Functional elucidation of causal genetic variants and elements requires precise genome editing technologies. The type II prokaryotic CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas adaptive immune system has been shown to facilitate RNA-guided site-specific DNA cleavage. We engineered two different type II CRISPR/Cas systems and demonstrate that Cas9 nucleases can be directed by short RNAs to induce precise cleavage at endogenous genomic loci in human and mouse cells. Cas9 can also be converted into a nicking enzyme to facilitate homology-directed repair with minimal mutagenic activity. Lastly, multiple guide sequences can be encoded into a single CRISPR array to enable simultaneous editing of several sites within the mammalian genome, demonstrating easy programmability and wide applicability of the RNA-guided nuclease technology.

The Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) nuclease can be efficiently targeted to genomic loci by means of singleguide RNAs (sgRNAs) to enable genome editing1–10. Here, we characterize SpCas9 targeting specificity in human cells to inform the selection of target sites and avoid off-target effects. Our study evaluates >700 guide RNA variants and SpCas9-induced indel mutation levels at >100 predicted genomic off-target loci in 293T and 293FT cells. We find that SpCas9 tolerates mismatches between guide RNA and target DNA at different positions in a sequence-dependent manner, sensitive to the number, position and distribution of mismatches. We also show that SpCas9-mediated cleavage is unaffected by DNA methylation and that the dosage of SpCas9 and sgRNA can be titrated to minimize off-target modification. To facilitate mammalian genome engineering applications, we provide a web-based software tool to guide the selection and validation of target sequences as well as off-target analyses.

The RNA-guided endonuclease Cas9 has emerged as a versatile genome-editing platform. However, the size of the commonly used Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9) limits its utility for basic research and therapeutic applications that employ the highly versatile adeno-associated virus (AAV) delivery vehicle. Here, we characterize six smaller Cas9 orthologs and show that Cas9 from Staphylococcus aureus (SaCas9) can edit the genome with efficiencies similar to those of SpCas9, while being >1kb shorter. We packaged SaCas9 and its sgRNA expression cassette into a single AAV vector and targeted the cholesterol regulatory gene Pcsk9 in the mouse liver. Within one week of injection, we observed >40% gene modification, accompanied by significant reductions in serum Pcsk9 and total cholesterol levels. We further demonstrate the power of using BLESS to assess the genome-wide targeting specificity of SaCas9 and SpCas9, and show that SaCas9 can mediate genome editing in vivo with high specificity.

Bacterial type II CRISPR-Cas9 systems have been widely adapted for RNA- guided genome editing and transcription regulation in eukaryotic cells, yet their in vivo target specificity is poorly understood. Here we mapped genome-wide binding sites of a catalytically inactive Cas9 (dCas9) from Streptococcus pyogenes loaded with single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). Each of the four sgRNAs tested targets dCas9 to tens to thousands of genomic sites, characterized by a 5-nucleotide seed region in the sgRNA, in addition to an NGG protospacer adjacent motif (PAM). Chromatin inaccessibility prevents dCas9 binding to other sites with matching seed sequences, and consequently 70% of off-target sites are associated with genes. Targeted sequencing of 295 dCas9 binding sites in mESCs transfected with catalytically active Cas9 identified only one site mutated above background. We propose a two-state model for Cas9 binding and cleavage, in which a seed match triggers binding but extensive pairing with target DNA is required for cleavage.

SUMMARY Mammalian DNA methylation is a critical epigenetic mechanism orchestrating gene expression networks in many biological processes. However, investigation of the functions of specific methylation events remains challenging. Here, we demonstrate that fusion of Tet1 or Dnmt3a with a catalytically inactive Cas9 (dCas9) enables targeted DNA methylation editing. Targeting of the dCas9-Tet1 or -Dnmt3a fusion protein to methylated or unmethylated promoter sequences caused activation or silencing, respectively, of an endogenous reporter. Targeted demethylation of the BDNF promoter IV or the MyoD distal enhancer by dCas9-Tet1 induced BDNF expression in post-mitotic neurons or activated MyoD facilitating reprogramming of fibroblasts into myoblasts, respectively. Targeted de novo methylation of a CTCF loop anchor site by dCas9-Dnmt3a blocked CTCF binding and interfered with DNA looping, causing altered gene expression in the neighboring loop. Finally, we show that these tools can edit DNA methylation in mice demonstrating their wide utility for functional studies of epigenetic regulation.

Deciphering the genetic basis of human diseases is an important goal of biomedical research. On the basis of the assumption that phenotypically similar diseases are caused by functionally related genes, we propose a computational framework that integrates human protein-protein interactions, disease phenotype similarities, and known gene-phenotype associations to capture the complex relationships between phenotypes and genotypes. We develop a tool named CIPHER to predict and prioritize disease genes, and we show that the global concordance between the human protein network and the phenotype network reliably predicts disease genes. Our method is applicable to genetically uncharacterized phenotypes, effective in the genome-wide scan of disease genes, and also extendable to explore gene cooperativity in complex diseases. The predicted genetic landscape of over 1000 human phenotypes, which reveals the global modular organization of phenotypegenotype relationships. The genome-wide prioritization of candidate genes for over 5000 human phenotypes, including those with under-characterized disease loci or even those lacking known association, is publicly released to facilitate future discovery of disease genes.

Summary Transcription of the mammalian genome is pervasive but productive transcription outside protein-coding genes is limited by unknown mechanisms1. In particular, although RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) initiates divergently from most active gene promoters, productive elongation occurs primarily in the sense coding direction2–4. Here we show that asymmetric sequence determinants flanking gene transcription start sites (TSS) control promoter directionality by regulating promoter-proximal cleavage and polyadenylation. We find that upstream antisense RNAs (uaRNAs) are cleaved and polyadenylated at poly (A) sites (PAS) shortly after their initiation. De novo motif analysis reveals PAS signals and U1 snRNP (U1) recognition sites as the most depleted and enriched sequences, respectively, in the sense direction relative to the upstream antisense direction. These U1 and PAS sites are progressively gained and lost, respectively, at the 5′ end of coding genes during vertebrate evolution. Functional disruption of U1 snRNP activity results in a significant increase in promoter-proximal cleavage events in the sense direction with slight increases in the antisense direction. These data suggests that a U1-PAS axis characterized by low U1 recognition and high density of PAS in the upstream antisense region reinforces promoter directionality by promoting early termination in upstream antisense regions whereas proximal sense PAS signals are suppressed by U1 snRNP. We propose that the U1-PAS axis limits pervasive transcription throughout the genome.

Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common genetic form of intellectual disability in males, is caused by silencing of the FMR1 gene associated with hypermethylation of the CGG expansion mutation in the 5' UTR of FMR1 in FXS patients. Here, we applied recently developed DNA methylation editing tools to reverse this hypermethylation event. Targeted demethylation of the CGG expansion by dCas9-Tet1/single guide RNA (sgRNA) switched the heterochromatin status of the upstream FMR1 promoter to an active chromatin state, restoring a persistent expression of FMR1 in FXS iPSCs. Neurons derived from methylation-edited FXS iPSCs rescued the electrophysiological abnormalities and restored a wild-type phenotype upon the mutant neurons. FMR1 expression in edited neurons was maintained in vivo after engrafting into the mouse brain. Finally, demethylation of the CGG repeats in post-mitotic FXS neurons also reactivated FMR1. Our data establish that demethylation of the CGG expansion is sufficient for FMR1 reactivation, suggesting potential therapeutic strategies for FXS.