Leveraging interacting signaling pathways to robustly improve the quality and yield of human pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatoblasts and hepatocytes.

Pluripotent stem cell (PSC)-derived hepatocyte-like cells (HLCs) have shown great potential as an alternative to primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) for in vitro modeling. Several differentiation protocols have been described to direct PSCs toward the hepatic fate. Here, by leveraging recent knowledge of the signaling pathways involved in liver development, we describe a robust, scalable protocol that allowed us to consistently generate high-quality bipotent human hepatoblasts and HLCs from both embryonic stem cells and induced PSC (iPSCs). Although not yet fully mature, such HLCs were more similar to adult PHHs than were cells obtained with previously described protocols, showing good potential as a physiologically representative alternative to PHHs for in vitro modeling. PSC-derived hepatoblasts effectively generated with this protocol could differentiate into mature hepatocytes and cholangiocytes within syngeneic liver organoids, thus opening the way for representative human 3D in vitro modeling of liver development and pathophysiology.

Inherited glycophosphatidylinositol deficiency variant database and analysis of pathogenic variants.

BACKGROUND: Glycophosphatidylinositol-anchored proteins (GPI-APs) mediate several physiological processes such as embryogenesis and neurogenesis. Germline variants in genes involved in their synthesis can disrupt normal development and result in a variety of clinical phenotypes. With the advent of new sequencing technologies, more cases are identified, leading to a rapidly growing number of reported genetic variants. With this number expected to rise with increased accessibility to molecular tests, an accurate and up-to-date database is needed to keep track of the information and help interpret results. METHODS: We therefore developed an online resource (www.gpibiosynthesis.org) which compiles all published pathogenic variants in GPI biosynthesis genes which are deposited in the LOVD database. It contains 276 individuals and 192 unique public variants; 92% of which are predicted as damaging by bioinformatics tools. RESULTS: A significant proportion of recorded variants was substitution variants (81%) and resulted mainly in missense and frameshift alterations. Interestingly, five patients (2%) had deleterious mutations in untranslated regions. CADD score analysis placed 97% of variants in the top 1% of deleterious variants in the human genome. In genome aggregation database, the gene with the highest frequency of reported pathogenic variants is PIGL, with a carrier rate of 1/937. CONCLUSION: We thus present the GPI biosynthesis database and review the molecular genetics of published variants in GPI-anchor biosynthesis genes.

Bi-allelic Variants in TONSL Cause SPONASTRIME Dysplasia and a Spectrum of Skeletal Dysplasia Phenotypes.

SPONASTRIME dysplasia is an autosomal-recessive spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia characterized by spine (spondylar) abnormalities, midface hypoplasia with a depressed nasal bridge, metaphyseal striations, and disproportionate short stature. Scoliosis, coxa vara, childhood cataracts, short dental roots, and hypogammaglobulinemia have also been reported in this disorder. Although an autosomal-recessive inheritance pattern has been hypothesized, pathogenic variants in a specific gene have not been discovered in individuals with SPONASTRIME dysplasia. Here, we identified bi-allelic variants in TONSL, which encodes the Tonsoku-like DNA repair protein, in nine subjects (from eight families) with SPONASTRIME dysplasia, and four subjects (from three families) with short stature of varied severity and spondylometaphyseal dysplasia with or without immunologic and hematologic abnormalities, but no definitive metaphyseal striations at diagnosis. The finding of early embryonic lethality in a Tonsl-/- murine model and the discovery of reduced length, spinal abnormalities, reduced numbers of neutrophils, and early lethality in a tonsl-/- zebrafish model both support the hypomorphic nature of the identified TONSL variants. Moreover, functional studies revealed increased amounts of spontaneous replication fork stalling and chromosomal aberrations, as well as fewer camptothecin (CPT)-induced RAD51 foci in subject-derived cell lines. Importantly, these cellular defects were rescued upon re-expression of wild-type (WT) TONSL; this rescue is consistent with the hypothesis that hypomorphic TONSL variants are pathogenic. Overall, our studies in humans, mice, zebrafish, and subject-derived cell lines confirm that pathogenic variants in TONSL impair DNA replication and homologous recombination-dependent repair processes, and they lead to a spectrum of skeletal dysplasia phenotypes with numerous extra-skeletal manifestations.

Novel fibronectin mutations and expansion of the phenotype in spondylometaphyseal dysplasia with "corner fractures".

Heterozygous pathogenic variants in the FN1 gene, encoding fibronectin (FN), have recently been shown to be associated with a skeletal disorder in some individuals affected by spondylometaphyseal dysplasia with "corner fractures" (SMD-CF). The most striking feature characterizing SMD-CF is irregularly shaped metaphyses giving the appearance of "corner fractures". An array of secondary features, including developmental coxa vara, ovoid vertebral bodies and severe scoliosis, may also be present. FN is an important extracellular matrix component for bone and cartilage development. Here we report five patients affected by this subtype of SMD-CF caused by five novel FN1 missense mutations: p.Cys123Tyr, p.Cys169Tyr, p.Cys213Tyr, p.Cys231Trp and p.Cys258Tyr. All individuals shared a substitution of a cysteine residue, disrupting disulfide bonds in the FN type-I assembly domains located in the N-terminal assembly region. The abnormal metaphyseal ossification and "corner fracture" appearances were the most remarkable clinical feature in these patients. In addition, generalized skeletal fragility with low-trauma bilateral femoral fractures was identified in one patient. Interestingly, the distal femoral changes in this patient healed with skeletal maturation. Our report expands the phenotypic and genetic spectrum of the FN1-related SMD-CF and emphasizes the importance of FN in bone formation and possibly also in the maintenance of bone strength.