ULtiMATE system for rapid assembly of customized TAL effectors

PLoS One. 2013 Sep 27;8(9):e75649. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0075649. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

Engineered TAL-effector nucleases (TALENs) and TALE-based constructs have become powerful tools for eukaryotic genome editing. Although many methods have been reported, it remains a challenge for the assembly of designer-based TALE repeats in a fast, precise and cost-effective manner. We present an ULtiMATE (USER-based Ligation Mediated Assembly of TAL Effector) system for speedy and accurate assembly of customized TALE constructs. This method takes advantage of uracil-specific excision reagent (USER) to create multiple distinct sticky ends between any neighboring DNA fragments for specific ligation. With pre-assembled templates, multiple TALE DNA-binding domains could be efficiently assembled in order within hours with minimal manual operation. This system has been demonstrated to produce both functional TALENs for effective gene knockout and TALE-mediated gene-specific transcription activation (TALE-TA). The feature of both ease-of-operation and high efficiency of ULtiMATE system makes it not only an ideal method for biologic labs, but also an approach well suited for large-scale assembly of TALENs and any other TALE-based constructions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Base Sequence
  • Binding Sites
  • Cell Line
  • Endonucleases / genetics*
  • Endonucleases / metabolism*
  • Genetic Vectors / genetics
  • Humans
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Protein Binding
  • Protein Engineering
  • Trans-Activators / genetics*
  • Trans-Activators / metabolism*

Substances

  • Trans-Activators
  • Endonucleases

Grants and funding

This work was supported in part by the Major State Basic Research Development Program of China (grant number 2010CB911800), the National Science Foundation of China (grant numbers NSFC31070115, NSFC31170126), and a grant of the 985 Project of Peking University and Peking-Tsinghua Center for Life Sciences. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.