Figure 1. Principles of prime editing adapted from Anzalone et al (2019).

Principles of prime editing: The pegRNA complexes with the nCas9 (H840A)–reverse transcriptase (RT) prime-editing fusion protein and binds to the target DNA. Upon protospacer adjacent motif strand cleavage by nCas9, the primer-binding site of the pegRNA extension binds the single-stranded DNA upon which the RT synthesizes a 3′-DNA flap containing the edit of interest. This 3′-flap is resolved by cellular DNA processes which can be further enhanced by introducing a proximal second nick in the opposing DNA strand, guided by a second (PE3) guide-RNA. Red scissors indicate nick site of the nCas9. RT = Reverse Transcriptase.