Zoltán Ligeti
Predoc
The focus of my current research is the investigation of the target specificity of Cas9 variants in bacterial and mammalian cells. The CRISPR-Cas9 system offers a powerful tool for genetic editing, but different Cas9 variants show different on-target and off-target effects. My goal is to develop a program that allows selection of the optimal Cas9 variant on a given DNA segment, thus minimizing unwanted side effects and maximizing specificity.
With this, I can contribute to increasing the efficiency and safety of precision gene editing.
Education
2016 - Present
Doctoral school
Multidisciplinary Medical Sciences
University of Szeged (SZTE)
2016
Biology MSc
Molecular, Immune and Microbiology specialization
Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE)
Research Interest
My scientific focus centers on the study of CRISPR-Cas9 variants, diagnostics, and potential therapies for genetic diseases. I have a strong interest in genome editing techniques, particularly those involving the CRISPR-Cas9 system, as well as in the evaluation of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies and data, with a focus on genome and transcriptome analysis. Additionally, I am engaged in exploring diagnostics and future therapeutic applications for genetic mutations and rare genetic diseases, including the development and editing of clinical mutation databases. Moreover, I have a keen interest in programming, bioinformatics program development, and the creation of artificial intelligence models.
This interdisciplinary approach allows me to bridge genetic research with clinical applications, contributing to advancements in diagnostics and therapeutic interventions.
Publications
Huszár, Krisztina ; Welker, Zsombor ; Györgypál, Zoltán ; Tóth, Eszter ; Ligeti, Zoltán ; Kulcsár, Péter István ; Dancsó, János ; Tálas, András ; Krausz, Sarah Laura ; Varga, Éva ; Ervin Welker
Position-dependent sequence motif preferences of SpCas9 are largely determined by scaffold-complementary spacer motifs
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH 51 : 11 pp. 5847-5863. , 17 p. (2023)
DOI WoS REAL Scopus PubMed
Article (Journal Article)
Kulcsár, Péter István ; Tálas, András ; Ligeti, Zoltán ; Tóth, Eszter ; Rakvács, Zsófia ; Bartos, Zsuzsanna ; Krausz, Sarah Laura ; Welker, Agnes ; Végi, Vanessa Laura ; Huszár, Krisztina ; Ervin Welker
A cleavage rule for selection of increased-fidelity SpCas9 variants with high efficiency and no detectable off-targets
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS 14 : 1 Paper: 5746 , 20 p. (2023)
DOI WoS Scopus PubMed
Article (Journal Article)
Kulcsár, Péter István ; Tálas, András ; Ligeti, Zoltán ; Krausz, Sarah Laura ; Welker, Ervin
SuperFi-Cas9 exhibits remarkable fidelity but severely reduced activity yet works effectively with ABE8e
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS 13 : 1 Paper: 6858 , 11 p. (2022)
DOI WoS REAL Scopus PubMed
Article (Journal Article)
Kulcsár, Péter István ; Tálas, András ; Tóth, Eszter ; Nyeste, Antal ; Ligeti, Zoltán ; Welker, Zsombor ; Welker, Ervin
Blackjack mutations improve the on-target activities of increased fidelity variants of SpCas9 with 5′G-extended sgRNAs
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS 11 : 1 Paper: 1223 , 14 p. (2020)
DOI REAL WoS Scopus PubMed
Article (Journal Article)
Tóth, Eszter ; Varga, Éva ; Kulcsár, Péter István ; Kocsis-Jutka, Virág ; Krausz, Sarah Laura ; Nyeste, Antal ; Welker, Zsombor ; Huszár, Krisztina ; Ligeti, Zoltán ; Tálas, András ; Welker, Ervin
Improved LbCas12a variants with altered PAM specificities further broaden the genome targeting range of Cas12a nucleases
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH 48 : 7 pp. 3722-3733. , 12 p. (2020)
DOI REAL WoS Scopus PubMed Other URLs
Article (Journal Article)
Tóth, Eszter ; Czene, Bernadette C ; Kulcsár, Péter István ; Krausz, Sarah Laura ; Tálas, András ; Nyeste, Antal ; Varga, Éva ; Huszár, Krisztina ; Weinhardt, Nóra ; Ligeti, Zoltán ; Borsy, Adrienn Éva ; Fodor, Elfrieda ; Welker, Ervin
Mb- and FnCpf1 nucleases are active in mammalian cells: activities and PAM preferences of four wild-type Cpf1 nucleases and of their altered PAM specificity variants
NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH 46 : 19 pp. 10272-10285. , 14 p. (2018)
DOI REAL WoS Scopus PubMed
Article (Journal Article)
Kulcsár, Péter István ; Tálas, András ; Huszár, Krisztina ; Ligeti, Zoltán ; Toth, Eszter ; Weinhardt, Nóra ; Fodor, Elfrieda ; Welker, Ervin
Crossing enhanced and high fidelity SpCas9 nucleases to optimize specificity and cleavage
GENOME BIOLOGY 18 Paper: 190 , 17 p. (2017)
DOI REAL WoS Scopus PubMed SZTE Publicatio
Article (Journal Article)
Tálas, András ; Kulcsár, Péter István ; Weinhardt, Nóra ; Borsy, Adrienn ; Tóth, Eszter ; Szebényi, Kornélia ; Krausz, Sarah Laura ; Huszár, Krisztina ; Vida, István ; Sturm, Ádám ; Gordos, Bianka ; Hoffmann, Orsolya Ivett ; Bencsura, Petra ; Nyeste, Antal ; Ligeti, Zoltán ; Fodor, Elfrieda ; Welker, Ervin
A convenient method to pre-screen candidate guide RNAs for CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing by NHEJ-mediated integration of a 'self-cleaving' GFP-expression plasmid
DNA RESEARCH 24 : 6 pp. 609-621. , 13 p. (2017)
DOI REAL WoS EDIT Scopus PubMed SZTE Publicatio
Article (Journal Article)