Crystal structure of Staphylococcus aureus Cas9 has been revealed

Feng Zhang (MIT, Cambridge) and a group from Tokyo provided 2.7 Å resolution structures for the smaller Cas9 variant from S. aureus. This Cas9 gained attention owing to it's size compatible with adeno-associated viral vectors. The PAM site (DNA recognition site) of this variant is 'TTGAAT' or 'TTGGGT', which is however more complex than the S. pyogenes 'NGG' PAM site. Interestingly, the S. aureus and the S. pyogenes Cas9 share
only 17% sequence identity, but have similar overall domain organization. Structural information enabled rational design of S. aureus Cas9-based transcriptional activators and split Cas9 design.





Link to paper: http://www.cell.com/cell/abstract/S0092-8674(15)01020-X