Project description:Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common form of inherited intellectual disability, resulting from a CGG repeat expansion in the fragile X mental retardation 1 (FMR1) gene. Here we report a strategy for CGG repeat correction using CRISPR/Cas9 for targeted deletion in both embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells derived from FXS patients. Following gene correction in FXS induced pluripotent stem cells, FMR1 expression was restored and sustained in neural precursor cells and mature neurons. Strikingly, after removal of the CGG repeats, the upstream CpG island of the FMR1 promoter showed extensive demethylation, an open chromatin state, and transcription initiation. These results suggest a silencing maintenance mechanism for the FMR1 promoter that is dependent on the existence of the CGG repeat expansion. Our strategy for deletion of trinucleotide repeats provides further insights into the molecular mechanisms of FXS and future therapies of trinucleotide repeat disorders.
Project description:Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder and a leading cause of intellectual disability. In FXS, the neuronal regulator, FMR1, is epigenetically silenced by a CGG repeat expansion. Here, we investigate conditions under which repeat expansion and gene silencing could be reversed. Surprisingly, inducing formation of R-loops (3-stranded RNA-DNA structures) within FMR1 is sufficient to initiate CGG contraction, promoter demethylation, and FMR1 reactivation. Recruiting RNaseH degrades the R-loop and abolishes the response. Targeting the nascent mRNA for degradation also eliminates the response. Thus, we have identified an exogenous nuclease-free method of contracting CGG repeats and reversing FMR1 silencing. We propose that DNA demethylation, new transcription, and R-loop formation engage in a feed-forward cycle to contract CGG repeats and reactivate FMR1.
Project description:Short tandem repeat (STR) instability causes transcriptional silencing in several repeat expansion disorders. In fragile X syndrome (FXS), mutation-length expansion of a CGG STR represses FMR1 via local DNA methylation. Here, we find Megabase-scale H3K9me3 domains on autosomes and encompassing FMR1 on the X-chromosome in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural progenitors, B-cells, and fibroblasts with mutation-length CGG expansion. H3K9me3 domains connect via inter-chromosomal interactions and demarcate severe misfolding of TADs and loops. They harbor long synaptic genes replicating at the end of S phase, replication stress-induced double strand breaks, and STRs prone to stepwise somatic instability. CRISPR engineering of the full-mutation CGG to premutation-length reverses H3K9me3 domains on the X-chromosome and multiple autosomes, refolds TADs, and restores expression. H3K9me3 domains also arise in a subset of normal-length iPSCs with increased STR instability burden. Our results reveal Mb-scale heterochromatinization and trans interactions among chromosomes susceptible to repeat genetic instability.
Project description:Short tandem repeat (STR) instability causes transcriptional silencing in several repeat expansion disorders. In fragile X syndrome (FXS), mutation-length expansion of a CGG STR represses FMR1 via local DNA methylation. Here, we find Megabase-scale H3K9me3 domains on autosomes and encompassing FMR1 on the X-chromosome in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural progenitors, B-cells, and fibroblasts with mutation-length CGG expansion. H3K9me3 domains connect via inter-chromosomal interactions and demarcate severe misfolding of TADs and loops. They harbor long synaptic genes replicating at the end of S phase, replication stress-induced double strand breaks, and STRs prone to stepwise somatic instability. CRISPR engineering of the full-mutation CGG to premutation-length reverses H3K9me3 domains on the X-chromosome and multiple autosomes, refolds TADs, and restores expression. H3K9me3 domains also arise in a subset of normal-length iPSCs with increased STR instability burden. Our results reveal Mb-scale heterochromatinization and trans interactions among chromosomes susceptible to repeat genetic instability.
Project description:Short tandem repeat (STR) instability causes transcriptional silencing in several repeat expansion disorders. In fragile X syndrome (FXS), mutation-length expansion of a CGG STR represses FMR1 via local DNA methylation. Here, we find Megabase-scale H3K9me3 domains on autosomes and encompassing FMR1 on the X-chromosome in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural progenitors, B-cells, and fibroblasts with mutation-length CGG expansion. H3K9me3 domains connect via inter-chromosomal interactions and demarcate severe misfolding of TADs and loops. They harbor long synaptic genes replicating at the end of S phase, replication stress-induced double strand breaks, and STRs prone to stepwise somatic instability. CRISPR engineering of the full-mutation CGG to premutation-length reverses H3K9me3 domains on the X-chromosome and multiple autosomes, refolds TADs, and restores expression. H3K9me3 domains also arise in a subset of normal-length iPSCs with increased STR instability burden. Our results reveal Mb-scale heterochromatinization and trans interactions among chromosomes susceptible to repeat genetic instability.
