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Lin BC, Katneni U, Jankowska KI, Meyer D, Kimchi-Sarfaty C. In silico methods for predicting functional synonymous variants. Genome Biol 2023; 24:126. [PMID: 37217943 PMCID: PMC10204308 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-023-02966-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 05/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Single nucleotide variants (SNVs) contribute to human genomic diversity. Synonymous SNVs are previously considered to be "silent," but mounting evidence has revealed that these variants can cause RNA and protein changes and are implicated in over 85 human diseases and cancers. Recent improvements in computational platforms have led to the development of numerous machine-learning tools, which can be used to advance synonymous SNV research. In this review, we discuss tools that should be used to investigate synonymous variants. We provide supportive examples from seminal studies that demonstrate how these tools have driven new discoveries of functional synonymous SNVs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian C Lin
- Hemostasis Branch 1, Division of Hemostasis, Office of Plasma Protein Therapeutics CMC, Office of Therapeutic Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Upendra Katneni
- Hemostasis Branch 1, Division of Hemostasis, Office of Plasma Protein Therapeutics CMC, Office of Therapeutic Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Katarzyna I Jankowska
- Hemostasis Branch 1, Division of Hemostasis, Office of Plasma Protein Therapeutics CMC, Office of Therapeutic Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Douglas Meyer
- Hemostasis Branch 1, Division of Hemostasis, Office of Plasma Protein Therapeutics CMC, Office of Therapeutic Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Chava Kimchi-Sarfaty
- Hemostasis Branch 1, Division of Hemostasis, Office of Plasma Protein Therapeutics CMC, Office of Therapeutic Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
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2
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Katneni U, Kimchi-Sarfaty C. Multiple mechanisms contribute to the phenotypic effects of synonymous variants. Hum Mutat 2022; 43:2324-2325. [PMID: 35842783 DOI: 10.1002/humu.24441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2022] [Accepted: 07/11/2022] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Upendra Katneni
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
| | - Chava Kimchi-Sarfaty
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA
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3
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Katneni UK, Alexaki A, Hunt RC, Hamasaki-Katagiri N, Hettiarachchi GK, Kames JM, McGill JR, Holcomb DD, Athey JC, Lin B, Parunov LA, Kafri T, Lu Q, Peters R, Ovanesov MV, Freedberg DI, Bar H, Komar AA, Sauna ZE, Kimchi-Sarfaty C. Structural, functional, and immunogenicity implications of F9 gene recoding. Blood Adv 2022; 6:3932-3944. [PMID: 35413099 PMCID: PMC9278298 DOI: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2022007094] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Hemophilia B is a blood clotting disorder caused by deficient activity of coagulation factor IX (FIX). Multiple recombinant FIX proteins are currently approved to treat hemophilia B, and several gene therapy products are currently being developed. Codon optimization is a frequently used technique in the pharmaceutical industry to improve recombinant protein expression by recoding a coding sequence using multiple synonymous codon substitutions. The underlying assumption of this gene recoding is that synonymous substitutions do not alter protein characteristics because the primary sequence of the protein remains unchanged. However, a critical body of evidence shows that synonymous variants can affect cotranslational folding and protein function. Gene recoding could potentially alter the structure, function, and in vivo immunogenicity of recoded therapeutic proteins. Here, we evaluated multiple recoded variants of F9 designed to further explore the effects of codon usage bias on protein properties. The detailed evaluation of these constructs showed altered conformations, and assessment of translation kinetics by ribosome profiling revealed differences in local translation kinetics. Assessment of wild-type and recoded constructs using a major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-associated peptide proteomics assay showed distinct presentation of FIX-derived peptides bound to MHC class II molecules, suggesting that despite identical amino acid sequence, recoded proteins could exhibit different immunogenicity risks. Posttranslational modification analysis indicated that overexpression from gene recoding results in suboptimal posttranslational processing. Overall, our results highlight potential functional and immunogenicity concerns associated with gene-recoded F9 products. These findings have general applicability and implications for other gene-recoded recombinant proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Upendra K. Katneni
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - Aikaterini Alexaki
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - Ryan C. Hunt
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - Nobuko Hamasaki-Katagiri
