ABE9 fused to SpRY Cas9 nickase enables precise generation of bystander free mouse models

Abstract

Abstract Point mutations cause many genetic disorders, but modelling them in organisms is technically challenging. Creating mouse models that mimic these mutations is crucial for establishing a causal relationship between mutations and disease phenotype, thereby supporting the development of therapeutic strategies. Adenine base editors (ABEs) can correct single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) in disease modelling without double-stranded breaks (DSBs) or donor DNA, achieving higher product purity than traditional Cas9 methods. Earlier ABE techniques faced issues like limited targetability, bystander editing, and off-target effects. By combining two editor advancements, we introduced and tested ABE9-SpRY, an improved ABE variant fused with a PAM-flexible SpRY-Cas9 nickase. Our results show that ABE9-SpRY effectively generates three out of four targeted A-to-G mutations in mouse embryos, achieving desired editing efficiencies of up to 96% in individual adult founder mice. Furthermore, we observe fewer off-target events at predicted DNA sites in mouse embryos and in an orthogonal R-loop assay compared with ABE8e-SpRY. ABE9-SpRY also enhances product purity in mouse embryos under pooled sgRNA injections and, as a proof-of-concept, at a single endogenous locus in human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs), relative to ABE8e-SpRY. Our findings support ABE9-SpRY’s precision at the loci tested and PAM-flexible versatility. Although performance remains sequence-dependent, these data support ABE9-SpRY as a PAM-flexible tool for generating precise point-mutation models where bystander editing is a concern.