Project description:Short tandem repeat (STR) instability causes transcriptional silencing in several repeat expansion disorders. In fragile X syndrome (FXS), mutation-length expansion of a CGG STR represses FMR1 via local DNA methylation. Here, we find Megabase-scale H3K9me3 domains on autosomes and encompassing FMR1 on the X-chromosome in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural progenitors, B-cells, and fibroblasts with mutation-length CGG expansion. H3K9me3 domains connect via inter-chromosomal interactions and demarcate severe misfolding of TADs and loops. They harbor long synaptic genes replicating at the end of S phase, replication stress-induced double strand breaks, and STRs prone to stepwise somatic instability. CRISPR engineering of the full-mutation CGG to premutation-length reverses H3K9me3 domains on the X-chromosome and multiple autosomes, refolds TADs, and restores expression. H3K9me3 domains also arise in a subset of normal-length iPSCs with increased STR instability burden. Our results reveal Mb-scale heterochromatinization and trans interactions among chromosomes susceptible to repeat genetic instability.
Project description:Short tandem repeat (STR) instability causes transcriptional silencing in several repeat expansion disorders. In fragile X syndrome (FXS), mutation-length expansion of a CGG STR represses FMR1 via local DNA methylation. Here, we find Megabase-scale H3K9me3 domains on autosomes and encompassing FMR1 on the X-chromosome in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural progenitors, B-cells, and fibroblasts with mutation-length CGG expansion. H3K9me3 domains connect via inter-chromosomal interactions and demarcate severe misfolding of TADs and loops. They harbor long synaptic genes replicating at the end of S phase, replication stress-induced double strand breaks, and STRs prone to stepwise somatic instability. CRISPR engineering of the full-mutation CGG to premutation-length reverses H3K9me3 domains on the X-chromosome and multiple autosomes, refolds TADs, and restores expression. H3K9me3 domains also arise in a subset of normal-length iPSCs with increased STR instability burden. Our results reveal Mb-scale heterochromatinization and trans interactions among chromosomes susceptible to repeat genetic instability.
Project description:Short tandem repeat (STR) instability causes transcriptional silencing in several repeat expansion disorders. In fragile X syndrome (FXS), mutation-length expansion of a CGG STR represses FMR1 via local DNA methylation. Here, we find Megabase-scale H3K9me3 domains on autosomes and encompassing FMR1 on the X-chromosome in induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural progenitors, B-cells, and fibroblasts with mutation-length CGG expansion. H3K9me3 domains connect via inter-chromosomal interactions and demarcate severe misfolding of TADs and loops. They harbor long synaptic genes replicating at the end of S phase, replication stress-induced double strand breaks, and STRs prone to stepwise somatic instability. CRISPR engineering of the full-mutation CGG to premutation-length reverses H3K9me3 domains on the X-chromosome and multiple autosomes, refolds TADs, and restores expression. H3K9me3 domains also arise in a subset of normal-length iPSCs with increased STR instability burden. Our results reveal Mb-scale heterochromatinization and trans interactions among chromosomes susceptible to repeat genetic instability.
Project description:Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common genetic form of intellectual disability in male, is caused by the silence of FMR1. Hypermethylation of the CGG expansion mutation in the 5’UTR region of FMR1 in FXS patients was thought to epigenetically silence FMR1. Here, we applied our previously developed DNA methylation editing tool to reverse this hypermethylation event. Targeted demethylation of the CGG expansion by dCas9-Tet1/gRNA switched the heterochromatin status of the FMR1 promoter to an active chromatin status and subsequently restored FMR1 expression in FXS iPSCs. Neurons derived from methylation edited FXS iPSCs showed a similar electrophysiological property as wild-type neurons, and maintained FMR1 expression for months after engrafting into the mouse brain. Reactivation of FMR1 can be achieved in FXS neurons with demethylation of the CGG expansion. Lastly, we showed that targeted demethylation of the FMR1 promoter can reactivate FMR1 as well suggesting potential therapeutic approaches for FXS.
Project description:Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common genetic form of intellectual disability in male, is caused by the silence of FMR1. Hypermethylation of the CGG expansion mutation in the 5’UTR region of FMR1 in FXS patients was thought to epigenetically silence FMR1. Here, we applied our previously developed DNA methylation editing tool to reverse this hypermethylation event. Targeted demethylation of the CGG expansion by dCas9-Tet1/gRNA switched the heterochromatin status of the FMR1 promoter to an active chromatin status and subsequently restored FMR1 expression in FXS iPSCs. Neurons derived from methylation edited FXS iPSCs showed a similar electrophysiological property as wild-type neurons, and maintained FMR1 expression for months after engrafting into the mouse brain. Reactivation of FMR1 can be achieved in FXS neurons with demethylation of the CGG expansion. Lastly, we showed that targeted demethylation of the FMR1 promoter can reactivate FMR1 as well suggesting potential therapeutic approaches for FXS.