IP Library Granted Patent US 12692487
Granted Patent B2
US 12692487 · App. 18/668,543 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Enzymes with RuvC domains

Inventors: Brian C. Thomas (Berkeley, CA); Christopher Brown (Albany, CA); Rose Kantor (San Mateo, CA); Audra Devoto (Berkeley, CA); Cristina Butterfield (Oakland, CA); Lisa Alexander (Albany, CA); Daniela S.A. Goltsman (Oakland, CA); Jason Liu (Oakland, CA)
Assignee: Metagenomi Therapeutics, Inc.
C12N9/22C12N15/11C12N15/113C12N2310/20C12N2310/531C12N2800/80
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12692487
App. No.
18/668,543
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

The present disclosure provides for endonuclease enzymes having distinguishing domain features, as well as methods of using such enzymes or variants thereof.

Claims (24)

1 . A method of modifying a target nucleic acid in an isolated cell, said method comprising introducing to said cell:

(a) an endonuclease or a nucleic acid encoding said endonuclease, wherein said endonuclease comprises a RuvC_III domain and an HNH domain, wherein said endonuclease comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 421; and

(b) an engineered guide ribonucleic acid structure or a nucleic acid encoding said engineered ribonucleic acid structure, wherein said engineered guide ribonucleic acid structure comprises:

i) a guide ribonucleic acid sequence configured to hybridize to a portion of said target nucleic acid; and

ii) a tracr ribonucleic acid sequence configured to form a complex with said endonuclease.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said endonuclease comprises an amino acid sequence having at least 95% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 421.

3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein said endonuclease comprises the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 421.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said RuvC_III domain comprises a sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 2242.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein said RuvC_III domain comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2242.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said HNH domain comprises a sequence having at least 90% sequence identity to SEQ ID NO: 4056.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein said HNH domain comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4056.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said endonuclease is configured to bind to a protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequence of SEQ ID NO: 5517.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said endonuclease is a class 2, type II Cas endonuclease.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said tracr ribonucleic acid sequence comprises a sequence having at least 80% sequence identity to about 60 to 90 consecutive nucleotides of SEQ ID NO: 5495.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said endonuclease and said tracr ribonucleic acid sequence are derived from distinct bacterial species within a same phylum.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said engineered guide ribonucleic acid structure comprises at least two ribonucleic acid polynucleotides.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said engineered guide ribonucleic acid structure comprises one ribonucleic acid polynucleotide comprising said guide ribonucleic acid sequence and said tracr ribonucleic acid sequence.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said guide ribonucleic acid sequence is complementary to a eukaryotic, mammalian, or human genomic sequence.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said endonuclease comprises one or more nuclear localization sequences (NLSs) proximal to an N- or C-terminus of said endonuclease.

16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein said one or more NLSs comprises a sequence selected from any one of SEQ ID NOs: 5597-5612.

17 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising introducing into said cell a single-stranded or double-stranded deoxyribonucleic repair template comprising from 5′ to 3′: a first homology arm comprising a sequence 5′ to said target nucleic acid sequence, a synthetic deoxyribonucleic acid sequence, and a second homology arm comprising a sequence 3′ to said target nucleic acid sequence.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said modifying comprises binding, nicking, cleaving, or marking said target nucleic acid.

19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein said target nucleic acid comprises genomic deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).

20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said cell is a eukaryotic cell, an animal cell, a mammalian cell, a primate cell, or a human cell.