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La Grua A, Rao I, Susani L, Lucchini F, Raimondi E, Vezzoni P, Paulis M. Chromosome Transplantation: Opportunities and Limitations. Cells 2024; 13:666. [PMID: 38667281 PMCID: PMC11048979 DOI: 10.3390/cells13080666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2024] [Revised: 04/04/2024] [Accepted: 04/09/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
There are thousands of rare genetic diseases that could be treated with classical gene therapy strategies such as the addition of the defective gene via viral or non-viral delivery or by direct gene editing. However, several genetic defects are too complex for these approaches. These "genomic mutations" include aneuploidies, intra and inter chromosomal rearrangements, large deletions, or inversion and copy number variations. Chromosome transplantation (CT) refers to the precise substitution of an endogenous chromosome with an exogenous one. By the addition of an exogenous chromosome and the concomitant elimination of the endogenous one, every genetic defect, irrespective of its nature, could be resolved. In the current review, we analyze the state of the art of this technique and discuss its possible application to human pathology. CT might not be limited to the treatment of human diseases. By working on sex chromosomes, we showed that female cells can be obtained from male cells, since chromosome-transplanted cells can lose either sex chromosome, giving rise to 46,XY or 46,XX diploid cells, a modification that could be exploited to obtain female gametes from male cells. Moreover, CT could be used in veterinary biology, since entire chromosomes containing an advantageous locus could be transferred to animals of zootechnical interest without altering their specific genetic background and the need for long and complex interbreeding. CT could also be useful to rescue extinct species if only male cells were available. Finally, the generation of "synthetic" cells could be achieved by repeated CT into a recipient cell. CT is an additional tool for genetic modification of mammalian cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Angela La Grua
- Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, 20129 Milan, Italy;
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, 20089 Rozzano, Italy; (I.R.); (L.S.)
| | - Ilaria Rao
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, 20089 Rozzano, Italy; (I.R.); (L.S.)
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, 20072 Pieve Emanuele, Italy
| | - Lucia Susani
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, 20089 Rozzano, Italy; (I.R.); (L.S.)
- UOS Milan Unit, Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica (IRGB), CNR, 20138 Milan, Italy
| | - Franco Lucchini
- Department for Sustainable Food Process, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 29122 Piacenza, Italy;
| | - Elena Raimondi
- Department of Biology and Biotechnology “L. Spallanzani”, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy;
| | - Paolo Vezzoni
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, 20089 Rozzano, Italy; (I.R.); (L.S.)
- UOS Milan Unit, Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica (IRGB), CNR, 20138 Milan, Italy
| | - Marianna Paulis
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, 20089 Rozzano, Italy; (I.R.); (L.S.)
- UOS Milan Unit, Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica (IRGB), CNR, 20138 Milan, Italy
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Rao I, Crisafulli L, Paulis M, Ficara F. Hematopoietic Cells from Pluripotent Stem Cells: Hope and Promise for the Treatment of Inherited Blood Disorders. Cells 2022; 11:cells11030557. [PMID: 35159366 PMCID: PMC8834203 DOI: 10.3390/cells11030557] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2022] [Revised: 01/28/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Inherited blood disorders comprise a large spectrum of diseases due to germline mutations in genes with key function in the hematopoietic system; they include immunodeficiencies, anemia or metabolic diseases. For most of them the only curative treatment is bone marrow transplantation, a procedure associated to severe complications; other therapies include red blood cell and platelet transfusions, which are dependent on donor availability. An alternative option is gene therapy, in which the wild-type form of the mutated gene is delivered into autologous hematopoietic stem cells using viral vectors. A more recent therapeutic perspective is gene correction through CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing, that overcomes safety concerns due to insertional mutagenesis and allows correction of base substitutions in large size genes difficult to incorporate into vectors. However, applying this technique to genomic disorders caused by large gene deletions is challenging. Chromosomal transplantation has been proposed as a solution, using a universal source of wild-type chromosomes as donor, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) as acceptor. One of the obstacles to be addressed for translating PSC research into clinical practice is the still unsatisfactory differentiation into transplantable hematopoietic stem or mature cells. We provide an overview of the recent progresses in this field and discuss challenges and potential of iPSC-based therapies for the treatment of inherited blood disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ilaria Rao
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Via Manzoni 56, 20089 Rozzano, Italy; (I.R.); (L.C.); (M.P.)
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Via Rita Levi Montalcini 4, 20090 Pieve Emanuele, Italy
| | - Laura Crisafulli
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Via Manzoni 56, 20089 Rozzano, Italy; (I.R.); (L.C.); (M.P.)
