1
|
Zabulica M, Srinivasan RC, Akcakaya P, Allegri G, Bestas B, Firth M, Hammarstedt C, Jakobsson T, Jakobsson T, Ellis E, Jorns C, Makris G, Scherer T, Rimann N, van Zuydam NR, Gramignoli R, Forslöw A, Engberg S, Maresca M, Rooyackers O, Thöny B, Häberle J, Rosen B, Strom SC. Correction of a urea cycle defect after ex vivo gene editing of human hepatocytes. Mol Ther 2021; 29:1903-1917. [PMID: 33484963 PMCID: PMC8116578 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2021.01.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2020] [Revised: 11/17/2020] [Accepted: 01/12/2021] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Ornithine transcarbamylase deficiency (OTCD) is a monogenic disease of ammonia metabolism in hepatocytes. Severe disease is frequently treated by orthotopic liver transplantation. An attractive approach is the correction of a patient’s own cells to regenerate the liver with gene-repaired hepatocytes. This study investigates the efficacy and safety of ex vivo correction of primary human hepatocytes. Hepatocytes isolated from an OTCD patient were genetically corrected ex vivo, through the deletion of a mutant intronic splicing site achieving editing efficiencies >60% and the restoration of the urea cycle in vitro. The corrected hepatocytes were transplanted into the liver of FRGN mice and repopulated to high levels (>80%). Animals transplanted and liver repopulated with genetically edited patient hepatocytes displayed normal ammonia, enhanced clearance of an ammonia challenge and OTC enzyme activity, as well as lower urinary orotic acid when compared to mice repopulated with unedited patient hepatocytes. Gene expression was shown to be similar between mice transplanted with unedited or edited patient hepatocytes. Finally, a genome-wide screening by performing CIRCLE-seq and deep sequencing of >70 potential off-targets revealed no unspecific editing. Overall analysis of disease phenotype, gene expression, and possible off-target editing indicated that the gene editing of a severe genetic liver disease was safe and effective.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mihaela Zabulica
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 141 52 Huddinge, Sweden
| | | | - Pinar Akcakaya
- Discovery Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D Unit, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Gabriella Allegri
- Division of Metabolism and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Burcu Bestas
- Discovery Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D Unit, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Mike Firth
- Discovery Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D Unit, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | | | - Tomas Jakobsson
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 141 52 Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Towe Jakobsson
- Department of Clinical Sciences Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ewa Ellis
- Department of Clinical Sciences Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Carl Jorns
- Department of Clinical Sciences Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Georgios Makris
- Division of Metabolism and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Tanja Scherer
- Division of Metabolism and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Nicole Rimann
- Division of Metabolism and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Natalie R van Zuydam
- Department of Quantitative Biology, Discovery Sciences, R&D BioPharmaceuticals, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Roberto Gramignoli
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 141 52 Huddinge, Sweden
| | - Anna Forslöw
- Discovery Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D Unit, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Susanna Engberg
- Discovery Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D Unit, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Marcello Maresca
- Discovery Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D Unit, AstraZeneca, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Olav Rooyackers
- Department of Clinical Sciences Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Beat Thöny
- Division of Metabolism and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Johannes Häberle
- Division of Metabolism and Children's Research Center, University Children's Hospital, Zürich, Switzerland
| | - Barry Rosen
- Discovery Sciences, BioPharmaceuticals R&D Unit, AstraZeneca, Cambridge, UK
| | - Stephen C Strom
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, 141 52 Huddinge, Sweden.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Zabulica M, Srinivasan RC, Vosough M, Hammarstedt C, Wu T, Gramignoli R, Ellis E, Kannisto K, Collin de l'Hortet A, Takeishi K, Soto-Gutierrez A, Strom SC. Guide to the Assessment of Mature Liver Gene Expression in Stem Cell-Derived Hepatocytes. Stem Cells Dev 2020; 28:907-919. [PMID: 31122128 PMCID: PMC6648222 DOI: 10.1089/scd.2019.0064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Differentiation of stem cells to hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) holds great promise for basic research, drug and toxicological investigations, and clinical applications. There are currently no protocols for the production of HLCs from stem cells, such as embryonic stem cells or induced pluripotent stem cells, that produce fully mature hepatocytes with a wide range of mature hepatic functions. This report describes a standard method to assess the maturation of stem cell-derived HLCs with a moderately high-throughput format, by analysing liver gene expression by quantitative RT-qPCR. This method also provides a robust data set of the expression of 62 genes expressed in normal liver, generated from 17 fetal and 25 mature human livers, so that investigators can quickly and easily compare the expression of these genes in their stem cell-derived HLCs with the values obtained in authentic fetal and mature human liver. The simple methods described in this study will provide a quick and accurate assessment of the efficacy of a differentiation protocol and will help guide the optimization of differentiation conditions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Mihaela Zabulica
- 1Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Raghuraman C Srinivasan
- 1Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Christina Hammarstedt
- 1Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tingting Wu
- 1Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Roberto Gramignoli
- 1Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ewa Ellis
- 3Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Kristina Kannisto
- 4Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Research Centre, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Kazuki Takeishi
- 5Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | | | - Stephen C Strom
- 1Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Srinivasan RC, Zabulica M, Hammarstedt C, Wu T, Gramignoli R, Kannisto K, Ellis E, Karadagi A, Fingerhut R, Allegri G, Rüfenacht V, Thöny B, Häberle J, Nuoffer JM, Strom SC. A liver-humanized mouse model of carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1-deficiency. J Inherit Metab Dis 2019; 42:1054-1063. [PMID: 30843237 DOI: 10.1002/jimd.12067] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2018] [Accepted: 01/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
