A DddA ortholog-based and transactivator-assisted nuclear and mitochondrial cytosine base editors with expanded target compatibility.

Bacterial double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) cytosine deaminase DddAtox-derived cytosine base editor (DdCBE) and its evolved variant, DddA11, guided by transcription-activator-like effector (TALE) proteins, enable mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) editing at TC or HC (H = A, C, or T) sequence contexts, while it remains relatively unattainable for GC targets. Here, we identified a dsDNA deaminase originated from a Roseburia intestinalis interbacterial toxin (riDddAtox) and generated CRISPR-mediated nuclear DdCBEs (crDdCBEs) and mitochondrial CBEs (mitoCBEs) using split riDddAtox, which catalyzed C-to-T editing at both HC and GC targets in nuclear and mitochondrial genes. Moreover, transactivator (VP64, P65, or Rta) fusion to the tail of DddAtox- or riDddAtox-mediated crDdCBEs and mitoCBEs substantially improved nuclear and mtDNA editing efficiencies by up to 3.5- and 1.7-fold, respectively. We also used riDddAtox-based and Rta-assisted mitoCBE to efficiently stimulate disease-associated mtDNA mutations in cultured cells and in mouse embryos with conversion frequencies of up to 58% at non-TC targets.

Knockdown of lncRNA MIR31HG inhibits cell proliferation in human HaCaT keratinocytes.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a complex, chronic inflammatory skin disease with substantial negative effects on patient quality of life. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are able to be involved in multitudes of cellular processes in diverse human diseases. This study aimed to investigate the potential involvement of lncRNA MIR31HG in HaCaT keratinocytes proliferation. RESULTS: The study showed that MIR31HG was significantly elevated in the lesional psoriatic skin compared with normal individuals' skin. Knockdown of MIR31HG inhibited HaCaT keratinocytes proliferation. Flow cytometry analysis showed that siRNA-mediated MIR31HG depletion induced cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. In addition, MIR31HG expression was found to be dependent on NF-κB activation. CONCLUSIONS: NF-κB activation mediated MIR31HG upregulation plays an important role in the regulation of HaCaT keratinocytes proliferation. It could be a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for psoriasis.

The role of circadian clock-controlled mitochondrial dynamics in diabetic cardiomyopathy.

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disease with a high prevalence worldwide, and cardiovascular complications are the leading cause of mortality in patients with diabetes. Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), which is prone to heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, is defined as a cardiac dysfunction without conventional cardiac risk factors such as coronary heart disease and hypertension. Mitochondria are the centers of energy metabolism that are very important for maintaining the function of the heart. They are highly dynamic in response to environmental changes through mitochondrial dynamics. The disruption of mitochondrial dynamics is closely related to the occurrence and development of DCM. Mitochondrial dynamics are controlled by circadian clock and show oscillation rhythm. This rhythm enables mitochondria to respond to changing energy demands in different environments, but it is disordered in diabetes. In this review, we summarize the significant role of circadian clock-controlled mitochondrial dynamics in the etiology of DCM and hope to play a certain enlightening role in the treatment of DCM.

Functional Phosphoproteomics in Cancer Chemoresistance Using CRISPR-Mediated Base Editors.

Selective inhibition of targeted protein kinases is an effective therapeutic approach for treatment of human malignancies, which interferes phosphorylation of cellular substrates. However, a drug-imposed selection creates pressures for tumor cells to acquire chemoresistance-conferring mutations or activating alternative pathways, which can bypass the inhibitory effects of kinase inhibitors. Thus, identifying downstream phospho-substrates conferring drug resistance is of great importance for developing poly-pharmacological and targeted therapies. To identify functional phosphorylation sites involved in 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) resistance during its treatment of colorectal cancer cells, CRISPR-mediated cytosine base editor (CBE) and adenine base editor (ABE) are utilized for functional screens by mutating phosphorylated amino acids with two libraries specifically targeting 7779 and 10 149 phosphorylation sites. Among the top enriched gRNAs-induced gain-of-function mutants, the target genes are involved in cell cycle and post-translational covalent modifications. Moreover, several substrates of RSK2 and PAK4 kinases are discovered as main effectors in responding to 5-FU chemotherapy, and combinational treatment of colorectal cancer cells with 5-FU and RSK2 inhibitor or PAK4 inhibitor can largely inhibit cell growth and enhance cell apoptosis through a RSK2/TP53BP1/γ-H2AX phosphorylation signaling axis. It is proposed that this screen approach can be used for functional phosphoproteomics in chemotherapy of various human diseases.

Two Compact Cas9 Ortholog-Based Cytosine Base Editors Expand the DNA Targeting Scope and Applications In Vitro and In Vivo.

CRISPR/Cas9-based base editing tools enable precise genomic installation and hold great promise for gene therapy, whereas the big size of Cas9 nucleases and its reliability on specific protospacer adjacent motif (PAM) sequences as well as target site preferences restrict the extensive applications of base editing tools. Here, we generate two cytosine base editors (CBEs) by fusing cytidine deaminases with two compact codon-optimized Cas9 orthologs from Streptococcus_gordonii_str._Challis_substr._CH1 (ancSgo-BE4) and Streptococcus_thermophilus_LMG_18311 (ancSth1a-BE4), which are much smaller than Streptococcus pyogenes (SpCas9) and recognize NNAAAG and NHGYRAA PAM sequences, respectively. Both CBEs display high activity, high fidelity, a different editing window, and low by-products for cytosine base editing with minimal DNA and RNA off-targeting activities in mammalian cells. Moreover, both editors show comparable or higher editing efficiencies than two engineered SpCas9 variant (SpCas9-NG and SpRY)-based CBEs in our tested target sites, which perfectly match the PAM sequences for ancSgo-BE4 or ancSth1a-BE4. In addition, we successfully generate two mouse models harboring clinically relevant mutations at the Ar gene via ancSgo-BE4 and ancSth1a-BE4, which display androgen insensitivity syndrome and/or developmental lethality in founder mice. Thus, the two novel CBEs broaden the base editing tool kits with expanded targeting scope and window for efficient gene modification and applications, respectively.

