicases / metabolism*
  • DNA, Single-Stranded / metabolism
  • DNA-Binding Proteins / metabolism*
  • Enzyme Stability
  • Escherichia coli / genetics
  • Nanoarchaeota
  • Temperature
  • Thermus thermophilus / enzymology

Substances

  • Argonaute Proteins
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • DNA, Single-Stranded
  • DNA-Binding Proteins
  • DNA Helicases

Grants and funding

This project was funded internally by New England Biolabs, Inc. (http://www.neb.com). Eric A. Hunt, Thomas C. Evans Jr., and Nathan A. Tanner are employees of New England Biolabs, a manufacturer and vendor of molecular biology reagents. All authors were employees of New England Biolabs at the time the work was performed. New England Biolabs funded the work and paid the salaries of all authors. Members of New England Biolabs is not on the author list had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.