The presently-disclosed subject matter includes fluorescent protein-based indicators for detecting ions, small molecule analytes, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments the indicators include a polypeptide, which itself includes a fluorescent polypeptide, a compound-binding polypeptide, and a polypeptide target of the compound-binding polypeptide. In some embodiments the polypeptide includes an EosFP polypeptide, a calmodulin polypeptide, and a M13 polypeptide, or fragments and/or variants thereof. The presently-disclosed subject matter also includes methods for detecting calcium in a sample with embodiments of the present polypeptides. In some embodiments the present indicators experience a permanent shift from green to red fluorescent when exposed to an detecting substance, such as calcium.

The present disclosure provides zinc finger domain-containing proteins comprising optimized -, -, and linker motifs, and fusion proteins comprising said zinc finger domain-containing proteins fused to an effector domain. The present disclosure also provides double-stranded DNA deaminase A (DddA) variants and fusion proteins comprising said DddA variants fused to a programmable DNA binding protein (e.g., any of the zinc finger domain-containing proteins disclosed herein, a TALE protein, or a CRISPR/Cas9 protein). Methods for editing DNA (including genomic DNA and mitochondrial DNA) using the fusion proteins described herein are also provided by the present disclosure. The present disclosure further provides polynucleotides, vectors, cells, kits, and pharmaceutical compositions comprising the zinc finger domain-containing proteins, DddA variants, and fusion proteins described herein.

Disclosed herein are compositions, methods, kits, and systems relating to efficient delivery of cargos (e.g., therapeutic cargos) into cells, for instance, for in vivo delivery. The present disclosure provides lipid-containing particles (e.g., virus-like particles) for delivering therapeutic cargos. The present disclosure also provides polynucleotides encoding the lipid-containing particles provided herein, which may be useful for producing said lipid-containing particles. Also provided are methods for editing nucleic acid molecules in cells using the lipid-containing particles provided herein, as well as cells and kits comprising the lipid-containing particles.

Disclosed herein are compositions, methods, kits, and systems relating to efficient delivery of cargos (e.g., therapeutic cargos) into cells, for instance, for in vivo delivery. The present disclosure provides lipid-containing particles (e.g., virus-like particles) for delivering therapeutic cargos. The present disclosure also provides polynucleotides encoding the lipid-containing particles provided herein, which may be useful for producing said lipid-containing particles. Also provided are methods for editing nucleic acid molecules in cells using the lipid-containing particles provided herein, as well as cells and kits comprising the lipid-containing particles.

The present disclosure provides a fusion protein useful for treating a non-nuclear organelle associated disorder, such as a genetic disorder, e.g., Friedrich's Ataxia. The fusion protein may comprise a protein of interest to be delivered to a non-nuclear organelle; an organelle targeting sequence (OTS); a cell penetrating peptide (CPP); and a target enhancing sequence (TES); wherein the CPP is capable of interference with delivery of the protein of interest to the non-nuclear organelle; and wherein the TES prevents said interference by the CPP. The fusion protein may also comprise a protein of interest to be delivered to a non-nuclear organelle; a CPP and a TES. The present disclosure also provides methods for treating a non-nuclear organelle associated disorder by administering the fusion protein to a subject in need thereof.

A fusion protein for use as an immunogen enhancer for enhancing antigen-specific T cell responses is disclosed. The fusion protein comprises: (a) an antigen-presenting cell (APC)-binding domain or a CD91 receptor-binding domain; (b) a protein transduction domain; and (c) an antigen of a pathogen, wherein the APC-binding domain or the CD91 receptor-binding domain is located at the N-terminus of the fusion protein, and the antigen of the pathogen is located at the C-terminus of the protein transduction domain. The protein transduction domain is selected from the group consisting of: (i) a fusion polypeptide, comprising a T cell sensitizing signal-transducing peptide, a linker, and a translocation peptide; (ii) a T cell-sensitizing signal-transducing peptide; and (iii) a translocation peptide of 34-112 amino acid residues in length.

The present invention relates to methods to improve the absolute rate of homology-directed repair (HDR) and/or to improve the relative rate of HDR compared with non-homologous end joining (NHEJ).

An artificial exon-junction complex comprising: a fusion protein comprising a RNA binding domain and an exon-junction complex (EJC) mimicking domain; a guide RNA; and a target mRNA wherein the RNA binding domain comprises a RNA binding region of a CAS nuclease, wherein the (EJC) mimicking domain comprises one or more regions that are derived from a component of EJC, wherein the guide RNA comprises a sequence complementary to a target sequence in the target mRNA, wherein the target mRNA comprises a premature termination codon (PTC) that is insensitive to nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD), and wherein 5 end of the target sequence is located at least 10 nucleotides downstream from the PTC in the target mRNA. A method for inducing mRNA decay of a target mRNA comprising a premature termination codon (PTC) that is insensitive to the nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) process.

Disclosed herein are compositions, methods, kits, and systems relating to efficient delivery of cargos (e.g., therapeutic cargos) into cells, for instance, for in vivo delivery. The present disclosure provides lipid-containing particles (e.g., virus-like particles) for delivering therapeutic cargos. The present disclosure also provides polynucleotides encoding the lipid-containing particles provided herein, which may be useful for producing said lipid-containing particles. Also provided are methods for editing nucleic acid molecules in cells using the lipid-containing particles provided herein, as well as cells and kits comprising the lipid-containing particles.

The present invention relates to an artificially engineered CRISPR/Cas9 system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an artificially engineered CRISPR enzyme having enhanced target specificity and a use of an artificially engineered CRISPR/Cas9 system including the same enzyme in genome and/or epigenome manipulation or modification, genome targeting, genome editing, and in vitro diagnosis, etc.