Cas9/gRNA targeted excision of cystic fibrosis-causing deep-intronic splicing mutations restores normal splicing of CFTR mRNA

PLoS One. 2017 Sep 1;12(9):e0184009. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0184009. eCollection 2017.

Abstract

Cystic Fibrosis is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the CFTR gene. CRISPR mediated, template-dependent homology-directed gene editing has been used to correct the most common mutation, c.1521_1523delCTT / p.Phe508del (F508del) which affects ~70% of individuals, but the efficiency was relatively low. Here, we describe a high efficiency strategy for editing of three different rare CFTR mutations which together account for about 3% of individuals with Cystic Fibrosis. The mutations cause aberrant splicing of CFTR mRNA due to the creation of cryptic splice signals that result in the formation of pseudoexons containing premature stop codons c.1679+1634A>G (1811+1.6kbA>G) and c.3718-2477C>T (3849+10kbC>T), or an out-of-frame 5' extension to an existing exon c.3140-26A>G (3272-26A>G). We designed pairs of Cas9 guide RNAs to create targeted double-stranded breaks in CFTR either side of each mutation which resulted in high efficiency excision of the target genomic regions via non-homologous end-joining repair. When evaluated in a mini-gene splicing assay, we showed that targeted excision restored normal splicing for all three mutations. This approach could be used to correct aberrant splicing signals or remove disruptive transcription regulatory motifs caused by deep-intronic mutations in a range of other genetic disorders.

MeSH terms

  • Alternative Splicing
  • Amino Acid Motifs
  • CRISPR-Cas Systems*
  • Cell Separation
  • Codon*
  • Cystic Fibrosis / genetics*
  • Cystic Fibrosis / metabolism
  • Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator / genetics*
  • Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator / metabolism
  • Exons
  • Flow Cytometry
  • Gene Deletion
  • Humans
  • Introns
  • Mutation
  • Oligonucleotides / genetics
  • RNA, Guide, CRISPR-Cas Systems / genetics*
  • RNA, Messenger / genetics

Substances

  • CFTR protein, human
  • Codon
  • Oligonucleotides
  • RNA, Guide, CRISPR-Cas Systems
  • RNA, Messenger
  • Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Therapeutics, HARRIS14XX0 (https://www.cff.org/Research/Researcher-Resources/Cystic-Fibrosis-Foundation-Therapeutics/) to PTH and the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, VIA011 (https://www.cysticfibrosis.org.uk) to PTH. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.