Efficient genome editing with Cas9-sgRNA in vivo has required the use of viral delivery systems, which have limitations for clinical applications. Translational efforts to develop other RNA ...therapeutics have shown that judicious chemical modification of RNAs can improve therapeutic efficacy by reducing susceptibility to nuclease degradation. Guided by the structure of the Cas9-sgRNA complex, we identify regions of sgRNA that can be modified while maintaining or enhancing genome-editing activity, and we develop an optimal set of chemical modifications for in vivo applications. Using lipid nanoparticle formulations of these enhanced sgRNAs (e-sgRNA) and mRNA encoding Cas9, we show that a single intravenous injection into mice induces >80% editing of Pcsk9 in the liver. Serum Pcsk9 is reduced to undetectable levels, and cholesterol levels are significantly lowered about 35% to 40% in animals. This strategy may enable non-viral, Cas9-based genome editing in the liver in clinical settings.
After liver injury, regeneration occurs through self-replication of hepatocytes. In severe liver injury, hepatocyte proliferation is impaired-a feature of human chronic liver disease. It is unclear ...whether other liver cell types can regenerate hepatocytes. Here we use two independent systems to impair hepatocyte proliferation during liver injury to evaluate the contribution of non-hepatocytes to parenchymal regeneration. First, loss of β1-integrin in hepatocytes with liver injury triggered a ductular reaction of cholangiocyte origin, with approximately 25% of hepatocytes being derived from a non-hepatocyte origin. Second, cholangiocytes were lineage traced with concurrent inhibition of hepatocyte proliferation by β1-integrin knockdown or p21 overexpression, resulting in the significant emergence of cholangiocyte-derived hepatocytes. We describe a model of combined liver injury and inhibition of hepatocyte proliferation that causes physiologically significant levels of regeneration of functional hepatocytes from biliary cells.
The combination of Cas9, guide RNA and repair template DNA can induce precise gene editing and the correction of genetic diseases in adult mammals. However, clinical implementation of this technology ...requires safe and effective delivery of all of these components into the nuclei of the target tissue. Here, we combine lipid nanoparticle-mediated delivery of Cas9 mRNA with adeno-associated viruses encoding a sgRNA and a repair template to induce repair of a disease gene in adult animals. We applied our delivery strategy to a mouse model of human hereditary tyrosinemia and show that the treatment generated fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (Fah)-positive hepatocytes by correcting the causative Fah-splicing mutation. Treatment rescued disease symptoms such as weight loss and liver damage. The efficiency of correction was >6% of hepatocytes after a single application, suggesting potential utility of Cas9-based therapeutic genome editing for a range of diseases.
Delivery of short interfering RNAs (siRNAs) remains a key challenge in the development of RNA interference (RNAi) therapeutics. A better understanding of the mechanisms of siRNA cellular uptake, ...intracellular transport and endosomal release could critically contribute to the improvement of delivery methods. Here we monitored the uptake of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) loaded with traceable siRNAs in different cell types in vitro and in mouse liver by quantitative fluorescence imaging and electron microscopy. We found that LNPs enter cells by both constitutive and inducible pathways in a cell type-specific manner using clathrin-mediated endocytosis as well as macropinocytosis. By directly detecting colloidal-gold particles conjugated to siRNAs, we estimated that escape of siRNAs from endosomes into the cytosol occurs at low efficiency (1-2%) and only during a limited window of time when the LNPs reside in a specific compartment sharing early and late endosomal characteristics. Our results provide insights into LNP-mediated siRNA delivery that can guide development of the next generation of delivery systems for RNAi therapeutics.
The rapid identification of highly specific and potent drug candidates continues to be a substantial challenge with traditional pharmaceutical approaches. Moreover, many targets have proven to be ...intractable to traditional small-molecule and protein approaches. Therapeutics based on RNA interference (RNAi) offer a powerful method for rapidly identifying specific and potent inhibitors of disease targets from all molecular classes. Numerous proof-of-concept studies in animal models of human disease demonstrate the broad potential application of RNAi therapeutics. The major challenge for successful drug development is identifying delivery strategies that can be translated to the clinic. With advances in this area and the commencement of multiple clinical trials with RNAi therapeutic candidates, a transformation in modern medicine may soon be realized.
Mitochondrial Ca2+ uptake via the uniporter is central to cell metabolism, signaling, and survival. Recent studies identified MCU as the uniporter’s likely pore and MICU1, an EF-hand protein, as its ...critical regulator. How this complex decodes dynamic cytoplasmic Ca2+ (Ca2+c) signals, to tune out small Ca2+c increases yet permit pulse transmission, remains unknown. We report that loss of MICU1 in mouse liver and cultured cells causes mitochondrial Ca2+ accumulation during small Ca2+c elevations but an attenuated response to agonist-induced Ca2+c pulses. The latter reflects loss of positive cooperativity, likely via the EF-hands. MICU1 faces the intermembrane space and responds to Ca2+c changes. Prolonged MICU1 loss leads to an adaptive increase in matrix Ca2+ binding, yet cells show impaired oxidative metabolism and sensitization to Ca2+ overload. Collectively, the data indicate that MICU1 senses the Ca2+c to establish the uniporter’s threshold and gain, thereby allowing mitochondria to properly decode different inputs.
