RESUMEN
PURPOSE: Progressive inherited retinal degenerations (IRDs) affecting rods and cones are clinically and genetically heterogeneous and can lead to blindness with limited therapeutic options. The major gene defects have been identified in subjects of European and Asian descent with only few reports of North African descent. METHODS: Genome, targeted next-generation, and Sanger sequencing was applied to cohort of â¼4000 IRDs cases. Expression analyses were performed including Chip-seq database analyses, on human-derived retinal organoids (ROs), retinal pigment epithelium cells, and zebrafish. Variants' pathogenicity was accessed using 3D-modeling and/or ROs. RESULTS: Here, we identified a novel gene defect with three distinct pathogenic variants in UBAP1L in 4 independent autosomal recessive IRD cases from Tunisia. UBAP1L is expressed in the retinal pigment epithelium and retina, specifically in rods and cones, in line with the phenotype. It encodes Ubiquitin-associated protein 1-like, containing a solenoid of overlapping ubiquitin-associated domain, predicted to interact with ubiquitin. In silico and in vitro studies, including 3D-modeling and ROs revealed that the solenoid of overlapping ubiquitin-associated domain is truncated and thus ubiquitin binding most likely abolished secondary to all variants identified herein. CONCLUSION: Biallelic UBAP1L variants are a novel cause of IRDs, most likely enriched in the North African population.
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Distrofias de Conos y Bastones , Linaje , Pez Cebra , Humanos , Distrofias de Conos y Bastones/genética , Distrofias de Conos y Bastones/patología , Masculino , Femenino , Pez Cebra/genética , Animales , Genes Recesivos , Epitelio Pigmentado de la Retina/metabolismo , Epitelio Pigmentado de la Retina/patología , Mutación/genética , Células Fotorreceptoras Retinianas Conos/patología , Células Fotorreceptoras Retinianas Conos/metabolismo , Retina/patología , Retina/metabolismo , Adulto , Túnez , Retinitis Pigmentosa/genética , Retinitis Pigmentosa/patología , Fenotipo , Células Fotorreceptoras Retinianas Bastones/metabolismo , Células Fotorreceptoras Retinianas Bastones/patologíaRESUMEN
PURPOSE: To reappraise the presentation and the course of ITM2B-related retinal dystrophy and give further insights into ITM2B expression in the retina. METHODS: The clinical data of nine subjects with ITM2B-related retinal dystrophy were retrospectively reviewed. The genetic mutation was assessed for its influence on splicing in cultured fibroblasts. The cellular expression of ITM2B within the inner retina was investigated in wild-type mice through mRNA in situ hybridization. RESULTS: All patients complained of decreased vision and mild photophobia around their twenties-thirties. The peculiar feature was the hyperreflective material on optical coherence tomography within the inner retina and the central outer nuclear layer with thinning of the retinal nerve fiber layer. Although retinal imaging revealed very mild or no changes over the years, the visual acuity slowly decreased with about one Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letter per year. Finally, full-field electroretinography showed a mildly progressive inner retinal and cone dysfunction. ITM2B mRNA is expressed in all cellular types of the inner retina. Disease mechanism most likely involves mutant protein misfolding and/or modified protein interaction rather than misplicing. CONCLUSION: ITM2B-related retinal dystrophy is a peculiar, rare, slowly progressive retinal degeneration. Functional examinations (full-field electroretinography and visual acuity) seem more accurate in monitoring the progression in these patients because imaging tends to be stable over the years.
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Proteínas Adaptadoras Transductoras de Señales/genética , Distrofias Retinianas/genética , Anciano , Animales , Modelos Animales de Enfermedad , Electrorretinografía , Femenino , Regulación de la Expresión Génica/fisiología , Humanos , Hibridación in Situ , Masculino , Ratones , Ratones Endogámicos C57BL , Persona de Mediana Edad , Imagen Óptica , Fenotipo , ARN Mensajero/genética , Retina/fisiopatología , Distrofias Retinianas/diagnóstico por imagen , Distrofias Retinianas/fisiopatología , Estudios Retrospectivos , Tomografía de Coherencia Óptica , Agudeza Visual/fisiologíaRESUMEN
The purpose of this work was to identify the gene defect underlying a relatively mild rod-cone dystrophy (RCD), lacking disease-causing variants in known genes implicated in inherited retinal disorders (IRD), and provide transcriptomic and immunolocalization data to highlight the best candidate. The DNA of the female patient originating from a consanguineous family revealed no large duplication or deletion, but several large homozygous regions. In one of these, a homozygous frameshift variant, c.244_246delins17 p.(Trp82Valfs*4); predicted to lead to a nonfunctional protein, was identified in CCDC51. CCDC51 encodes the mitochondrial coiled-coil domain containing 51 protein, also called MITOK. MITOK ablation causes mitochondrial dysfunction. Here we show for the first time that CCDC51/MITOK localizes in the retina and more specifically in the inner segments of the photoreceptors, well known to contain mitochondria. Mitochondrial proteins have previously been implicated in IRD, although usually in association with syndromic disease, unlike our present case. Together, our findings add another ultra-rare mutation implicated in non-syndromic IRD, whose pathogenic mechanism in the retina needs to be further elucidated.
