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Telomere shortening in hiPSCs results in neuronal and astrocyte aging

ABSTRACT: Telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT) plays a crucial role in maintaining telomere length, which are specialised protective caps at the end of chromosomes. The lack of in vitro aging models, particularly for the central nervous system (CNS), has impeded progress in understanding aging and age-associated neurodegenerative diseases. In this study, we aimed to explore the possibility of accelerating aging in vitro using hiPSC (human induced pluripotent stem cell) technology. To achieve this, we utilised CRISPR/Cas9 to generate TERT loss-of-function hiPSCs, resulting in a loss of telomerase function and shortened telomeres. Through directed differentiation, we generated motor neurons and astrocytes to investigate whether telomere shortening could lead to age-associated phenotypes in CNS cell types.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE240447 | GEO | 2023/12/09

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Aging is the consequence of intra- and extracellular events that promote cellular senescence. Dyskeratosis congenita (DC) is an example of a premature aging disorder caused by underlying telomere/telomerase-related mutations. Cells from these patients offer an opportunity to study telomere-related aging and senescence. Our previous work has found that telomere shortening stimulates DNA damage responses (DDR) and increases reactive oxygen species (ROS), thereby promoting entry into senescence. This work also found that telomere elongation via TERT expression, the catalytic component of the telomere-elongating enzyme telomerase, or p53 shRNA could decrease ROS by disrupting this telomere-DDR-ROS pathway. To further characterize this pathway, we performed a CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screen to identify genes that extend lifespan in DC cells. Of the cellular clones isolated due to increased lifespan, 34% had a guide RNA (gRNA) targeting CEBPB while gRNAs targeting WSB1, MED28 and p73 were observed multiple times. CEBPB is a transcription factor associated with activation of proinflammatory response genes suggesting that inflammation may be present in DC cells. The inflammatory response was investigated using RNA-Seq to compare DC and control cells. Expression of inflammatory genes were found to be significantly elevated (p<0.0001) in addition to a key subset of these inflammation-related genes (IL1B, IL6, IL8, IL12A, CXCL1 (GROa), CXCL2 (GROb), and CXCL5) which are regulated by CEBPB. Exogenous TERT expression led to downregulation of RNA/protein CEBPB expression and the inflammatory response genes suggesting a telomere-length dependent mechanism to regulate CEBPB. Furthermore, unlike exogenous TERT and p53 shRNA, CEBPB shRNA did not significantly decrease ROS suggesting that CEBPB’s contribution in DC cells’ senescence is ROS-independent. Our findings demonstrate a key role for CEBPB in engaging senescence by mobilizing an inflammatory response within DC cells.

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Telomere shortening in hiPSCs results in neuronal and astrocyte aging

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