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Nai A, Cordero-Sanchez C, Tanzi E, Pagani A, Silvestri L, Di Modica SM. Cellular and animal models for the investigation of β-thalassemia. Blood Cells Mol Dis 2024; 104:102761. [PMID: 37271682 DOI: 10.1016/j.bcmd.2023.102761] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2023] [Revised: 05/24/2023] [Accepted: 05/26/2023] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
β-Thalassemia is a genetic form of anemia due to mutations in the β-globin gene, that leads to ineffective and extramedullary erythropoiesis, abnormal red blood cells and secondary iron-overload. The severity of the disease ranges from mild to lethal anemia based on the residual levels of globins production. Despite being a monogenic disorder, the pathophysiology of β-thalassemia is multifactorial, with different players contributing to the severity of anemia and secondary complications. As a result, the identification of effective therapeutic strategies is complex, and the treatment of patients is still suboptimal. For these reasons, several models have been developed in the last decades to provide experimental tools for the study of the disease, including erythroid cell lines, cultures of primary erythroid cells and transgenic animals. Years of research enabled the optimization of these models and led to decipher the mechanisms responsible for globins deregulation and ineffective erythropoiesis in thalassemia, to unravel the role of iron homeostasis in the disease and to identify and validate novel therapeutic targets and agents. Examples of successful outcomes of these analyses include iron restricting agents, currently tested in the clinics, several gene therapy vectors, one of which was recently approved for the treatment of most severe patients, and a promising gene editing strategy, that has been shown to be effective in a clinical trial. This review provides an overview of the available models, discusses pros and cons, and the key findings obtained from their study.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antonella Nai
- Regulation of Iron Metabolism Unit, Division of Genetics and Cell Biology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, via Olgettina 60, Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, via Olgettina 58, Milan, Italy.
| | - Celia Cordero-Sanchez
- Regulation of Iron Metabolism Unit, Division of Genetics and Cell Biology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, via Olgettina 60, Milan, Italy
| | - Emanuele Tanzi
- Regulation of Iron Metabolism Unit, Division of Genetics and Cell Biology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, via Olgettina 60, Milan, Italy
| | - Alessia Pagani
- Regulation of Iron Metabolism Unit, Division of Genetics and Cell Biology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, via Olgettina 60, Milan, Italy
| | - Laura Silvestri
- Regulation of Iron Metabolism Unit, Division of Genetics and Cell Biology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, via Olgettina 60, Milan, Italy; Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, via Olgettina 58, Milan, Italy
| | - Simona Maria Di Modica
- Regulation of Iron Metabolism Unit, Division of Genetics and Cell Biology, IRCCS Ospedale San Raffaele, via Olgettina 60, Milan, Italy
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Zeng S, Lei S, Qu C, Wang Y, Teng S, Huang P. CRISPR/Cas-based gene editing in therapeutic strategies for beta-thalassemia. Hum Genet 2023; 142:1677-1703. [PMID: 37878144 DOI: 10.1007/s00439-023-02610-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2023] [Accepted: 10/10/2023] [Indexed: 10/26/2023]
Abstract
Beta-thalassemia (β-thalassemia) is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by point mutations, insertions, and deletions in the HBB gene cluster, resulting in the underproduction of β-globin chains. The most severe type may demonstrate complications including massive hepatosplenomegaly, bone deformities, and severe growth retardation in children. Treatments for β-thalassemia include blood transfusion, splenectomy, and allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). However, long-term blood transfusions require regular iron removal therapy. For allogeneic HSCT, human lymphocyte antigen (HLA)-matched donors are rarely available, and acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) may occur after the transplantation. Thus, these conventional treatments are facing significant challenges. In recent years, with the advent and advancement of CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats)/Cas9 (CRISPR-associated protein 9) gene editing technology, precise genome editing has achieved encouraging successes in basic and clinical studies for treating various genetic disorders, including β-thalassemia. Target gene-edited autogeneic HSCT helps patients avoid graft rejection and GVHD, making it a promising curative therapy for transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT). In this review, we introduce the development and mechanisms of CRISPR/Cas9. Recent advances on feasible strategies of CRISPR/Cas9 targeting three globin genes (HBB, HBG, and HBA) and targeting cell selections for β-thalassemia therapy are highlighted. Current CRISPR-based clinical trials in the treatment of β-thalassemia are summarized, which are focused on γ-globin reactivation and fetal hemoglobin reproduction in hematopoietic stem cells. Lastly, the applications of other promising CRISPR-based technologies, such as base editing and prime editing, in treating β-thalassemia and the limitations of the CRISPR/Cas system in therapeutic applications are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shujun Zeng
- The Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Norman Bethune College of Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, People's Republic of China
| | - Shuangyin Lei
- The Second Norman Bethune Clinical College of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, People's Republic of China
| | - Chao Qu
- The First Norman Bethune Clinical College of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, People's Republic of China
| | - Yue Wang
- The Second Norman Bethune Clinical College of Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, People's Republic of China
| | - Shuzhi Teng
- The Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Norman Bethune College of Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, People's Republic of China.
| | - Ping Huang
- The Key Laboratory of Pathobiology, Ministry of Education, Norman Bethune College of Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, People's Republic of China.
