Carrozzo Irene, Maule Giulia, Gentile Carmelo, Umbach Alessandro, Ciciani Matteo, Guidone Daniela, De Santis Martina, Petris Gianluca, Vicente Galietta Luis Juan, Arosio Daniele, Cereseto Anna
Department CIBIO, University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, 38123 Trento, Italy.
Telethon Institute of Genetics and Medicine, 80078 Pozzuoli, Italy.
Mol Ther. 2025 Mar 5;33(3):970-985. doi: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2025.01.011. Epub 2025 Jan 10.
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-shortening autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in the CFTR gene, resulting in functional impairment of the encoded ion channel. F508del mutation, a trinucleotide deletion, is the most frequent cause of CF, affecting approximately 80% of persons with CF (pwCFs). Even though current pharmacological treatments alleviate the F508del-CF disease symptoms, there is no definitive cure. Here, we leveraged revertant mutations (RMs) in cis with F508del to rescue CFTR protein folding and restore its function. We developed CRISPR base editing strategies to efficiently and precisely introduce the desired mutations in the F508del locus. Both editing and CFTR function recovery were verified in CF cellular models, including primary epithelial cells derived from pwCFs. The efficacy of the CFTR recovery strategy was validated in cultures of pseudostratified epithelia from pwCF cells showing full recovery of ion transport. Additionally, we observed an additive effect by combining our strategy with small molecules that enhance F508del activity, thus paving the way to combinatorial therapies.
囊性纤维化(CF)是一种由CFTR基因突变引起的常染色体隐性疾病,会缩短患者寿命,该突变导致编码的离子通道功能受损。F508del突变是一种三核苷酸缺失,是导致CF的最常见原因,约80%的囊性纤维化患者(pwCFs)受其影响。尽管目前的药物治疗可缓解F508del-CF疾病症状,但尚无根治方法。在此,我们利用与F508del顺式的回复突变(RMs)来挽救CFTR蛋白折叠并恢复其功能。我们开发了CRISPR碱基编辑策略,以在F508del位点高效、精确地引入所需突变。在CF细胞模型中验证了编辑和CFTR功能恢复情况,包括来自pwCFs的原代上皮细胞。在pwCF细胞的假复层上皮细胞培养物中验证了CFTR恢复策略的有效性,显示离子转运完全恢复。此外,我们观察到将我们的策略与增强F508del活性的小分子相结合具有累加效应,从而为联合治疗铺平了道路。