Research progress of iron metabolism in phenotype modification of β-thalassemia / 中华医学遗传学杂志

β-thalassemia is a type of inherited hemolytic anemia caused by decreased globin production due to defect of the HBB gene. The pathogenesis of the disease is imbalance of α/β globin chains. The excess of α-globin chains will form hemichromes which can damage red blood cell membranes and lead to hemolysis, ineffective erythropoiesis, and secondary iron overload. Iron overload in turn can cause complications such as growth retardation, liver cirrhosis, cardiac insufficiency, and aggravate the disease phenotype. In recent decades, genes participating in iron metabolism have been discovered, and the mechanism of iron metabolism in the development of thalassemia has gradually been elucidated. Subsequently, by manipulating the expression of key genes in iron metabolism such as hepcidin and transferrin receptor, researchers have revealed that iron restriction can improve ineffective hematopoiesis and iron overload, which may provide a potential approach for the treatment of thalassemia. This article reviews the progress of research on iron metabolism-related genes and related pathways in β-thalassemia.

Generation of induced pluripotent stem cell GZHMCi002-A from peripheral blood mononuclear cells with APOB mutation.

Apolipoprotein (apo) B is a large, amphipathic glycoprotein which plays an important role in human lipoprotein metabolism. The 43-kb APOB gene located on the short arm of human chromosome 2 and consisted of 29 exons, mutations in the APOB gene can give rise to either hypo- or hypercholesterolemia. We used peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from a volunteer carrying the APOB mutation (c.10579C>T, p.Arg3527Trp) located in exon 9 to establish induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), which will be an effective means to reveal the key biologically relevant metabolic mechanisms, a powerful tool for medicine selection and related research.

Generation of induced pluripotent stem cell GZHMCi001-A and GZHMCi001-B derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells of epileptic patients with KCNC1 mutation.

Myoclonus Epilepsy and Ataxia due to Potassium channel mutation (MEAK) is a rare epilepsy caused by changes in the structure and function of potassium channels due to mutations in the potassium voltage-gated channel subfamily C member 1 (KCNC1) gene. MEAK is one of the progressive myoclonus epilepsy (PME), and there are few studies on MEAK pathogenesis and targeted drugs. Here, we used peripheral blood from MEAK patients with KCNC1 (c.959G > A) gene mutation to establish induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC). The iPSC of KCNC1 mutation established by us is a powerful tool for related research.

CRISPR/Cas9 gene correction of HbH-CS thalassemia-induced pluripotent stem cells.

Haemoglobin (Hb) H-constant spring (CS) alpha thalassaemia (- -/-αCS) is the most common type of nondeletional Hb H disease in southern China. The CRISPR/Cas9-based gene correction of patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and cell transplantation now represent a therapeutic solution for this genetic disease. We designed primers for the target sites using CRISPR/Cas9 to specifically edit the HBA2 gene with an Hb-CS mutation. After applying a correction-specific PCR assay to purify the corrected clones followed by sequencing to confirm the mutation correction, we verified that the purified clones retained full pluripotency and exhibited a normal karyotype. This strategy may be promising in the future, although it is far from representing a solution for the treatment of HbH-CS thalassemia now.