- UOS Milan Unit, Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica (IRGB), CNR, 20138 Milan, Italy
| | - Marianna Paulis
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Via Manzoni 56, 20089 Rozzano, Italy; (I.R.); (L.C.); (M.P.)
- UOS Milan Unit, Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica (IRGB), CNR, 20138 Milan, Italy
| | - Francesca Ficara
- IRCCS Humanitas Research Hospital, Via Manzoni 56, 20089 Rozzano, Italy; (I.R.); (L.C.); (M.P.)
- UOS Milan Unit, Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica (IRGB), CNR, 20138 Milan, Italy
- Correspondence:
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Grazioli S, Petris G. Synthetic genomics for curing genetic diseases. Prog Mol Biol Transl Sci 2021; 182:477-520. [PMID: 34175051 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pmbts.2021.02.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
From the beginning of the genome sequencing era, it has become increasingly evident that genetics plays a role in all diseases, of which only a minority are single-gene disorders, the most common target of current gene therapies. However, the majority of people have some kind of health problems resulting from congenital genetic mutations (over 6000 diseases have been associated to genes, https://www.omim.org/statistics/geneMap) and most genetic disorders are rare and only incompletely understood. The vision and techniques applied to the synthesis of genomes may help to address unmet medical needs from a chromosome and genome-scale perspective. In this chapter, we address the potential therapy of genetic diseases from a different outlook, in which we no longer focus on small gene corrections but on higher-order tools for genome manipulation. These will play a crucial role in the next years, as they prelude to a much deeper understanding of the architecture of the human genome and a more accurate modeling of human diseases, offering new therapeutic opportunities.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Gianluca Petris
- Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC LMB), Cambridge, United Kingdom.
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Paulis M, Susani L, Castelli A, Suzuki T, Hara T, Straniero L, Duga S, Strina D, Mantero S, Caldana E, Sergi LS, Villa A, Vezzoni P. Chromosome Transplantation: A Possible Approach to Treat Human X-linked Disorders. Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev 2020; 17:369-377. [PMID: 32099849 PMCID: PMC7029378 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtm.2020.01.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Accepted: 01/07/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Many human genetic diseases are associated with gross mutations such as aneuploidies, deletions, duplications, or inversions. For these “structural” disorders, conventional gene therapy, based on viral vectors and/or on programmable nuclease-mediated homologous recombination, is still unsatisfactory. To correct such disorders, chromosome transplantation (CT), defined as the perfect substitution of an endogenous defective chromosome with an exogenous normal one, could be applied. CT re-establishes a normal diploid cell, leaving no marker of the procedure, as we have recently shown in mouse pluripotent stem cells. To prove the feasibility of the CT approach in human cells, we used human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) reprogrammed from Lesch-Nyhan (LN) disease patients, taking advantage of their mutation in the X-linked HPRT gene, making the LN cells selectable and distinguishable from the resistant corrected normal cells. In this study, we demonstrate, for the first time, that CT is feasible in hiPSCs: the normal exogenous X chromosome was first transferred using an improved chromosome transfer system, and the extra sex chromosome was spontaneously lost. These CT cells were functionally corrected and maintained their pluripotency and differentiation capability. By inactivation of the autologous HPRT gene, CT paves the way to the correction of hiPSCs from several X-linked disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Marianna Paulis
- National Research Council (CNR)-IRGB/UOS, Milan, Italy.,Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano (MI), Italy
| | - Lucia Susani
- National Research Council (CNR)-IRGB/UOS, Milan, Italy.,Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano (MI), Italy
| | - Alessandra Castelli
- National Research Council (CNR)-IRGB/UOS, Milan, Italy.,Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano (MI), Italy
| | - Teruhiko Suzuki
- Stem Cell Project, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Takahiko Hara
- Stem Cell Project, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Letizia Straniero
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele (MI), Italy
| | - Stefano Duga
- Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano (MI), Italy.,Department of Biomedical Sciences, Humanitas University, Pieve Emanuele (MI), Italy
| | - Dario Strina
- National Research Council (CNR)-IRGB/UOS, Milan, Italy.,Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano (MI), Italy
| | - Stefano Mantero
- National Research Council (CNR)-IRGB/UOS, Milan, Italy.,Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano (MI), Italy
| | - Elena Caldana
- National Research Council (CNR)-IRGB/UOS, Milan, Italy.,Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano (MI), Italy
| | | | - Anna Villa
- National Research Council (CNR)-IRGB/UOS, Milan, Italy.,San Raffaele-TIGET, Milan, Italy
| | - Paolo Vezzoni
- National Research Council (CNR)-IRGB/UOS, Milan, Italy.,Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Rozzano (MI), Italy
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