Site-specific and rare cutting nucleases are valuable tools for genome engineering. The generation of double-strand DNA breaks (DSBs) promotes homologous recombination in eukaryotes and can facilitate gene targeting, additions, deletions, and inactivation. Zinc finger nucleases have been used to generate DSBs and subsequently, for genome editing but with low efficiency and reproducibility. The transcription activator-like family of type III effectors (TALEs) contains a central domain of tandem repeats that could be engineered to bind specific DNA targets. Here, we report the generation of a Hax3-based hybrid TALE nuclease with a userselected DNA binding specificity. We show that the engineered TALE nuclease can bind to its target sequence in vitro and that the homodimeric TALE nuclease can cleave double-stranded DNA in vitro if the DNA binding sites have the proper spacing and orientation. Transient expression assays in tobacco leaves suggest that the hybrid nuclease creates DSB in its target sequence, which is subsequently repaired by nonhomologous end-joining repair. Taken together, our data show the feasibility of engineering TALE-based hybrid nucleases capable of generating site-specific DSBs and the great potential for site-specific genome modification in plants and eukaryotes in general. molecular scissors | nontransgenic mutagenesis | artificial activators

Transcriptional activator-like effectors (TALEs) are proteins secreted by Xanthomonas bacteria when they infect plants. TALEs contain a modular DNA binding domain that can be easily engineered to bind any sequence of interest, and have been used to provide user-selected DNA-binding modules to generate chimeric nucleases and transcriptional activators in mammalian cells and plants. Here we report the use of TALEs to generate chimeric sequence-specific transcriptional repressors. The dHax3 TALE was used as a scaffold to provide a DNA-binding module fused to the EAR-repression domain (SRDX) to generate a chimeric repressor that targets the RD29A promoter. The dHax3.SRDX protein efficiently repressed the transcription of the RD29A::LUC transgene and endogenous RD29A gene in Arabidopsis. Genome wide expression profiling showed that the chimeric repressor also inhibited the expression of several other genes that contain the designer TALE-target sequence in their promoters. Our data suggest that TALEs can be used to generate chimeric repressors to specifically repress the transcription of genes of interest in plants. This sequence-specific transcriptional repression by direct on promoter effector technology is a powerful tool for functional genomics studies and biotechnological applications.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11103-011-9866-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Transcription activator-like effectors (TALEs) can be used as DNA-targeting modules by engineering their repeat domains to dictate user-selected sequence specificity. TALEs have been shown to function as site-specific transcriptional activators in a variety of cell types and organisms. TALE nucleases (TALENs), generated by fusing the FokI cleavage domain to TALE, have been used to create genomic double-strand breaks. The identity of the TALE repeat variable di-residues, their number, and their order dictate the DNA sequence specificity. Because TALE repeats are nearly identical, their assembly by cloning or even by synthesis is challenging and time consuming. Here, we report the development and use of a rapid and straightforward approach for the construction of designer TALE (dTALE) activators and nucleases with user-selected DNA target specificity. Using our plasmid set of 100 repeat modules, researchers can assemble repeat domains for any 14-nucleotide target sequence in one sequential restriction-ligation cloning step and in only 24 h. We generated several custom dTALEs and dTALENs with new target sequence specificities and validated their function by transient expression in tobacco leaves and in vitro DNA cleavage assays, respectively. Moreover, we developed a web tool, called idTALE, to facilitate the design of dTALENs and the identification of their genomic targets and potential off-targets in the genomes of several model species. Our dTALE repeat assembly approach along with the web tool idTALE will expedite genome-engineering applications in a variety of cell types and organisms including plants.

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Heat shock proteins (HSPs) were originally identified as stress-responsive proteins and serve as molecular chaperones in different intracellular compartments. Translocation of HSPs to the cell surface and release of HSPs into the extracellular space have been observed during the apoptotic process and in response to a variety of cellular stress. Here, we report that UV irradiation and cisplatin treatment rapidly induce the expression of membrane-bound Hsp60, Hsp70, and Hsp90 upstream the phosphatidylserine exposure. Membrane-bound Hsp60, Hsp70 and Hsp90 could promote the release of IL-6 and IL-1β as well as DC maturation by the evaluation of CD80 and CD86 expression. On the other hand, Hsp60, Hsp70 and Hsp90 on cells could facilitate the uptake of dying cells by bone marrow-derived dendritic cells. Lectin-like oxidized LDL receptor-1 (LOX-1), as a common receptor for Hsp60, Hsp70, and Hsp90, is response for their recognition and mediates the uptake of dying cells. Furthermore, membrane-bound Hsp60, Hsp70 and Hsp90 could promote the cross-presentation of OVA antigen from E.G7 cells and inhibition of the uptake of dying cells by LOX-1 decreases the cross-presentation of cellular antigen. Therefore, the rapid exposure of HSPs on dying cells at the early stage allows for the recognition by and confers an activation signal to the immune system.