Targeted pseudouridylation: A novel approach for suppressing nonsense mutations in disease genes

ABSTRACT: A large number of genetic diseases are caused by various mutations in specific disease genes. A significant proportion (~15%) of these mutations are nonsense mutations that create a premature termination codon (PTC). Consequently, the Nonsense-mediated mRNA Decay (NMD) surveillance pathway degrades a large fraction of PTC-containing mRNA. Translation of the remaining un-degraded PTC-containing mRNA terminates at the PTC, leading to no full-length protein production and hence disease. Therefore, suppressing NMD and translation termination at PTCs becomes an attractive strategy for combating these diseases. This work presents a novel approach, namely targeted PTC pseudouridylation, to suppress nonsense mutations in human cells. By co-transfecting human cells with a PTC-reporter gene and a designer box H/ACA guide RNA gene targeting the PTC, we show that targeted pseudouridylation suppresses both NMD and translation termination at PTCs in the contexts of various disease gene sequences. Furthermore, targeted pseudouridylation exhibits a level of suppression comparable to that of antibiotic treatments, and the suppressive effect is long-lasting in the cell. When targeted pseudouridylation is combined with the antibiotic treatment, a much higher level of suppression is observed. Remarkably, by transfecting a disease model cell line (carrying a chromosomal PTC) with a designer guide RNA gene alone targeting the PTC, we also observe nonsense suppression, suggesting the high potential of this novel approach in treating PTC-associated diseases. Finally, one of the restored full-length proteins is further tested to be functional. Targeted pseudouridylation appears to be the first RNA-directed gene-specific therapeutic approach that suppresses NMD and concurrently promotes PTC read-through.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE221516 | GEO | 2022/12/31

REPOSITORIES: GEO