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Anti-CRISPR type II subtype A11 AcrIIA11 is an anti-CRISPR (Acr) protein which was discovered via a functional selection that inhibits the type II-A CRISPR-Cas system (Csy). AcrIIA11, a common anti-CRISPR in the human gut, uses a different mechanism than other previously characterized type II-A Acrs to inhibit Cas9 in bacteria and in human cells. It can be used to design phages that can infect bacteria which are otherwise difficult to destroy. These phages could be used to clear antibiotic-resistant infections in the future. Almost all type II Acrs characterized to date directly interact with the Cas9 endonuclease, although by distinct mechanisms. The type II CRISPR/Cas subtype has a distinct crRNA-guided surveillance complex encoded by cas9 (formerly csn1), cas1, cas2, and csn2 (for type IIA) or cas4 (for type IIB) genes, all located in a single transcriptional unit directly upstream of the CRISPR locus. Cleavage of the DNA target in type II systems is carried out by Cas9 which is an RNA-guided double-stranded DNase with two independent nuclease domains, HNH and RuvC. Due to the reliance of the type II system on a single protein for function, Cas9 homologs derived from different subtypes and species have been utilized for numerous gene editing applications. CRISPR-Cas immune systems are used by certain prokaryotes and archaea to resist the invasion of foreign nucleic acids such as phages or plasmids. Anti-CRISPRs are small proteins which are the natural inhibitors for CRISPR-Cas systems; encoded on bacterial and archaeal viruses, they allow the virus to evade host CRISPR-Cas systems. The CRISPR-Cas-mediated adaptive immune response can be divided into three steps, including the acquisition of spacer derived from invading nucleic acids, crRNA processing, and target degradation. Theoretically, Acr proteins could suppress any step to disrupt the CRISPR-Cas system. Acr proteins are diverse with no common sequence or structural motif, and they inhibit a wide range of CRISPR-Cas systems with various inhibition mechanisms. CRISPR-Cas systems are divided into two classes (1 and 2) and six types (class 1: types I, III and IV; class 2: types II, V and VI). Acr families are named for their type and subtype which are numbered sequentially as they are discovered. |
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