WT-PE: Prime editing with nuclease wild-type Cas9 enables versatile large-scale genome editing

Large scale genomic aberrations including duplication, deletion, translocation, and other structural changes are the cause of a subtype of hereditary genetic disorders and contribute to onset or progress of cancer. The current prime editor, PE2, consisting of Cas9-nickase and reverse transcriptase enables efficient editing of genomic deletion and insertion, however, at small scale. Here, we designed a novel prime editor by fusing reverse transcriptase (RT) to nuclease wild-type Cas9 (WT-PE) to edit large genomic fragment. WT-PE system simultaneously introduced a double strand break (DSB) and a single 3 ' extended flap in the target site. Coupled with paired prime editing guide RNAs (pegRNAs) that have complementary sequences in their 3 ' terminus while target different genomic regions, WT-PE produced bi-directional prime editing, which enabled efficient and versatile large-scale genome editing, including large fragment deletion up to 16.8 megabase (Mb) pairs and chromosomal translocation. Therefore, our WT-PE system has great potential to model or treat diseases related to large-fragment aberrations.

Automated summary

A novel prime editor, WT-PE, was designed in this study by fusing reverse transcriptase (RT) to nuclease wild-type Cas9, enabling efficient editing of large genomic fragments. The WT-PE system introduced a double strand break (DSB) and a single 3' extended flap in the target site, and coupled with paired prime editing guide RNAs (pegRNAs), it achieved bi-directional prime editing, allowing versatile and efficient large-scale genome editing. This WT-PE system has great potential for modeling or treating diseases related to large-fragment aberrations.