An Optimized CRISPR/Cas9 Adenovirus Vector (AdZ-CRISPR) for High-Throughput Cloning of sgRNA, Using Enhanced sgRNA and Cas9 Variants.

Recombinant adenovirus vectors enable highly efficient gene delivery in vitro and in vivo. As a result, they are widely used in gene therapy, vaccination, and anticancer applications. We have previously developed the AdZ vector system, which uses recombineering to permit high-throughput cloning of transgenes into Adenovirus vectors, simplifies alteration of the vector backbone, and enables rapid recovery of infectious virus, even if a transgene is incompatible with vector replication. In this study, we adapt this vector system to enable high-throughput cloning of sequences for CRISPR/Cas9 editing. Vectors were optimized to ensure efficient cloning, and high editing efficiency using spCas9 and single guide RNA (sgRNA) sequences in a single vector. Using a multiplicity of infection of 50, knockout efficiencies of up to 80% could be achieved with a single sgRNA. Vectors were further enhanced by altering the spCas9 sequence to match that of SniperCas9, which has reduced off-target activity, but maintains on-target efficiency, and by applying modifications to the sgRNA sequence that significantly enhance editing efficiency. Thus, the AdZ-CRISPR vectors offer highly efficient knockout, even in hard to transfect cells, and enables large-scale CRISPR/Cas9 projects to be undertaken easily and quickly.