A liver-humanized mouse model for CPS1-deficiency was generated by the high-level repopulation of the mouse liver with CPS1-deficient human hepatocytes. When compared with mice that are highly repopulated with CPS1-proficient human hepatocytes, mice that are repopulated with CPS1-deficient human hepatocytes exhibited characteristic symptoms of human CPS1 deficiency including an 80% reduction in CPS1 metabolic activity, delayed clearance of an ammonium chloride infusion, elevated glutamine and glutamate levels, and impaired metabolism of [15 N]ammonium chloride into urea, with no other obvious phenotypic differences. Because most metabolic liver diseases result from mutations that alter critical pathways in hepatocytes, a model that incorporates actual disease-affected, mutant human hepatocytes is useful for the investigation of the molecular, biochemical, and phenotypic differences induced by that mutation. The model is also expected to be useful for investigations of modified RNA, gene, and cellular and small molecule therapies for CPS1-deficiency. Liver-humanized models for this and other monogenic liver diseases afford the ability to assess the therapy on actual disease-affected human hepatocytes, in vivo, for long periods of time and will provide data that are highly relevant for investigations of the safety and efficacy of gene-editing technologies directed to human hepatocytes and the translation of gene-editing technology to the clinic.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Raghuraman C Srinivasan
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Mihaela Zabulica
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Christina Hammarstedt
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tingting Wu
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Roberto Gramignoli
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Kristina Kannisto
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Clinical Research Center, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ewa Ellis
- Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ahmad Karadagi
- Department of Clinical Science, Intervention and Technology (CLINTEC), Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Ralph Fingerhut
- Division of Metabolism and Children's Research Centre (CRC), University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Swiss Newborn Screening Laboratory, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Gabriella Allegri
- Division of Metabolism and Children's Research Centre (CRC), University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Véronique Rüfenacht
- Division of Metabolism and Children's Research Centre (CRC), University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Beat Thöny
- Division of Metabolism and Children's Research Centre (CRC), University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Swiss Newborn Screening Laboratory, University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Johannes Häberle
- Division of Metabolism and Children's Research Centre (CRC), University Children's Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Zurich Centre for Integrative Human Physiology (ZIHP) and, Neuroscience Centre Zurich (ZNZ), Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Jean-Marc Nuoffer
- Institute for Clinical Chemistry and University Children's Hospital, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Stephen C Strom
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Division of Pathology, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Srinivasan R, Zabulica M, Hammerstadt C, Gramignoli R, Strom S. 63: CPS-1 Humanized Liver in FRGN Mouse as Model for Genetic Disorder. Transplantation 2019. [DOI: 10.1097/01.tp.0000581388.68944.c0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
|
5
|
Vosough M, Ravaioli F, Zabulica M, Capri M, Garagnani P, Franceschi C, Piccand J, Kraus MRC, Kannisto K, Gramignoli R, Strom SC. Applying hydrodynamic pressure to efficiently generate induced pluripotent stem cells via reprogramming of centenarian skin fibroblasts. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0215490. [PMID: 31022207 PMCID: PMC6483185 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0215490] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2019] [Accepted: 04/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-technology is an important platform in medicine and disease modeling. Physiological degeneration and disease onset are common occurrences in the aging population. iPSCs could offer regenerative medical options for age-related degeneration and disease in the elderly. However, reprogramming somatic cells from the elderly is inefficient when successful at all. Perhaps due to their low rates of replication in culture, traditional transduction and reprogramming approaches with centenarian fibroblasts met with little success. A simple and reproducible reprogramming process is reported here which enhances interactions of the cells with the viral vectors that leads to improved iPSC generation. The improved methods efficiently generates fully reprogrammed iPSC lines from 105–107 years old subjects in feeder-free conditions using an episomal, Sendai-Virus (SeV) reprogramming vector expressing four reprogramming factors. In conclusion, dermal fibroblasts from human subjects older than 100 years can be efficiently and reproducibly reprogrammed to fully pluripotent cells with minor modifications to the standard reprogramming procedures. Efficient generation of iPSCs from the elderly may provide a source of cells for the regeneration of tissues and organs with autologous cells as well as cellular models for the study of aging, longevity and age-related diseases.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Massoud Vosough
- Department of Stem Cells and Developmental Biology, Cell Science Research Centre, Royan Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Technology, ACECR, Tehran, Iran
| | - Francesco Ravaioli
- University of Bologna, Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Bologna, Italy
| | - Mihaela Zabulica
- Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Miriam Capri
- University of Bologna, Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Bologna, Italy
- CIG, Interdepartmental Center ‘L. Galvani’, Alma Mater Studiorum, Bologna, Italy
| | - Paolo Garagnani
- University of Bologna, Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Bologna, Italy
- CIG, Interdepartmental Center ‘L. Galvani’, Alma Mater Studiorum, Bologna, Italy
- Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden
- CNR, Institute of Molecular Genetics, IGM, Unit. Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Claudio Franceschi
- University of Bologna, Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Bologna, Italy
- IRCCS Istituto delle Scienze Neurologiche di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
| | - Julie Piccand
- Nestlé Institute of Health Sciences, Stem Cells, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | | | - Kristina Kannisto
- Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Roberto Gramignoli
- Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Stephen C. Strom
- Division of Pathology, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|