Capturing the biology of disease severity in a PSC-based model of familial dysautonomia Journal Article


Authors: Zeltner, N.; Fattahi, F.; Dubois, N. C.; Saurat, N.; Lafaille, F.; Shang, L.; Zimmer, B.; Tchieu, J.; Soliman, M. A.; Lee, G.; Casanova, J. L.; Studer, L.
Article Title: Capturing the biology of disease severity in a PSC-based model of familial dysautonomia
Abstract: Familial dysautonomia (FD) is a debilitating disorder that affects derivatives of the neural crest (NC). For unknown reasons, people with FD show marked differences in disease severity despite carrying an identical, homozygous point mutation in IKBKAP, encoding I kappa B kinase complex-associated protein. Here we present disease-related phenotypes in human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) that capture FD severity. Cells from individuals with severe but not mild disease show impaired specification of NC derivatives, including autonomic and sensory neurons. In contrast, cells from individuals with severe and mild FD show defects in peripheral neuron survival, indicating that neurodegeneration is the main culprit for cases of mild FD. Although genetic repair of the FD-associated mutation reversed early developmental NC defects, sensory neuron specification was not restored, indicating that other factors may contribute to disease severity. Whole-exome sequencing identified candidate modifier genes for individuals with severe FD. Our study demonstrates that PSC-based modeling is sensitive in recapitulating disease severity, which presents an important step toward personalized medicine.
Keywords: genome; differentiation; expression; mouse model; induction; variants; specification; pluripotent stem-cells; rna-seq; patient-specific ipscs
Journal Title: Nature Medicine
Volume: 22
Issue: 12
ISSN: 1078-8956
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group  
Date Published: 2016-12-01
Start Page: 1421
End Page: 1427
Language: English
ACCESSION: WOS:000389549000019
DOI: 10.1038/nm.4220
PROVIDER: wos
PUBMED: 27841875
PMCID: PMC5555047
Notes: Article -- Source: Wos
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  1. Lorenz Studer
    220 Studer
  2. Jason Hung Tchieu
    19 Tchieu
  3. Bastian   Zimmer
    14 Zimmer
  4. Nathalie Gael Saurat
    6 Saurat