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Updated: Feb 9, 2026

Using Sniper-Cas9 to Minimize Off-target Effects of CRISPR-Cas9 Without the Loss of On-target Activity Via Directed Evolution
Published on: February 26, 2019
Target Specificity of Cas9 Nuclease via DNA Rearrangement Regulated by the REC2 Domain
Keewon Sung1, Jinho Park1, Younggyu Kim2
1Department of Chemistry , Seoul National University , Seoul 08826 , Republic of Korea.
Abstract:
Understanding the underlying principles for the target-specific nuclease activity of CRISPR/Cas9 is a prerequisite to minimize its off-target DNA cleavage for genome engineering applications. Here, we show that the noncatalytic REC2 domain of Cas9 nuclease plays a crucial role in off-target discrimination. Using single-molecule fluorescence methods, we investigate conformational dynamics of the non-target strand (NTS) of DNA interacting with Cas9 and find that REC2 regulates the NTS rearrangement for cleavage reaction with the help of positively charged residues on its surface. This mechanistic model for the target specificity of Cas9 provides molecular insights for the rational approach to Cas9 engineering for highly specific genome editing.
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