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McLean ZL, Gao D, Correia K, Roy JCL, Shibata S, Farnum IN, Valdepenas-Mellor Z, Kovalenko M, Rapuru M, Morini E, Ruliera J, Gillis T, Lucente D, Kleinstiver BP, Lee JM, MacDonald ME, Wheeler VC, Mouro Pinto R, Gusella JF. Splice modulators target PMS1 to reduce somatic expansion of the Huntington's disease-associated CAG repeat. Nat Commun 2024; 15:3182. [PMID: 38609352 PMCID: PMC11015039 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-47485-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2023] [Accepted: 03/30/2024] [Indexed: 04/14/2024] Open
Abstract
Huntington's disease (HD) is a dominant neurological disorder caused by an expanded HTT exon 1 CAG repeat that lengthens huntingtin's polyglutamine tract. Lowering mutant huntingtin has been proposed for treating HD, but genetic modifiers implicate somatic CAG repeat expansion as the driver of onset. We find that branaplam and risdiplam, small molecule splice modulators that lower huntingtin by promoting HTT pseudoexon inclusion, also decrease expansion of an unstable HTT exon 1 CAG repeat in an engineered cell model. Targeted CRISPR-Cas9 editing shows this effect is not due to huntingtin lowering, pointing instead to pseudoexon inclusion in PMS1. Homozygous but not heterozygous inactivation of PMS1 also reduces CAG repeat expansion, supporting PMS1 as a genetic modifier of HD and a potential target for therapeutic intervention. Although splice modulation provides one strategy, genome-wide transcriptomics also emphasize consideration of cell-type specific effects and polymorphic variation at both target and off-target sites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachariah L McLean
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Dadi Gao
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Kevin Correia
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Jennie C L Roy
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Shota Shibata
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Iris N Farnum
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Zoe Valdepenas-Mellor
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Marina Kovalenko
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Manasa Rapuru
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Elisabetta Morini
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Jayla Ruliera
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Tammy Gillis
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Diane Lucente
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
| | - Benjamin P Kleinstiver
- Center for Genomic Medicine and Department of Pathology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
| | - Jong-Min Lee
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Marcy E MacDonald
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Vanessa C Wheeler
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - Ricardo Mouro Pinto
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA
- Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA
| | - James F Gusella
- Molecular Neurogenetics Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, 02114, USA.
- Medical and Population Genetics Program, the Broad Institute of M.I.T. and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA.
- Department of Genetics, Blavatnik Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, 02115, USA.
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