Display omitted
•MICU1 regulates the Ca2+ threshold and cooperativity of the mitochondrial uniporter•MICU1 faces the intermembrane space to sense cytoplasmic Ca2+•Loss of MICU1 initiates an adaptive increase in mitochondrial matrix Ca2+ binding•Yet decoding of Ca2+ signals is compromised, impairing ATP output and cell survival
Insulin resistance leads to hypertriglyceridemia and hepatic steatosis and is associated with increased SREBP-1c, a transcription factor that activates fatty acid synthesis. Here, we show that ...steatosis in insulin-resistant ob/ob mice was abolished by deletion of Scap, an escort protein necessary for generating nuclear isoforms of all three SREBPs. Scap deletion reduced lipid synthesis and prevented fatty livers despite persistent obesity, hyperinsulinemia, and hyperglycemia. Scap deficiency also prevented steatosis in mice fed high-fat diets. Steatosis was also prevented when siRNAs were used to silence Scap in livers of sucrose-fed hamsters, a model of diet-induced steatosis and hypertriglyceridemia. This silencing reduced all three nuclear SREBPs, decreasing lipid biosynthesis and abolishing sucrose-induced hypertriglyceridemia. These results demonstrate that SREBP activation is essential for development of diabetic hepatic steatosis and carbohydrate-induced hypertriglyceridemia, but not insulin resistance. Inhibition of SREBP activation has therapeutic potential for treatment of hypertriglyceridemia and fatty liver disease.
► Hepatic Scap deletion prevents SREBP activation and normalizes lipogenesis in obesity ► Hepatic steatosis was eliminated in ob/ob mice despite obesity and hyperinsulinemia ► In sucrose-fed hamsters, silencing of Scap using siRNA abolished hypertriglyceridemia
Mitochondrial calcium uptake is present in nearly all vertebrate tissues and is believed to be critical in shaping calcium signaling, regulating ATP synthesis and controlling cell death. Calcium ...uptake occurs through a channel called the uniporter that resides in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Recently, we used comparative genomics to identify MICU1 and MCU as the key regulatory and putative pore-forming subunits of this channel, respectively. Using bioinformatics, we now report that the human genome encodes two additional paralogs of MICU1, which we call MICU2 and MICU3, each of which likely arose by gene duplication and exhibits distinct patterns of organ expression. We demonstrate that MICU1 and MICU2 are expressed in HeLa and HEK293T cells, and provide multiple lines of biochemical evidence that MCU, MICU1 and MICU2 reside within a complex and cross-stabilize each other's protein expression in a cell-type dependent manner. Using in vivo RNAi technology to silence MICU1, MICU2 or both proteins in mouse liver, we observe an additive impairment in calcium handling without adversely impacting mitochondrial respiration or membrane potential. The results identify MICU2 as a new component of the uniporter complex that may contribute to the tissue-specific regulation of this channel.
siRNA therapeutics have promise for the treatment of a wide range of genetic disorders. Motivated by lipoproteins, we report lipopeptide nanoparticles as potent and selective siRNA carriers with a ...wide therapeutic index. Lead material cKK-E12 showed potent silencing effects in mice (ED50 ∼ 0.002 mg/kg), rats (ED50 < 0.01 mg/kg), and nonhuman primates (over 95% silencing at 0.3 mg/kg). Apolipoprotein E plays a significant role in the potency of cKK-E12 both in vitro and in vivo. cKK-E12 was highly selective toward liver parenchymal cell in vivo, with orders of magnitude lower doses needed to silence in hepatocytes compared with endothelial cells and immune cells in different organs. Toxicity studies showed that cKK-E12 was well tolerated in rats at a dose of 1 mg/kg (over 100-fold higher than the ED50). To our knowledge, this is the most efficacious and selective nonviral siRNA delivery system for gene silencing in hepatocytes reported to date.
Excessive and prolonged activity of inflammatory monocytes is a hallmark of many diseases with an inflammatory component. In such conditions, precise targeting of these cells could be therapeutically ...beneficial while sparing many essential functions of the innate immune system, thus limiting unwanted effects. Inflammatory monocytes-but not the noninflammatory subset-depend on the chemokine receptor CCR2 for localization to injured tissue. Here we present an optimized lipid nanoparticle and a CCR2-silencing short interfering RNA that, when administered systemically in mice, show rapid blood clearance, accumulate in spleen and bone marrow, and localize to monocytes. Efficient degradation of CCR2 mRNA in monocytes prevents their accumulation in sites of inflammation. Specifically, the treatment attenuates their number in atherosclerotic plaques, reduces infarct size after coronary artery occlusion, prolongs normoglycemia in diabetic mice after pancreatic islet transplantation, and results in reduced tumor volumes and lower numbers of tumor-associated macrophages.
PDF
