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Erasing
a genetic mutation: Researchers reverse a liver disorder in mice by correcting
a mutated gene
Erasing
a genetic mutation: Researchers reverse a liver disorder in mice by correcting
a mutated gene
Date:
March 30,
2014
Source:
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
Summary:
Using a new gene-editing system based on bacterial
proteins, researchers have cured mice of a rare liver disorder caused by a
single genetic mutation. The findings offer the first evidence that this
gene-editing technique, known as CRISPR, can reverse disease symptoms in living
animals. CRISPR, which offers an easy way to snip out mutated DNA and replace
it with the correct sequence, holds potential for treating many genetic
disorders, according to the research team.
...........................
Using a new
gene-editing system based on bacterial proteins, MIT researchers have cured mice
of a rare liver disorder caused by a single genetic mutation.
The
findings, described in the March 30 issue of Nature Biotechnology, offer
the first evidence that this gene-editing technique, known as CRISPR, can
reverse disease symptoms in living animals. CRISPR, which offers an easy way to
snip out mutated DNA and replace it with the correct sequence, holds potential
for treating many genetic disorders, according to the research team.
"What's
exciting about this approach is that we can actually correct a defective gene
in a living adult animal," says Daniel Anderson, the Samuel A. Goldblith
Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT, a member of the Koch
Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and the senior author of the paper.
The recently
developed CRISPR system relies on cellular machinery that bacteria use to
defend themselves from viral infection. Researchers have copied this cellular
system to create gene-editing complexes that include a DNA-cutting enzyme
called Cas9 bound to a short RNA guide strand that is programmed to bind to a
specific genome sequence, telling Cas9 where to make its cut.
At the same
time, the researchers also deliver a DNA template strand. When the cell repairs
the damage produced by Cas9, it copies from the template, introducing new
genetic material into the genome. Scientists envision that this kind of genome
editing could one day help treat diseases such as hemophilia, Huntington's
disease, and others that are caused by single mutations.
Scientists
have developed other gene-editing systems based on DNA-slicing enzymes, also
known as nucleases, but those complexes can be expensive and difficult to
assemble.
"The
CRISPR system is very easy to configure and customize," says Anderson, who
is also a member of MIT's Institute for Medical Engineering and Science. He
adds that other systems "can potentially be used in a similar way to the
CRISPR system, but with those it is much harder to make a nuclease that's
specific to your target of interest."
Disease
correction
For this
study, the researchers designed three guide RNA strands that target different
DNA sequences near the mutation that causes type I tyrosinemia, in a gene that
codes for an enzyme called FAH. Patients with this disease, which affects about
1 in 100,000 people, cannot break down the amino acid tyrosine, which
accumulates and can lead to liver failure. Current treatments include a
low-protein diet and a drug called NTCB, which disrupts tyrosine production.
In
experiments with adult mice carrying the mutated form of the FAH enzyme, the
researchers delivered RNA guide strands along with the gene for Cas9 and a
199-nucleotide DNA template that includes the correct sequence of the mutated
FAH gene.
Using this
approach, the correct gene was inserted in about one of every 250 hepatocytes
-- the cells that make up most of the liver. Over the next 30 days, those
healthy cells began to proliferate and replace diseased liver cells, eventually
accounting for about one-third of all hepatocytes. This was enough to cure the
disease, allowing the mice to survive after being taken off the NCTB drug.
"We can
do a one-time treatment and totally reverse the condition," says Hao Yin,
a postdoc at the Koch Institute and one of the lead authors of the Nature
Biotechnology paper.
To deliver
the CRISPR components, the researchers employed a technique known as
high-pressure injection, which uses a high-powered syringe to rapidly discharge
the material into a vein. This approach delivers material successfully to liver
cells, but Anderson envisions that better delivery approaches are possible. His
lab is now working on methods that may be safer and more efficient, including
targeted nanoparticles.
Story
Source:
The above
story is based on materials
provided by Massachusetts
Institute of Technology. The original article was written by Anne
Trafton. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Journal
Reference:
- Hao Yin, Wen Xue, Sidi Chen, Roman L Bogorad, Eric Benedetti, Markus Grompe, Victor Koteliansky, Phillip A Sharp, Tyler Jacks, Daniel G Anderson. Genome editing with Cas9 in adult mice corrects a disease mutation and phenotype. Nature Biotechnology, 2014; DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2884
Cite This
Page:
Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. "Erasing a genetic mutation: Researchers reverse a liver
disorder in mice by correcting a mutated gene." ScienceDaily.
ScienceDaily, 30 March 2014.
<www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/03/140330151614.htm>.