Engineering of near-PAMless adenine base editor with enhanced editing activity and reduced off-target.

About 47% of pathogenic point mutations could be corrected by ABE-induced A·T-to-G·C conversions. However, the applications of ABEs are still hindered by undesired editing efficiency, limited editing scopes, and off-targeting effects. Here, we develop a new adenine base editor, by embedding TadA-8e monomer into SpRY-nCas9, named as CE-8e-SpRY, which exhibits higher activity at NRN than NYN PAMs favored by SpRY nuclease. CE-8e-SpRY could target nearly all genomic sites in principle and induces the highest targeting efficiency among tested SpRY-based ABEs. In addition, CE-8e-SpRY also shows reduced RNA and DNA off-targeting activities. With optimized sgRNAs, CE-8e-SpRY induces efficient or desired target editing at some disease-relevant loci where conventional ABEs were unable to induce precise and satisfied editing. Taken together, our CE-8e-SpRY could broaden the applicability of ABEs in correcting or introducing pathogenic point mutations.

CABE-RY: A PAM-flexible dual-mutation base editor for reliable modeling of multi-nucleotide variants.

Multi-nucleotide variants (MNVs) represent an important type of genetic variation and have biological and clinical significance. To simulate MNVs, we designed four dual-mutation base editors combining hA3A(Y130F), TadA8e(V106W), and protospacer adjacent motif (PAM)-flexible SpRY and selected cytosine and adenine base editor-SpRY (CABE-RY), which had the best editing performance, for further study. Characterization and comparison showed that CABE-RY had a smaller DNA editing window and lower RNA off-target edits than the corresponding single base editors. Thus, we have established a versatile tool to efficiently simulate MNVs over the genome, which could be very useful for functional studies on MNVs in humans.

18ß-Glycyrrhetinic acid induces human HaCaT keratinocytes apoptosis through ROS-mediated PI3K-Akt signaling pathway and ameliorates IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin lesions in mice.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting 2-3% of the population worldwide. Hyperproliferative keratinocytes were thought to be an amplifier of inflammatory response, thereby sustaining persistence of psoriasis lesions. Agents with the ability to inhibit keratinocyte proliferation or induce apoptosis are potentially useful for psoriasis treatment. 18ß-Glycyrrhetinic acid (GA), an active metabolite of glycyrrhizin, exhibits diverse pharmacological activities, including anti-inflammatory, anti-bacteria and anti-proliferation. The current study aims to evaluate the effects of GA on the proliferation and apoptosis of human HaCaT keratinocytes in vitro and investigate the effects of GA on the skin lesions of imiquimod (IMQ)-induced psoriasis-like mouse model in vivo. METHODS: Cell viability was assayed by CCK-8. Flow cytometry was performed to measure apoptosis and reactive oxygen species (ROS), with Annexin V-FITC/PI detection kit and DCFH-DA probe respectively. Caspase 9/3 activities were measured using caspase activity assay kits. The protein levels of Akt and p-Akt were determined using Western blotting. IMQ was applied to induce psoriasis-like skin lesions in mice. The histological change in mouse skin lesions was detected using hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) staining. The severity of skin lesions was scored based on Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI). RT-PCR was employed to examine the relative expression of TNF-α, IL-22 and IL-17A in mouse skin lesions. RESULTS: GA decreased HaCaT keratinocytes viability and induced cell apoptosis in a dose-dependent manner. In the presence of GA, intracellular ROS levels were significantly elevated. NAC, a ROS inhibitor, attenuated GA-mediated HaCaT keratinocytes growth inhibition and apoptosis. In addition, GA treatment remarkably decreased p-Akt protein level, which could be restored partially when cells were co-treated with GA and NAC. LY294002 (a PI3K inhibitor) treatment significantly enhanced GA-mediated cytotoxicity. Moreover, GA ameliorated IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin lesions in mice. CONCLUSIONS: GA inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in HaCaT keratinocytes through ROS-mediated inhibition of PI3K-Akt signaling pathway, and ameliorates IMQ-induced psoriasis-like skin lesions in mice.

Knockdown of lncRNA MIR31HG inhibits cell proliferation in human HaCaT keratinocytes

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a complex, chronic inflammatory skin disease with substantial negative effects on patient quality of life. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are able to be involved in multitudes of cellular processes in diverse human diseases. This study aimed to investigate the potential involvement of lncRNA MIR31HG in HaCaT keratinocytes proliferation. RESULTS: The study showed that MIR31HG was significantly elevated in the lesional psoriatic skin compared with normal individuals' skin. Knockdown of MIR31HG inhibited HaCaT keratinocytes proliferation. Flow cytometry analysis showed that siRNA-mediated MIR31HG depletion induced cell cycle arrest in the G2/M phase. In addition, MIR31HG expression was found to be dependent on NF-κB activation. CONCLUSIONS: NF-κB activation mediated MIR31HG upregulation plays an important role in the regulation of HaCaT keratinocytes proliferation. It could be a potential diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target for psoriasis.