Cited by 2,414CRISPR and Genetic EngineeringRNA regulation and diseaseCAR-T cell therapy research

Rationally engineered Cas9 nucleases with improved specificity

Open access
Slaymaker, Ian M., Gao, Linyi, Zetsche, Bernd, Scott, David A., Yan, Winston X., Zhang, Feng·2016·Science

Abstract

The RNA-guided endonuclease Cas9 is a versatile genome-editing tool with a broad range of applications from therapeutics to functional annotation of genes. Cas9 creates double-strand breaks (DSBs) at targeted genomic loci complementary to a short RNA guide. However, Cas9 can cleave off-target sites that are not fully complementary to the guide, which poses a major challenge for genome editing. Here, we use structure-guided protein engineering to improve the specificity of Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9). Using targeted deep sequencing and unbiased whole-genome off-target analysis to assess Cas9-mediated DNA cleavage in human cells, we demonstrate that "enhanced specificity" SpCas9 (eSpCas9) variants reduce off-target effects and maintain robust on-target cleavage. Thus, eSpCas9 could be broadly useful for genome-editing applications requiring a high level of specificity.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1126/science.aad5227

Cites

21 of 21 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Chemical modification of gRNA by replacing RNA nucleotides with DNA nucleotides increases on-target efficiency and decreases off-target effects.

    “| gRNA improvement | Chemical modifications [76–78] | Replacement of RNA nucleotides into DNA nucleotides | Increased on-target efficiency and decreased off-target effects |”

    From Off-target effects in CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing (2023) · cites this paper as [77]

    The paper reports reduced off-target effects, but attributes them to structure-guided engineering of the Cas9 protein, not replacement of guide-RNA nucleotides with DNA nucleotides. Its conclusion says on-target activity was preserved, not increased. The relevant passages are labeled Abstract in our copy; no page numbers are provided. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • hypaCas9 demonstrates higher on-target activity and lower off-target effects than eSpCas9 and SpCas9-HF1.

    “Accordingly, scientists further designed hypaCas9 (hyper-accurate Cas9) (Chen et al., 2017), which demonstrates higher on-target activity and lower off-target effects than eSpCas9 and SpCas9-HF1 (Kleinstiver et al., 2016; Slaymaker et al., 2016; Chen et al., 2017).”

    From Off-target effects in CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing (2023) · cites this paper as Slaymaker et al., 2016

    The indexed passage labeled Abstract (page not provided) identifies the eSpCas9 variants and reports that they reduced off-target effects while maintaining on-target activity. It does not assess hypaCas9 or SpCas9-HF1, so it cannot support the claimed superiority of hypaCas9 over either comparator. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • A series of optimized mutations in SpCas9 have greatly improved the editing specificity of Cas9 variants without substantially attenuating the editing activity.

    “In addition, a series of optimized mutations in SpCas9 have greatly improved the editing specificity of Cas9 variants without substantially attenuating the editing activity.”
  • Incorporation of MP/bridged nucleic acids/locked nucleic acids increases on-target efficiency and decreases off-target effects.

    “Incorporation of MP/bridged nucleic acids/locked nucleic acids | Increased on-target efficiency and decreased off-target effects”

    From Off-target effects in CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing (2023) · cites this paper as [77]

    The paper’s Abstract reports that engineered Cas9 proteins reduce off-target effects while maintaining on-target cleavage. Our copy does not address incorporation of MP, bridged nucleic acids, or locked nucleic acids, or show that these modifications increase on-target efficiency. Searches for those terms and for chemically modified guide RNA found no supporting passage. (LLM, conf=0.76)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Some active gRNAs for SpCas9-WT showed very low editing ability in SpCas9 variants.

    “Some active gRNAs for SpCas9-WT showed very low editing ability in SpCas9 variants.”

    From Machine learning-based prediction models to guide the selection of Cas9 variants for efficient gene editing (2024) · cites this paper as [18]

    The paper’s on-target activity passage (indexed copy, section labeled Abstract; page unavailable) says the three variants produced indel levels similar to WT SpCas9 at the majority of 24 target sites. It does not say whether any guides active with WT had very low editing activity with the variants; the reported reductions elsewhere concern off-target cleavage or mismatched guides. Searched for guide-specific losses of on-target editing activity. (LLM, conf=0.68)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Slaymaker, I. M., Gao, L., Zetsche, B., Scott, D. A., Yan, W. X., & Zhang, F.
Affiliations
Broad Institute (US)
Corresponding author
  • Slaymaker, Ian M.
  • Gao, Linyi
  • Zhang, Feng
Venue
Science
Published
2016-01
Volume
351
Issue
6268
Pages
84-88
ISSN
  • 0036-8075 (ISSN-L)
  • 1095-9203
OpenAlex
W2188223075
Cited by
2,414
References
21
Citations by year
2026: 116 · 2025: 171 · 2024: 168 · 2023: 172 · 2022: 250 · 2021: 226 · 2020: 283 · 2019: 266 · 2018: 249 · 2017: 266 · 2016: 236 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 2
FWCI
109.62
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Science (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • DSpace@MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
Funders
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (T32GM007753)
  • Daisy Soros Fellowship
  • National Institutes of Health
  • NIMH (5DP1-MH100706, 1R01MH110049)
  • NIDDK (5R01DK097768-03)
  • National Science Foundation
  • Keck
  • New York Stem Cell
  • Damon Runyon
  • Searle Scholars
  • Merkin
  • Vallee Foundations
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › CRISPR and Genetic Engineering
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › RNA regulation and disease
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › CAR-T cell therapy research
Keywords
Cas9, CRISPR/Cas9, genome editing, off-target effects, off-target cleavage, protein engineering, structure-guided engineering, SpCas9, RNA-guided endonuclease, targeted deep sequencing, human cells
MeSH terms
RNA, Guide, CRISPR-Cas Systems, Bacterial Proteins, Endonucleases, Humans, Protein Conformation, Streptococcus pyogenes, Protein Engineering, Mutagenesis, Point Mutation, RNA, Guide, Kinetoplastida, DNA Cleavage

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review