Parallel High Throughput Single Molecule Kinetic Assay for Site-Specific DNA Cleavage

Summary

A highly parallel method for measuring the site-specific cleavage of DNA at the single molecule level is described. This protocol demonstrates the technique using the restriction endonuclease NdeI. The method can easily be modified to study any process that results in site-specific DNA cleavage.

Abstract

Site-specific DNA cleavage (SSDC) is a key step in many cellular processes, and it is crucial to gene editing. This work describes a kinetic assay capable of measuring SSDC in many single DNA molecules simultaneously. Bead-tethered substrate DNAs, each containing a single copy of the target sequence, are prepared in a microfluidic flow channel. An external magnet applies a weak force to the paramagnetic beads. The integrity of up to 1,000 individual DNAs can be monitored by visualizing the microbeads under darkfield imaging using a wide-field, low magnification objective. Injecting of a restriction endonuclease, NdeI, initiates the cleavage reaction. Video microscopy is used to record the exact moment of each DNA cleavage by observing the frame in which the associated bead moves up and out of the focal plane of the objective. Frame-by-frame bead counting quantifies the reaction, and an exponential fit determines the reaction rate. This method allows collection of quantitative and statistically significant data on single molecule SSDC reactions in a single experiment.

Introduction

Site-specific DNA cleavage (SSDC) is a key step in many genomic transactions. For example, bacterial restriction-modification (RM)¹ and CRISPR² systems protect cells from attack by phages and plasmids by recognizing and cleaving foreign DNA at specific sequences. In type II RM, restriction endonucleases (REs) recognize short 4–8 base pair (bp) sequences via protein-nucleic acid interactions³. CRISPR-associated endonucleases, such as Cas9, bind to sites via hybridization of the target site with crRNAs bound to the endonucleases⁴. The creation of site-specific double st....

Protocol

1. Making the flow cell

1. Washing the coverslips
   1. Place coverslips in staining jars and sonicate with ethanol (EtOH), then with 1 M KOH (for 30 min each). To avoid KOH precipitation in EtOH, rinse thoroughly with ddH₂O between washes.
   2. Repeat both EtOH and the KOH washing steps 1x for a total number of four washes (two EtOH and two KOH). Store cleaned coverslips in ddH₂O in staining jars.
2. Cut loading and exit tubes (8 cm long) using a clean razor and insert into holes in a clean glass slide. Use PE-20 for inlet and PE-60 for outlet. Epoxy for 5 min to secure tubing and trim off any excess tub....

Results

Using this technique, the SSDC rates of NdeI were measured for a range of protein concentrations (0.25–4.00 U/mL) at two different concentrations of magnesium (2 mM and 4 mM). Each of these conditions was replicated at least twice, with a few hundred to 1,000 tethered DNAs per experiment. Figure 2 describes the experimental design. Figure 3 shows examples of data collection and analysis details. Figure 4 illustrates how the ra.......

Discussion

The protocol can be used to measure the kinetics of any SSDC system, provided that the strand separation is observed during the experiment. The detection of cleavage is affected by observing the detachment of the tethered bead and therefore marks the instant of strand separation. All preceding steps occur before the detection of the cleavage; thus, only the total transit time is recorded.

The flow cell coverslip is functionalized via non-specific adsorption of antibody protein to the clean gla.......

Materials

Name	Company	Catalog Number	Comments
5 minute Epoxy	Devcon	14250
anti-digoxigenin FAB fragments	Roche Diagnostics	11214667001
camera and software	Jenoptik	GRYPHAX SUBRA
data analysis software	Vernier Inc.	LP
double sided tape	Grace Biolabs	SA-S-1L
Dulbeccos Phosphate Buffered Saline	Corning	21-031-CV
ethanol 95%	VWR	89370-082
forward primer: digoxigenin-CCAACTTAATCGCCTTGC	Integrated DNA Technologies	n/a
image analysis software	National Institutes of Health	ImageJ
inverted microscope	Nikon	TE2000
knife printer	Silhouette
M13mp18 DNA	New England Biolabs	N4040S
MyOne streptavidin beads	Thermo Fisher Scientific	65601
NdeI enzyme	New England Biolabs	R0111S
PCR cleanup kit	Qiagen	28104
pluronic F-127	Anatrace	P305
polyethylene tubing PE-20	BD Intramedic	427406
polyethylene tubing PE-60	BD Intramedic	427416
Q5 Mastermix	New England Biolabs	M0492S
rare earth magnet 0.5" OD 0.25" ID	National Imports	NSN0814
rare earth magnet 0.75" OD 0.5" ID	National Imports	NSN0615
reverse primer: biotin-TGACCATTAGATACATTTCGC	Integrated DNA Technologies	n/a
syringe pump	Kent Scientific	Genie Plus
β-Casein from bovine Milk	Sigma-Aldrich	C6905