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Efficient mutagenesis of the rhodopsin gene in rod photoreceptor neurons in mice.

ABSTRACT: Dominant mutations in the rhodopsin gene, which is expressed in rod photoreceptor cells, are a major cause of the hereditary-blinding disease, autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. Therapeutic strategies designed to edit such mutations will likely depend on the introduction of double-strand breaks and their subsequent repair by homologous recombination or non-homologous end joining. At present, the break repair capabilities of mature neurons, in general, and rod cells, in particular, are undefined. To detect break repair, we generated mice that carry a modified human rhodopsin-GFP fusion gene at the normal mouse rhodopsin locus. The rhodopsin-GFP gene carries tandem copies of exon 2, with an ISceI recognition site situated between them. An ISceI-induced break can be repaired either by non-homologous end joining or by recombination between the duplicated segments, generating a functional rhodopsin-GFP gene. We introduced breaks using recombinant adeno-associated virus to transduce the gene encoding ISceI nuclease. We found that virtually 100% of transduced rod cells were mutated at the ISceI site, with ?85% of the genomes altered by end joining and ?15% by the single-strand annealing pathway of homologous recombination. These studies establish that the genomes of terminally differentiated rod cells can be efficiently edited in living organisms.

SUBMITTER: Chan F

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3152346 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Efficient mutagenesis of the rhodopsin gene in rod photoreceptor neurons in mice.

Chan Fung F Hauswirth William W WW Wensel Theodore G TG Wilson John H JH

Nucleic acids research 20110407 14

Dominant mutations in the rhodopsin gene, which is expressed in rod photoreceptor cells, are a major cause of the hereditary-blinding disease, autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. Therapeutic strategies designed to edit such mutations will likely depend on the introduction of double-strand breaks and their subsequent repair by homologous recombination or non-homologous end joining. At present, the break repair capabilities of mature neurons, in general, and rod cells, in particular, are unde ...[more]

PMID: 21478169

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Project description:PurposeRetinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a collection of genetic disorders that results in the degeneration of light-sensitive photoreceptor cells, leading to blindness. RP is associated with more than 70 loci that may display dominant or recessive modes of inheritance, but mutations in the gene encoding the visual pigment rhodopsin (RHO) are the most frequent cause. In an effort to develop precise mutations in zebrafish as novel models of photoreceptor degeneration, we describe the generation and germline transmission of a series of novel clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/Cas9-induced insertion and deletion (indel) mutations in the major zebrafish rho locus, rh1-1.MethodsOne- or two-cell staged zebrafish embryos were microinjected with in vitro transcribed mRNA encoding Cas9 and a single guide RNA (gRNA). Mutations were detected by restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and DNA sequence analyses in injected embryos and offspring. Immunolabeling with rod- and cone-specific antibodies was used to test for histological and cellular changes.ResultsUsing gRNAs that targeted highly conserved regions of rh1-1, a series of dominant and recessive alleles were recovered that resulted in the rapid degeneration of rod photoreceptors. No effect on cones was observed. Targeting the 5'-coding sequence of rh1-1 led to the recovery of several indels similar to disease-associated alleles. A frame shift mutation leading to a premature stop codon (T17*) resulted in rod degeneration when brought to homozygosity. Immunoblot and fluorescence labeling with a Rho-specific antibody suggest that this is indeed a null allele, illustrating that the Rho expression is essential for rod survival. Two in-frame mutations were recovered that disrupted the highly conserved N-linked glycosylation consensus sequence at N15. Larvae heterozygous for either of the alleles demonstrated rapid rod degeneration. Targeting of the 3'-coding region of rh1-1 resulted in the recovery of an allele encoding a premature stop codon (S347*) upstream of the conserved VSPA sorting sequence and a second in-frame allele that disrupted the putative phosphorylation site at S339. Both alleles resulted in rod death in a dominant inheritance pattern. Following the loss of the targeting sequence, immunolabeling for Rho was no longer restricted to the rod outer segment, but it was also localized to the plasma membrane.ConclusionsThe efficiency of CRISPR/Cas9 for gene targeting, coupled with the large number of mutations associated with RP, provided a backdrop for the rapid isolation of novel alleles in zebrafish that phenocopy disease. These novel lines will provide much needed in-vivo models for high throughput screens of compounds or genes that protect from photoreceptor degeneration.

Dataset Information

Efficient mutagenesis of the rhodopsin gene in rod photoreceptor neurons in mice.

Publications

Efficient mutagenesis of the rhodopsin gene in rod photoreceptor neurons in mice.

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