Posts tagged paper
Solving a targeting puzzle: Type III-B DNA cleavage

Type III CRISPR systems are unusual in part because they have multiple mechanisms for cleaving nucleic acids, and target both RNA and DNA, but the latter only in a transcription-dependent matter. A 2016 paper from the Bailey lab in Genes and Development filled in key pieces of the puzzle about Type III systems, helping to clarify two major questions: What are the specific RNA and DNA targets of Type III complex? And what mechanisms control and coordinate the RNA and DNA cleavage activities?

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Viewing a Cascade

In 2014, three labs completed structures of different versions of the Cascade complex, in three papers published at the same time – including one led by Sabin Mulepati, a then-PhD student in the Bailey lab. Sabin used x-ray crystallography to determine the structure of Cascade bound to a single strand of target DNA that matched the Cascade crRNA, to a resolution of 3 angstroms.

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A look at a Cas3 HD domain

In the news you might only hear about CRISPR-Cas9, but there are actually several types of CRISPR systems – and the most common are Type I systems, defined by the cas3 gene. In 2011, Sabin Mulepati, then a PhD student, and Scott Bailey were used x-ray crystallography and biochemical analysis to characterize the HD domain of the Thermus thermophilus Cas3 – read on to learn what they found out.

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