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Distrofias de Conos y Bastones/patología , Genes Recesivos , Proteínas Mitocondriales/genética , Mutación , Canales de Potasio/genética , Adulto , Distrofias de Conos y Bastones/etiología , Distrofias de Conos y Bastones/metabolismo , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Linaje , FenotipoRESUMEN
We investigated the prevalence of reported deep-intronic variants in a French cohort of 70 patients with Stargardt disease harboring a monoallelic pathogenic variant on the exonic regions of ABCA4. Direct Sanger sequencing of selected intronic regions of ABCA4 was conducted. Complete phenotypic analysis and correlation with the genotype was performed in case a known intronic pathogenic variant was identified. All other variants found on the analyzed sequences were queried for minor allele frequency and possible pathogenicity by in silico predictions. The second mutated allele was found in 14 (20%) subjects. The three known deep-intronic variants found were c.5196+1137G>A in intron 36 (6 subjects), c.4539+2064C>T in intron 30 (4 subjects) and c.4253+43G>A in intron 28 (4 subjects). Even though the phenotype depends on the compound effect of the biallelic variants, a genotype-phenotype correlation suggests that the c.5196+1137G>A was mostly associated with a mild phenotype and the c.4539+2064C>T with a more severe one. A variable effect was instead associated with the variant c.4253+43G>A. In addition, two novel variants, c.768+508A>G and c.859-245_859-243delinsTGA never associated with Stargardt disease before, were identified and a possible splice defect was predicted in silico. Our study calls for a larger cohort analysis including targeted locus sequencing and 3D protein modeling to better understand phenotype-genotype correlations associated with deep-intronic changes and patients' selection for clinical trials.
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Transportadoras de Casetes de Unión a ATP/genética , Mutación , Análisis de Secuencia de ADN/métodos , Enfermedad de Stargardt/genética , Adulto , Anciano , Simulación por Computador , Femenino , Francia , Frecuencia de los Genes , Estudios de Asociación Genética , Predisposición Genética a la Enfermedad , Humanos , Intrones , Masculino , Persona de Mediana Edad , Fenotipo , Prevalencia , Estudios Retrospectivos , Adulto JovenRESUMEN
The development of the retina is under tight temporal and spatial control. To gain insights into the molecular basis of this process, we generate a single-nuclei dual-omic atlas of the human developing retina with approximately 220,000 nuclei from 14 human embryos and fetuses aged between 8 and 23-weeks post-conception with matched macular and peripheral tissues. This atlas captures all major cell classes in the retina, along with a large proportion of progenitors and cell-type-specific precursors. Cell trajectory analysis reveals a transition from continuous progression in early progenitors to a hierarchical development during the later stages of cell type specification. Both known and unrecorded candidate transcription factors, along with gene regulatory networks that drive the transitions of various cell fates, are identified. Comparisons between the macular and peripheral retinae indicate a largely consistent yet distinct developmental pattern. This atlas offers unparalleled resolution into the transcriptional and chromatin accessibility landscapes during development, providing an invaluable resource for deeper insights into retinal development and associated diseases.
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Regulación del Desarrollo de la Expresión Génica , Retina , Análisis de la Célula Individual , Humanos , Retina/embriología , Retina/metabolismo , Retina/citología , Retina/crecimiento & desarrollo , Redes Reguladoras de Genes , Factores de Transcripción/metabolismo , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Diferenciación Celular/genética , Feto , Núcleo Celular/metabolismo , Núcleo Celular/genética , Atlas como AsuntoRESUMEN
The ITM2B-related retinal dystrophy (ITM2B-RD) was identified within patients carrying the autosomal dominant variant [c.782A > C, p.(Glu261Ala)] in ITM2B from whom induced pluripotent stem cell (IPSC) lines were previously generated. Here, we report the generation of three isogenic control iPSC lines from the derived affected subject cell line (ITM2B-5286-3) using CRISPR/Cas9 engineering. The three generated lines express pluripotency markers, can be differentiated into the three germ layers and present a normal karyotype. The generated iPSC lines can be used to study the implications of ITM2B-RD variant in vitro.
