Project description:Clinical application of somatic genome editing requires therapeutics that are generalizable to a broad range of patients. Targeted insertion of promoterless transgenes can ensure that edits are permanent, broadly applicable, while minimizing risks of off-target integration. In the liver, the Albumin locus is currently the only well characterized site for promoterless transgene insertion. Using an unbiased ChIP-seq approach, we here identify Apolipoprotein a1 (Apoa1) as one of the most highly expressed and accessible loci in mouse and human liver. We target the Apoa1 locus with Adeno-Associated Viral (AAV) delivery of CRISPR/Cas9, and achieve rates of 6 to 16% with no evidence of toxicity. We further show that the endogenous Apoa1 promoter can drive robust and sustained expression of therapeutic proteins such as factor IX (FIX) or apolipoprotein E (APOE). Finally, we demonstrate that Apoa1-targeted fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (FAH) can correct and rescue the severe metabolic liver disease hereditary tyrosinemia type I. In summary, we identify and validate Apoa1 as novel safe harbor site for genome editing therapeutics.
Project description:Bulk RNA-sequencing experiments were performed to analyze the transcriptomic effects of such integrations into two newly established genomic safe harbor sites. Jurkat and HEK293T cells were edited to integrate CMV-mRuby expressing cassette into Rogi2 genomic safe harbor site using Cas9 RNP
Project description:Human iPSCs and NSCs were engineered by AAVS1 and/or C13 safe-harbor TALENs which mediated targeted integration of various reporter genes at single or dual safe-harbor loci. Multiple clones of targeted human iPSCs were used to compare with parental untargeted NCRM5 iPSCs. Polyclonal targeted human NSCs were used to compare with their parental untargeted NCRM1NSCs or H9NSCs. Total RNA obtained from targeted human iPSCs or NSCs compared to untargeted control iPSCs or NSCs.
Project description:Human iPSCs and NSCs were engineered by AAVS1 and/or C13 safe-harbor TALENs which mediated targeted integration of various reporter genes at single or dual safe-harbor loci. Multiple clones of targeted human iPSCs were used to compare with parental untargeted NCRM5 iPSCs. Polyclonal targeted human NSCs were used to compare with their parental untargeted NCRM1NSCs or H9NSCs.
Project description:X-CGD (X-linked chronic granulomatous disease) patient derived CD34+ cells were reprogrammed into two X-CGD iPSC clones (7 and 25) and subsequently corrected using ZFN (clone 7) and TALEN (clone 25) by integrating a therapeutic gp91phox expression cassette into the AAVS1 "safe harbor" locus Three condition experiment: before and after reprogramming and before and after genome editing.
Project description:The advent of human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells enables for the first time the derivation of unlimited numbers of patient-specific stem cells and holds great promise for regenerative medicine. However, realizing the full potential of iPS cells requires robust, precise and safe strategies for their genetic modification. Safe human iPS cell engineering is especially needed for therapeutic applications, as stem cell-based therapies that rely on randomly integrated transgenes pose oncogenic risks. Here we describe a strategy to genetically modify iPS cells from patients with beta-thalassemia in a potentially clinically relevant manner. Our approach is based on the identification and selection of “safe harbor” sites for transgene expression in the human genome. We show that thalassemia patient iPS cell clones harboring a transgene can be isolated and screened according to chromosomal position. We next demonstrate that iPS cell clones that meet our “safe harbor” criteria resist silencing and allow for therapeutic levels of beta-globin expression upon erythroid differentiation without perturbation of neighboring gene expression. Combined bioinformatics and functional analyses thus provide a robust and dependable approach for achieving desirable levels of transgene expression from selected chromosomal loci. This approach may be broadly applicable to introducing therapeutic or suicide genes into patient specific iPS cells for use in cell therapy.
Project description:Neutrophils play important roles in inflammatory airway diseases. Here, we assessed whether apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) modifies neutrophil heterogeneity as part of the mechanism by which it attenuates acute airway inflammation. Neutrophilic airway inflammation was induced by daily intranasal administration of LPS plus house dust mite (LPS+HDM) to Apoa1-/- and Apoa1+/+ mice for 3 days. Single cell RNA sequencing was performed on cells recovered in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) on day 4. Unsupervised profiling identified 10 clusters of neutrophils in BALF from Apoa1-/- and Apoa1+/+ mice. LPS+HDM-challenged Apoa1-/- mice had an increased proportion of the Neu4 neutrophil cluster that expressed S100a8, S100a9, and Mmp8, and had high maturation, aggregation, and TLR4 binding scores. There was also an increase in the Neu6 cluster of immature neutrophils, whereas neutrophil clusters expressing interferon-stimulated genes were decreased. An unsupervised trajectory analysis showed that Neu4 represented a distinct lineage in Apoa1-/- mice. LPS+HDM-challenged Apoa1-/- mice also had an increased proportion of recruited airspace macrophages, which was associated with a reciprocal reduction in resident airspace macrophages. Increased expression of a common set of pro-inflammatory genes, S100a8, S100a9, and Lcn2, was present in all neutrophils and airspace macrophages from LPS+HDM-challenged Apoa1-/- mice. Apoa1-/- mice have increases in specific neutrophil and macrophage clusters in the lung during acute inflammation mediated by LPS+HDM, as well as enhanced expression of a common set of pro-inflammatory genes. This suggests that modifications in neutrophil and macrophage heterogeneity contribute to the mechanism by which apoA-I attenuates acute airway inflammation.