Profiling genome-wide specificity of CRISPR-Cas9 using Digenome-seq

Abstract

Digenome-seq is a highly sensitive method for analyzing the genome-wide specificity of CRISPR-Cas9 nuclease activity. In this procedure, genomic DNA is first subjected to digestion by CRISPR-Cas9 in vitro and then to whole genome sequencing, which results in unusual patterns of straight alignments at on-target and potential off-target sites. Analysis of these data with the Digenome-seq computer program allows for identification of the in vitro cleavage sites associated with the straight alignments. Here, we present a detailed Digenome-seq protocol for genome-wide profiling of in vitro CRISPR-Cas9 nuclease cleavage sites.