Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 24, 2025

Gene Digital Circuits Based on CRISPR-Cas Systems and Anti-CRISPR Proteins
Published on: October 18, 2022
New CRISPR-Derived microRNA Sensing Mechanism Based on Cas12a Self-Powered and Rolling Circle Transcription-Unleashed
Gaoting Wang1, Weimin Tian1, Xiaoling Liu1
1Key Laboratory of Applied Surface and Colloid Chemistry, Ministry of Education; Key Laboratory of Analytical Chemistry for Life Science of Shaanxi Province, School of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 710119, Shaanxi Province, P. R. China.
Abstract:
Current CRISPR-Cas-based nucleic acid sensing methods relying on the preassembled Cas-crRNA complexes are generally limited to the detection of protospacer-adjacent motif (PAM)-containing sequences, and nonspecific backgrounds are inevitable. Herein, we propose a new CRISPR-derived microRNA sensing mechanism based on rolling circle transcription (RCT)-unleashed self-recruiting of crRNA by Cas12a (Cas12a-SCR). In Cas12a-SCR, target microRNA can specifically trigger RCT to produce a long single-strand RNA with numerous pre-crRNA repeats, which can be trimmed and recruited by Cas12a actively. This new target-initiated, real-time producing, trimming, and self-assembling manner of Cas12a-crRNA remarkably suppresses the nonspecific background and relieves the stringent requirement of PAM site in the target sequence. Thus, the universality of the Cas12a-SCR toward different nucleic acid sequences is greatly expanded.
Related Concept Videos
CRISPR
CRISPR and crRNAs
The CRISPR-Cas system stores a copy of foreign DNA in the host genome and uses it to identify the foreign DNA upon reinfection. CRISPR-Cas has three different...
The Antiviral System of Bacteria and Archaea: CRISPR
CRISPR/Cas9 Genome Editing
RNA Interference
This process occurs naturally in cells, often through the activity of genomically-encoded microRNAs. Researchers can take advantage of this mechanism by introducing synthetic RNAs to deactivate specific genes for research or therapeutic purposes. For example, RNAi could be used...
Experimental RNAi

