The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), together with CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins form the microbial adaptive immune system that protects against invading phages or plasmids. The CRISPR array consists of identical short repeats interspaced by similarly sized variable spacers, which are acquired from the foreign DNA. The CRISPR-Cas systems defend against invasive nucleic acids from phages or plasmids in three steps. First, in the adaptation step (also called acquisition), a new spacer is acquired from the invader DNA and integrated into the CRISPR locus. Second, the CRISPR locus is transcribed and processed into short mature CRISPR RNA (crRNA), which then binds to Cas proteins and forms a protein-RNA complex. Finally, the foreign nucleic acid complementary to crRNA is recognized and degraded by the protein-crRNA complex. We combine the structural and biochemical methods to reveal the molecular mechanisms of spacer acquisition, crRNA expression and interference steps.

王艳丽, 研究员, 博士生导师。2004年在中国科学技术大学获得博士学位, 2005至2006年在中国科学院生物物理研究所担任助理研究员, 2006至2010年前往美国斯隆-凯瑟琳癌症研究中心历任博士后、副研究员、高级研究员。2010年起在中国科学院生物物理研究所任中科院"百人计划"研究员。

目前主要研究方向: 1) CRISPR/Cas系统的作用机理研究, 2) 小分子介导的基因沉默的结构生物学研究。