Project description:We describe the use of saturation genome editing to make and measure the effect of BRCA1 variants on protein function and splicing. We find the results accurately predict the clinical effects of variants.
Project description:We employed saturation genome editing (SGE) to assess the functional consequences of synonymous, missense, and nonsense variants across KARS1 exon 2. Deep DNA sequencing of fixed-amplicon PCR products targeting the endogenous KARS1 Exon 2 locus was used to determine variant frequencies as part of a larger study to identify a set of reproducible enrichment scores indicating effects of variants on KARS1 function.
Project description:We employed saturation genome editing (SGE) to assess the functional consequences of synonymous, missense, and nonsense variants across KARS1 exon 2. Deep DNA sequencing of fixed-amplicon PCR products targeting the endogenous KARS1 Exon 2 locus was used to determine variant frequencies as part of a larger study to identify a set of reproducible enrichment scores indicating effects of variants on KARS1 function.
Project description:Germline BRCA2 loss-of function (LOF) variants identified by clinical genetic testing predispose to breast, ovarian, prostate and pancreatic cancer. However, variants of uncertain significance (VUS) (n>5000) limit the clinical use of testing results. Thus, there is an urgent need for functional characterization and clinical classification of all BRCA2 variants. Here we report on comprehensive saturation genome editing-based functional characterization of 99% of all possible single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in the BRCA2 DNA Binding Domain hotspot for pathogenic missense variants that is encoded by exons 15 to 26. The assay was based on deep sequence analysis of HAP1 haploid cells endogenously targeted using a CRISPR/cas9 knockin approach. A total of 6959 SNVs were characterized for effects on cell survival. The assay was validated relative to nonsense and synonymous variants, ClinVar pathogenic/likely pathogenic and benign/likely benign variants and homology directed repair cell based DNA repair assay results, all of which showed >94% sensitivity and specificity. Variants were assigned posterior probabilities of pathogenicity using a VarCall two component Bayesian mixture model and were further grouped according to ACMG strength of evidence under the PS3/BS3 rule resulting in Benign Strong (n=5430), Benign Moderate (n=190), Benign Supporting (n=61), VUS (122), Pathogenic Strong (n=1021), Pathogenic Moderate (n=88), and Pathogenic Supporting (n=47). Breast cancer case-control association studies showed that pooled SNVs encoding functionally pathogenic missense variants were associated with increased risks of breast (odds ratio (OR)3.81, 95%CI: 2.88-5.07) and ovarian cancer (OR 5.93, 95%CI: 4.12-8.52). The functional data were also combined with other sources of information in the ClinGen BRCA1/2 VCEP ACMG/AMP-classification model. A total of 785 SNVs, including 261 missense SNVs, were classified as pathogenic or likely pathogenic, while 5566 SNVs, including 3786 missense SNVs, were classified as benign or likely benign. These classified variants can now be used for risk assessment and clinical care of variant carriers.
Project description:Accurate interpretation of genetic variation is a critical step towards realizing the potential of precision medicine. Sequencing-based genetic tests have uncovered a vast array ofBRCA2sequence variants. Due to limited clinical, familial and/or epidemiological data, thousands of variants are considered to be variants of uncertain significance (VUS). Here we have utilized CRISPR-Cas9-based saturation genome editing (SGE) in a humanized-mouse embryonic stem cell line. We have categorized nearly all possible missense single nucleotide variants (SNVs) encompassing the C-terminal DNA binding domain ofBRCA2.We have generated the function scores for 6270 SNVs, covering 95.5% of possible SNVs in exons 15-26 spanning residues 2479-3216, including 1069 unique missense VUS, with 81% functional and 14% found to be nonfunctional. Our classification aligns strongly with pathogenicity data from ClinVar, orthogonal functional assays and computational meta predictors. Our statistical classifier exhibits 92.2% sensitivity and 96% specificity in distinguishing clinically benign and pathogenic variants recorded in ClinVar. Furthermore, we offer proactive evidence for 617 SNVs being non-functional and 3396 SNVs being functional demonstrated by impact on cell growth and response to DNA-damaging drugs like cisplatin and olaparib. This classification serves as a valuable resource for interpreting unidentified variants in the population and for physicians and genetic counselors assessingBRCA2VUSs in patients.
Project description:To unravel the potential cooperative roles of oxygen-regulated signaling pathways; von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor protein and hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) transcription factors, we have generated mutant mice with; Vhlh, Vhlh/Hif1α, Vhlh/Hif2α and Vhlh/Hif1α/Hif2α gene alleles floxed. Subsequently primary kidney cells were isolated, cultured and infected with Adenoviruses bearing either Cre/GFP or GFP expression only. Agilent cDNA microarrays were utilized to compare the gene expression profiles of the kidney epithelial cells from aforementioned cell cultures to gain insight about the molecules and signaling pathways that drive aberrant cellular proliferation in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC).
Project description:The von–Hippel Lindau (VHL) protein is a tumour suppressor protein frequently mutated in the VHL disease, which functions as substrate recognition subunit of a Cul2 E3 ubiquitin ligase (CRL2VHL). CRL2VHL plays an important role in oxygen sensing, by binding and targeting Hypoxia Inducible Factor-alpha subunits (HIF-alpha) for ubiquitination and degradation. VHL is also commonly hijacked by heterobifunctional degrader molecules known as proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs). In previous work we reported the structure-based design and functional characterisation of VHL inhibitors (VH032 and VH298) that induce the HIF response in cells. Here, we use unbiased quantitative mass spectrometry to identify the proteomic changes elicited by the VHL inhibitor and compare this to hypoxia or broad-spectrum prolyl-hydroxylase domain (PHD) enzyme inhibitor IOX2. Our results demonstrate the VHL inhibitor selectively activates the HIF response that vastly overlaps with hypoxia- and IOX2-induced proteomic changes. Interestingly, VHL inhibitors were found to selectively upregulate a single protein, which is VHL itself. Our analysis revealed that this occurs via protein stabilisation of VHL isoforms and not via changes in transcript levels. Increased VHL levels upon VH298 treatment resulted in turn to reduced levels of HIF-1α protein. Our results demonstrate the high specificity of VHL inhibitors and suggest that use of these inhibitors would not produce overtly side effects due to prolonged HIF stabilisation. They also exemplify the concept that small-molecule binding induced protein stabilisation can increase protein levels inside cells.