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - Gaya K. Hettiarachchi
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - Jacob M. Kames
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - Joseph R. McGill
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - David D. Holcomb
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - John C. Athey
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - Brian Lin
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - Leonid A. Parunov
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - Tal Kafri
- Gene Therapy Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC
| | | | | | - Mikhail V. Ovanesov
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - Darón I. Freedberg
- Laboratory of Bacterial Polysaccharides, Division of Bacterial, Parasitic, and Allergenic Products, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD
| | - Haim Bar
- Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT; and
| | - Anton A. Komar
- Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH
| | - Zuben E. Sauna
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
| | - Chava Kimchi-Sarfaty
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Hemostasis Branch, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Silver Spring, MD
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4
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Komar AA. A Code Within a Code: How Codons Fine-Tune Protein Folding in the Cell. BIOCHEMISTRY (MOSCOW) 2021; 86:976-991. [PMID: 34488574 DOI: 10.1134/s0006297921080083] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
The genetic code sets the correspondence between the sequence of a given nucleotide triplet in an mRNA molecule, called a codon, and the amino acid that is added to the growing polypeptide chain during protein synthesis. With four bases (A, G, U, and C), there are 64 possible triplet codons: 61 sense codons (encoding amino acids) and 3 nonsense codons (so-called, stop codons that define termination of translation). In most organisms, there are 20 common/standard amino acids used in protein synthesis; thus, the genetic code is redundant with most amino acids (with the exception of Met and Trp) are being encoded by more than one (synonymous) codon. Synonymous codons were initially presumed to have entirely equivalent functions, however, the finding that synonymous codons are not present at equal frequencies in mRNA suggested that the specific codon choice might have functional implications beyond coding for amino acid. Observation of nonequivalent use of codons in mRNAs implied a possibility of the existence of auxiliary information in the genetic code. Indeed, it has been found that genetic code contains several layers of such additional information and that synonymous codons are strategically placed within mRNAs to ensure a particular translation kinetics facilitating and fine-tuning co-translational protein folding in the cell via step-wise/sequential structuring of distinct regions of the polypeptide chain emerging from the ribosome at different points in time. This review summarizes key findings in the field that have identified the role of synonymous codons and their usage in protein folding in the cell.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anton A Komar
- Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease and Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115, USA. .,Department of Biochemistry and Center for RNA Science and Therapeutics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA.,Genomic Medicine Institute, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.,DAPCEL, Inc., Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
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5
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Hepatic lipase (LIPC) sequencing in individuals with extremely high and low high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0243919. [PMID: 33326441 PMCID: PMC7743991 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0243919] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2020] [Accepted: 12/01/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Common variants in the hepatic lipase (LIPC) gene have been shown to be associated with plasma lipid levels; however, the distribution and functional features of rare and regulatory LIPC variants contributing to the extreme lipid phenotypes are not well known. This study was aimed to catalogue LIPC variants by resequencing the entire LIPC gene in 95 non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs) and 95 African blacks (ABs) with extreme HDL-C levels followed by in silico functional analyses. A total of 412 variants, including 43 novel variants were identified; 56 were unique to NHWs and 234 were unique to ABs. Seventy-eight variants in NHWs and 89 variants in ABs were present either in high HDL-C group or low HDL-C group. Two non-synonymous variants (p.S289F, p.T405M), found in NHWs with high HDL-C group were predicted to have damaging effect on LIPC protein by SIFT, MT2 and PP2. We also found several non-coding variants that possibly reside in the circRNA and lncRNA binding sites and may have regulatory potential, as identified in rSNPbase and RegulomeDB databases. Our results shed light on the regulatory nature of rare and non-coding LIPC variants as well as suggest their important contributions in affecting the extreme HDL-C phenotypes.