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Lee SM, Lee MC, Bae WR, Yoon KJ, Moon HY. Muscle fiber type-dependence effect of exercise on genomic networks in aged mice models. Aging (Albany NY) 2022; 14:3337-3364. [PMID: 35440516 PMCID: PMC9085230 DOI: 10.18632/aging.204024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2022] [Accepted: 04/12/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Skeletal muscles are made up of various muscle fiber type including slow and fast-twitch fibers. Because each muscle fiber has its own physiological characteristics, the effects of aging and exercise vary depending on the type of muscle fiber. We used bioinformatics screening techniques such as differentially expressed gene analysis, gene ontology analysis and gene set enrichment analysis, to try to understand the genetic differences between muscle fiber types. The experiment and gene expression profiling in this study used the soleus (SOL, slow-twitch muscle) and gastrocnemius (GAS, fast-twitch muscle). According to our findings, fatty acid metabolism is significantly up-regulated in SOL compared to GAS, whereas the glucose metabolism pathway is significantly down-regulated in SOL compared to GAS. Furthermore, apoptosis and myogenesis patterns differ between SOL and GAS. SOL did not show differences in apoptosis due to the aging effect, but apoptosis in GAS was significantly up-regulated with age. Apoptosis in GAS of old groups is significantly reduced after 4 weeks of aerobic exercise, but no such finding was found in SOL. In terms of myogenesis, exercise intervention up-regulated this process in GAS of old groups but not in SOL. Taken together, muscle fiber type significantly interacts with aging and exercise. Despite the importance of the interaction between these factors, large-scale gene expression data has rarely been studied. We hope to contribute to a better understanding of the relationship between muscle fiber type, aging and exercise at the molecular level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sun Min Lee
- Department of Physical Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Min Chul Lee
- Department of Sports Medicine, College of Health Science, CHA University, Pocheon, South Korea
| | - Woo Ri Bae
- Department of Physical Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Kyung Jin Yoon
- Department of Physical Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
| | - Hyo Youl Moon
- Department of Physical Education, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.,Institute of Sport Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.,Institute on Aging, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea
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Jie Q, Lei S, Qu C, Wu H, Liu Y, Huang P, Teng S. 利用CRISPR/Cas9基因编辑技术治疗β-地中海贫血的最新进展. CHINESE SCIENCE BULLETIN-CHINESE 2022. [DOI: 10.1360/tb-2022-0109] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
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Abkallo HM, Svitek N, Oduor B, Awino E, Henson SP, Oyola SO, Mwalimu S, Assad-Garcia N, Fuchs W, Vashee S, Steinaa L. Rapid CRISPR/Cas9 Editing of Genotype IX African Swine Fever Virus Circulating in Eastern and Central Africa. Front Genet 2021; 12:733674. [PMID: 34527025 PMCID: PMC8435729 DOI: 10.3389/fgene.2021.733674] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2021] [Accepted: 08/10/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
African swine fever virus (ASFV) is the etiological agent of a contagious and fatal disease of domestic pigs that has significant economic consequences for the global swine industry. Due to the lack of effective treatment and vaccines against African swine fever, there is an urgent need to leverage cutting-edge technologies and cost-effective approaches for generating and purifying recombinant virus to fast-track the development of live-attenuated ASFV vaccines. Here, we describe the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and a cost-effective cloning system to produce recombinant ASFVs. Combining these approaches, we developed a recombinant virus lacking the non-essential gene A238L (5EL) in the highly virulent genotype IX ASFV (ASFV-Kenya-IX-1033) genome in less than 2 months as opposed to the standard homologous recombination with conventional purification techniques which takes up to 6 months on average. Our approach could therefore be a method of choice for less resourced laboratories in developing nations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hussein M Abkallo
- Animal and Human Health Program, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Nicholas Svitek
- Animal and Human Health Program, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Bernard Oduor
- Animal and Human Health Program, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Elias Awino
- Animal and Human Health Program, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Sonal P Henson
- Animal and Human Health Program, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Samuel O Oyola
- Animal and Human Health Program, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Stephen Mwalimu
- Animal and Human Health Program, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Nacrya Assad-Garcia
- Department of Synthetic Biology and Bioenergy, J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, MD, United States
| | - Walter Fuchs
- Institute of Molecular Virology and Cell Biology, Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut, Federal Research Institute for Animal Health, Greifswald-Insel Riems, Germany
| | - Sanjay Vashee
- Department of Synthetic Biology and Bioenergy, J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, MD, United States
| | - Lucilla Steinaa
- Animal and Human Health Program, International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi, Kenya
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Huang X, Wu W, Yang W, Qing X, Shao Z. Surface engineering of nanoparticles with ligands for targeted delivery to osteosarcoma. Colloids Surf B Biointerfaces 2020; 190:110891. [PMID: 32114271 DOI: 10.1016/j.colsurfb.2020.110891] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Revised: 02/19/2020] [Accepted: 02/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Osteosarcoma is one of the most common malignant bone tumors which affect adolescents. Neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by operation has become recommended for osteosarcoma treatment. Whereas, the effects of conventional chemotherapy are unsatisfactory because of multidrug resistance, fast clearance rate, nontargeted delivery, side effects and so on. Accordingly, Nanoparticle-mediated targeted drug delivery system (NTDDS) is recommended to be a novel treatment strategy for osteosarcoma. NTDDS can overcome the above obstacles by enhanced permeability and retention effect and active targeting. The active targeting of the delivery system is mainly based on ligands. In this study, we investigate and summarize the most common ligands used in the latest NTDDS for osteosarcoma. It might provide new insights into nanomedicine for osteosarcoma treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Huang
- Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China.
| | - Wei Wu
- Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China
| | - Wenbo Yang
- Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China
| | - Xiangcheng Qing
- Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China.
| | - Zengwu Shao
- Department of Orthopaedics, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430022, China.
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