Abstract: A Streptococcus canis Cas9 (ScCas9) ortholog and its engineered variants, possessing novel PAM specificity, is an addition to the family of CRISPR-Cas9 systems. ScCas9 endonuclease is used in complex with guide RNA, consisting of identical non-target-specific sequence to that of the guide RNA SpCas9, for specific recognition and activity on a DNA target immediately upstream of either an “NNGT” or “NNNGT” PAM sequence. A novel DNA-interacting loop domain within ScCas9, and other Cas9 orthologs, such as those from Streptococcus gordonii and Streptococcus angionosis facilitates a divergent PAM sequence from the “NGG” PAM of SpCas9.

Abstract: An attention-based graph architecture that exploits MSA Transformer embeddings to directly produce models of three-dimensional folded structures from protein sequences includes a method and system for augmenting the protein sequence to obtain multiple sequence alignments, producing enriched individual and pairwise embeddings from the multiple sequence alignments using an MSA-Transformer, extracting relevant features and structure latent states from the enriched individual and pairwise embeddings for use by a downstream graph transformer, assigning individual and pairwise embeddings to nodes and edges, respectively, using the downstream graph transformer to operate on node representations through an attention-based mechanism that considers pairwise edge attributes to obtain final node encodings, and projecting the final node encodings to form the computer-modeled folded protein structure. An induced distogram of the computer-modeled folded protein structure may be computed.

Abstract: Engineered Streptococcus canis Cas9 (ScCas9) variants include an ScCas9 protein with its PID being the PID amino acid composition of Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9)-NG, an ScCas9 protein having a threonine-to-lysine substitution mutation at position 1227 in its amino acid sequence (Sc+), and an ScCas9 protein having a threonine-to-lysine substitution mutation at position 1227 and a substitution of residues ADKKLRKRSGKLATE [SEQ ID No. 4] in position 365-379 in the ScCas9 open reading frame (Sc++). Also included are CRISPR-associated DNA endonucleases with a PAM specificity of 5?-NG-3? or 5?-NNG-3? and a method of altering expression of a gene product by utilizing the engineered ScCas9 variants.

Abstract: Applications of a Streptococcus Cas9 ortholog from Streptococcus macacae (Smac Cas9), possessing minimal adenine-rich PAM specificity, include an isolated Streptococcus macacae Cas9 protein or transgene expression thereof, a CRISPR-associated DNA endonuclease with PAM interacting domain amino acid sequences that are at least 80% identical to that of the isolated Streptococcus macacae Cas9 protein, and an isolated, engineered Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (Spy Cas9) protein with a PID as either the PID amino acid composition of the isolated Streptococcus macacae Cas9 (Smac Cas9) protein or of a CRISPR-associated DNA endonuclease with PID amino acid sequences that are at least 80% identical to that of the isolated Streptococcus macacae Cas9 protein. A method for altering expression of at least one gene product employs Streptococcus macacae Cas9 endonucleases in complex with guide RNA, for specific recognition and activity on a DNA target immediately upstream of either an “NAA” or “NA” or “NAAN” PAM sequence.

Abstract: Methods and compositions relating to an engineered peptide capable of binding to an infectious biological molecule for inhibition by mediated degradation using the ubiquitin proteasome pathway. The engineered peptide includes a targeting domain and an ubiquitin ligase recruiting domain. The engineered peptide includes a targeting domain and an ubiquitin ligase. The targeting domain is computationally-derived from a known receptor for the infectious biological molecule. The engineered peptide is optimized for minimal size and minimum off-target effects.

Abstract: Methods and compositions relating to an engineered peptide capable of binding to a biological molecule for viral inhibition. The engineered peptide is computationally-derived from soluble angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (sACE2), a known receptor for viral spike proteins. The engineered peptide is optimized for minimal size and off-target effects. The engineered sACE2 peptide variants are a suitable targeting domain for fusion proteins of various effects.

Abstract: A chimeric DNA:RNA guide for very high accuracy Cas9 genome editing employs nucleotide-type substitutions in nucleic acid-guided endonucleases for enhanced specificity. The CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system is manipulated to generate chimeric DNA:RNA guide strands to minimize the off-target cleavage events of the S. pyogenes Cas9 endonuclease. A DNA:RNA chimeric guide strand is sufficient to guide Cas9 to a specified target sequence for indel formation and minimize off-target cleavage events due to the specificity conferred by DNA-DNA interactions. Use of chimeric mismatch-evading lowered-thermostability guides (“melt-guides”) demonstrate that nucleotide-type substitutions in the spacer can reduce cleavage of sequences mismatched by as few as a single base pair. The chimeric mismatch-evading lowered-thermostability guides replace most gRNA spacer positions with DNA bases to suppress mismatched targets under Cas9's catalytic threshold.

Abstract: Engineered Streptococcus canis Cas9 (ScCas9) variants include an ScCas9 protein with its PID being the PID amino acid composition of Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9)-NG, an ScCas9 protein having a threonine-to-lysine substitution mutation at position 1227 in its amino acid sequence (Sc+), and an ScCas9 protein having a threonine-to-lysine substitution mutation at position 1227 and a substitution of residues ADKKLRKRSGKLATE in position 365-379 in the ScCas9 open reading frame (Sc++). Also included are CRISPR-associated DNA endonucleases with a PAM specificity of 5?-NG-3? or 5?-NNG-3? and a method of altering expression of a gene product by utilizing the engineered ScCas9 variants.

Abstract: A Streptococcus canis Cas9 (ScCas9) ortholog and its engineered variants, possessing novel PAM specificity, is an addition to the family of CRISPR-Cas9 systems. ScCas9 endonuclease is used in complex with guide RNA, consisting of identical non-target-specific sequence to that of the guide RNA SpCas9, for specific recognition and activity on a DNA target immediately upstream of either an “NNGT” or “NNNGT” PAM sequence. A novel DNA-interacting loop domain within ScCas9, and other Cas9 orthologs, such as those from Streptococcus gordonii and Streptococcus angionosis facilitates a divergent PAM sequence from the “NGG” PAM of SpCas9.

Abstract: A chimeric DNA:RNA guide for very high accuracy Cas9 genome editing employs nucleotide-type substitutions in nucleic acid-guided endonucleases for enhanced specificity. The CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing system is manipulated to generate chimeric DNA:RNA guide strands to minimize the off-target cleavage events of the S. pyogenes Cas9 endonuclease. A DNA:RNA chimeric guide strand is sufficient to guide Cas9 to a specified target sequence for indel formation and minimize off-target cleavage events due to the specificity conferred by DNA-DNA interactions. Use of chimeric mismatch-evading lowered-thermostability guides (“melt-guides”) demonstrate that nucleotide-type substitutions in the spacer can reduce cleavage of sequences mismatched by as few as a single base pair. The chimeric mismatch-evading lowered-thermostability guides replace most gRNA spacer positions with DNA bases to suppress mismatched targets under Cas9's catalytic threshold.