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Kames J, Alexaki A, Holcomb DD, Santana-Quintero LV, Athey JC, Hamasaki-Katagiri N, Katneni U, Golikov A, Ibla JC, Bar H, Kimchi-Sarfaty C. TissueCoCoPUTs: Novel Human Tissue-Specific Codon and Codon-Pair Usage Tables Based on Differential Tissue Gene Expression. J Mol Biol 2020; 432:3369-3378. [PMID: 31982380 DOI: 10.1016/j.jmb.2020.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2019] [Revised: 12/19/2019] [Accepted: 01/08/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Protein expression in multicellular organisms varies widely across tissues. Codon usage in the transcriptome of each tissue is derived from genomic codon usage and the relative expression level of each gene. We created a comprehensive computational resource that houses tissue-specific codon, codon-pair, and dinucleotide usage data for 51 Homo sapiens tissues (TissueCoCoPUTs: https://hive.biochemistry.gwu.edu/review/tissue_codon), using transcriptome data from the Broad Institute Genotype-Tissue Expression (GTEx) portal. Distances between tissue-specific codon and codon-pair frequencies were used to generate a dendrogram based on the unique patterns of codon and codon-pair usage in each tissue that are clearly distinct from the genomic distribution. This novel resource may be useful in unraveling the relationship between codon usage and tRNA abundance, which could be critical in determining translation kinetics and efficiency across tissues. Areas of investigation such as biotherapeutic development, tissue-specific genetic engineering, and genetic disease prediction will greatly benefit from this resource.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jacob Kames
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissue and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA
| | - Aikaterini Alexaki
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissue and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA
| | - David D Holcomb
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissue and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA
| | - Luis V Santana-Quintero
- High Performance Integrated Environment, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA
| | - John C Athey
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissue and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA
| | - Nobuko Hamasaki-Katagiri
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissue and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA
| | - Upendra Katneni
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissue and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA
| | - Anton Golikov
- High Performance Integrated Environment, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA
| | - Juan C Ibla
- Department of Anesthesiology, Critical Care and Pain Medicine, Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Haim Bar
- Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, 06268, USA
| | - Chava Kimchi-Sarfaty
- Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissue and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, 20993, USA.
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7
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Hunt R, Hettiarachchi G, Katneni U, Hernandez N, Holcomb D, Kames J, Alnifaidy R, Lin B, Hamasaki-Katagiri N, Wesley A, Kafri T, Morris C, Bouché L, Panico M, Schiller T, Ibla J, Bar H, Ismail A, Morris H, Komar A, Kimchi-Sarfaty C. A Single Synonymous Variant (c.354G>A [p.P118P]) in ADAMTS13 Confers Enhanced Specific Activity. Int J Mol Sci 2019; 20:ijms20225734. [PMID: 31731663 PMCID: PMC6888508 DOI: 10.3390/ijms20225734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Revised: 11/09/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Synonymous variants within coding regions may influence protein expression and function. We have previously reported increased protein expression levels ex vivo (~120% in comparison to wild-type) from a synonymous polymorphism variant, c.354G>A [p.P118P], of the ADAMTS13 gene, encoding a plasma protease responsible for von Willebrand Factor (VWF) degradation. In the current study, we investigated the potential mechanism(s) behind the increased protein expression levels from this variant and its effect on ADAMTS13 physico-chemical properties. Cell-free assays showed enhanced translation of the c.354G>A variant and the analysis of codon usage characteristics suggested that introduction of the frequently used codon/codon pair(s) may have been potentially responsible for this effect. Limited proteolysis, however, showed no substantial influence of altered translation on protein conformation. Analysis of post-translational modifications also showed no notable differences but identified three previously unreported glycosylation markers. Despite these similarities, p.P118P variant unexpectedly showed higher specific activity. Structural analysis using modeled interactions indicated that subtle conformational changes arising from altered translation kinetics could affect interactions between an exosite of ADAMTS13 and VWF resulting in altered specific activity. This report highlights how a single synonymous nucleotide variation can impact cellular expression and specific activity in the absence of measurable impact on protein structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ryan Hunt
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Gaya Hettiarachchi
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Upendra Katneni
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Nancy Hernandez
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - David Holcomb
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Jacob Kames
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Redab Alnifaidy
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Brian Lin
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Nobuko Hamasaki-Katagiri
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Aaron Wesley
- Gene Therapy Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
- Present Address: Department of Emergency Medicine, Banner University Medical Center, The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85724, USA
| | - Tal Kafri
- Gene Therapy Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | | | - Laura Bouché
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
- Present Address: Antikor Biopharma Ltd., Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst, Gunnels Wood Road, Stevenage SG1 2FX, UK
| | - Maria Panico
- BioPharmaSpec Ltd., St. Saviour JE2 7LA, UK or or
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Tal Schiller
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
| | - Juan Ibla
- Departments of Cardiac Surgery and Anesthesiology, Perioperative and Pain Medicine, Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA
| | - Haim Bar
- Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269, USA
| | - Amra Ismail
- Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Department of Biological, Geological & Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115, USA
| | - Howard Morris
- BioPharmaSpec Ltd., St. Saviour JE2 7LA, UK or or
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Anton Komar
- Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Department of Biological, Geological & Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH 44115, USA
| | - Chava Kimchi-Sarfaty
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, MD 20993, USA
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +1-(240)-402-8203
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8
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Alexaki A, Hettiarachchi GK, Athey JC, Katneni UK, Simhadri V, Hamasaki-Katagiri N, Nanavaty P, Lin B, Takeda K, Freedberg D, Monroe D, McGill JR, Peters R, Kames JM, Holcomb DD, Hunt RC, Sauna ZE, Gelinas A, Janjic N, DiCuccio M, Bar H, Komar AA, Kimchi-Sarfaty C. Effects of codon optimization on coagulation factor IX translation and structure: Implications for protein and gene therapies. Sci Rep 2019; 9:15449. [PMID: 31664102 PMCID: PMC6820528 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-51984-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2019] [Accepted: 10/09/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Synonymous codons occur with different frequencies in different organisms, a phenomenon termed codon usage bias. Codon optimization, a common term for a variety of approaches used widely by the biopharmaceutical industry, involves synonymous substitutions to increase protein expression. It had long been presumed that synonymous variants, which, by definition, do not alter the primary amino acid sequence, have no effect on protein structure and function. However, a critical mass of reports suggests that synonymous codon variations may impact protein conformation. To investigate the impact of synonymous codons usage on protein expression and function, we designed an optimized coagulation factor IX (FIX) variant and used multiple methods to compare its properties to the wild-type FIX upon expression in HEK293T cells. We found that the two variants differ in their conformation, even when controlling for the difference in expression levels. Using ribosome profiling, we identified robust changes in the translational kinetics of the two variants and were able to identify a region in the gene that may have a role in altering the conformation of the protein. Our data have direct implications for codon optimization strategies, for production of recombinant proteins and gene therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aikaterini Alexaki
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Gaya K Hettiarachchi
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - John C Athey
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Upendra K Katneni
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Vijaya Simhadri
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Nobuko Hamasaki-Katagiri
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Puja Nanavaty
- Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Brian Lin
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Kazuyo Takeda
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Darón Freedberg
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Dougald Monroe
- University of North Carolina at Chapel hill, Chapel hill, NC, USA
| | - Joseph R McGill
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | | | - Jacob M Kames
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - David D Holcomb
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Ryan C Hunt
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | - Zuben E Sauna
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA
| | | | | | - Michael DiCuccio
- National Center of Biotechnology Information, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Haim Bar
- Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT, USA
| | - Anton A Komar
- Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Chava Kimchi-Sarfaty
- Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, MD, USA.
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9
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Katneni UK, Liss A, Holcomb D, Katagiri NH, Hunt R, Bar H, Ismail A, Komar AA, Kimchi-Sarfaty C. Splicing dysregulation contributes to the pathogenicity of several F9 exonic point variants. Mol Genet Genomic Med 2019; 7:e840. [PMID: 31257730 PMCID: PMC6687662 DOI: 10.1002/mgg3.840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2019] [Accepted: 06/10/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Pre‐mRNA splicing is a complex process requiring the identification of donor site, acceptor site, and branch point site with an adjacent polypyrimidine tract sequence. Splicing is regulated by splicing regulatory elements (SREs) with both enhancer and suppressor functions. Variants located in exonic regions can impact splicing through dysregulation of native splice sites, SREs, and cryptic splice site activation. While splicing dysregulation is considered primary disease‐inducing mechanism of synonymous variants, its contribution toward disease phenotype of non‐synonymous variants is underappreciated. Methods In this study, we analyzed 415 disease‐causing and 120 neutral F9 exonic point variants including both synonymous and non‐synonymous for their effect on splicing using a series of in silico splice site prediction tools, SRE prediction tools, and in vitro minigene assays. Results The use of splice site and SRE prediction tools in tandem provided better prediction but were not always in agreement with the minigene assays. The net effect of splicing dysregulation caused by variants was context dependent. Minigene assays revealed that perturbed splicing can be found. Conclusion Synonymous variants primarily cause disease phenotype via splicing dysregulation while additional mechanisms such as translation rate also play an important role. Splicing dysregulation is likely to contribute to the disease phenotype of several non‐synonymous variants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Upendra K Katneni
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Aaron Liss
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - David Holcomb
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Nobuko H Katagiri
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Ryan Hunt
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, Maryland
| | - Haim Bar
- Department of Statistics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut
| | - Amra Ismail
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Anton A Komar
- Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
| | - Chava Kimchi-Sarfaty
- Hemostasis Branch, Division of Plasma Protein Therapeutics, Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation & Research, US FDA, Silver Spring, Maryland
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