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Células Madre Pluripotentes Inducidas , Distrofias Retinianas , Humanos , Células Madre Pluripotentes Inducidas/metabolismo , Sistemas CRISPR-Cas/genética , Distrofias Retinianas/genética , Distrofias Retinianas/metabolismo , Diferenciación Celular , Mutación , Proteínas Adaptadoras Transductoras de Señales/genéticaRESUMEN
In mammals, loss of retinal cells due to disease or trauma is an irreversible process that can lead to blindness. Interestingly, regeneration of retinal neurons is a well established process in some non-mammalian vertebrates and is driven by the Müller glia (MG), which are able to re-enter the cell cycle and reprogram into neurogenic progenitors upon retinal injury or disease. Progress has been made to restore this mechanism in mammals to promote retinal regeneration: MG can be stimulated to generate new neurons in vivo in the adult mouse retina after the over-expression of the pro-neural transcription factor Ascl1. In this study, we applied the same strategy to reprogram human MG derived from fetal retina and retinal organoids into neurons. Combining single cell RNA sequencing, single cell ATAC sequencing, immunofluorescence, and electrophysiology we demonstrate that human MG can be reprogrammed into neurogenic cells in vitro.
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Neurogénesis , Neuroglía , Animales , Ratones , Humanos , Neuroglía/metabolismo , Neurogénesis/fisiología , Neuronas/metabolismo , Retina/metabolismo , Mamíferos/metabolismo , Células Ependimogliales/metabolismo , Proliferación Celular/fisiología , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/genética , Factores de Transcripción con Motivo Hélice-Asa-Hélice Básico/metabolismoRESUMEN
Many neurodegenerative diseases cause degeneration of specific types of neurons. For example, glaucoma leads to death of retinal ganglion cells, leaving other neurons intact. Neurons are not regenerated in the adult mammalian central nervous system. However, in nonmammalian vertebrates, glial cells spontaneously reprogram into neural progenitors and replace neurons after injury. We have recently developed strategies to stimulate regeneration of functional neurons in the adult mouse retina by overexpressing the proneural factor Ascl1 in Müller glia. Here, we test additional transcription factors (TFs) for their ability to direct regeneration to particular types of retinal neurons. We engineered mice to express different combinations of TFs in Müller glia, including Ascl1, Pou4f2, Islet1, and Atoh1. Using immunohistochemistry, single-cell RNA sequencing, single-cell assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing, and electrophysiology, we find that retinal ganglion-like cells can be regenerated in the damaged adult mouse retina in vivo with targeted overexpression of developmental retinal ganglion cell TFs.
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Retina , Factores de Transcripción , Ratones , Animales , Factores de Transcripción/genética , Neuroglía , Neuronas , MamíferosRESUMEN
Melanoma-associated retinopathy (MAR) is a rare paraneoplastic retinal disorder usually occurring in the context of metastatic melanoma. Patients present with night blindness, photopsias and a constriction of the visual field. MAR is an auto-immune disorder characterized by the production of autoantibodies targeting retinal proteins, especially autoantibodies reacting to the cation channel TRPM1 produced in melanocytes and ON-bipolar cells. TRPM1 has at least three different isoforms which vary in the N-terminal region of the protein. In this study, we report the case of three new MAR patients presenting different anti-TRPM1 autoantibodies reacting to the three isoforms of TRPM1 with variable binding affinity. Two sera recognized all isoforms of TRPM1, while one recognized only the two longest isoforms upon immunolocalization studies on overexpressing cells. Similarly, the former two sera reacted with all TRPM1 isoforms on western blot, but an immunoprecipitation enrichment step was necessary to detect all isoforms with the latter serum. In contrast, all sera labelled ON-bipolar cells on Tprm1+/+ but not on Trpm1-/- mouse retina as shown by co-immunolocalization. This confirms that the MAR sera specifically detect TRPM1. Most likely, the anti-TRPM1 autoantibodies of different patients vary in affinity and concentration. In addition, the binding of autoantibodies to TRPM1 may be conformation-dependent, with epitopes being inaccessible in some constructs (truncated polypeptides versus full-length TRPM1) or applications (western blotting versus immunohistochemistry). Therefore, we propose that a combination of different methods should be used to test for the presence of anti-TRPM1 autoantibodies in the sera of MAR patients.
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Autoanticuerpos/sangre , Melanoma/inmunología , Síndromes Paraneoplásicos Oculares/inmunología , Retina/inmunología , Enfermedades de la Retina/inmunología , Canales Catiónicos TRPM/inmunología , Anciano , Animales , Células COS , Chlorocebus aethiops , Femenino , Humanos , Masculino , Melanoma/patología , Persona de Mediana Edad , Retina/patologíaRESUMEN
Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines were generated from fibroblasts of a patient affected with an autosomal dominant retinal dystrophy carrying the mutation c.782A>C, p.Glu261Ala in ITM2B and from an unaffected brother. Three different iPSC lines were generated and characterized from primary dermal fibroblasts of the affected subject and two from the unaffected brother. All iPSC lines expressed the pluripotency markers, were able to differentiate into the three germ layers and presented normal karyotypes. This cellular model will provide a powerful tool to study this retinal dystrophy and better understand the role of ITM2B.