Mechanisms regulating the CRISPR-Cas systems

Abstract

The CRISPR-Cas (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats- CRISPR associated proteins) is a prokaryotic system that enables sequence specific recognition and cleavage of nucleic acids. This is possible due to cooperation between CRISPR array which contains short fragments of DNA called spacers that are complimentary to the targeted nucleic acid and Cas proteins, which take part in processes of: acquisition of new spacers, processing them into their functional form as well as recognition and cleavage of targeted nucleic acids. The primary role of CRISPR-Cas systems is to provide their host with an adaptive and hereditary immunity against exogenous nucleic acids. This system is present in many variants in both Bacteria and Archea. Due to its modular structure, and programmability CRISPR-Cas system become attractive tool for modern molecular biology. Since their discovery and implementation, the CRISPR-Cas systems revolutionized areas of gene editing and regulation of gene expression. Although our knowledge on how CRISPR-Cas systems work has increased rapidly in recent years, there is still little information on how these systems are controlled and how they interact with other cellular mechanisms. Such regulation can be the result of both auto-regulatory mechanisms as well as exogenous proteins of phage origin. Better understanding of these interaction networks would be beneficial for optimization of current and development of new CRISPR-Cas-based tools. In this review we summarize current knowledge on the various molecular mechanisms that affect activity of CRISPR-Cas systems.