Calcium signaling consequences of RyR2 mutations associated with CPVT1 introduced via CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing in human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes: Comparison of RyR2-R420Q, F2483I, and Q4201R

Point mutations in RyR2 Ca2+-binding residues of human cardiomyocytes cause cellular remodelling of cardiac excitation contraction-coupling

AIMS

CRISPR/Cas9 gene edits of cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) in human-induced pluripotent stem cell derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) provide a novel platform for introducing mutations in RyR2 Ca2+-binding residues and examining the resulting excitation contraction (EC)-coupling remodelling consequences.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Ca2+-signalling phenotypes of mutations in RyR2 Ca2+-binding site residues associated with cardiac arrhythmia (RyR2-Q3925E) or not proven to cause cardiac pathology (RyR2-E3848A) were determined using ICa- and caffeine-triggered Ca2+ releases in voltage-clamped and total internal reflection fluorescence-imaged wild type and mutant cardiomyocytes infected with sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR)-targeted ER-GCaMP6 probe. (i) ICa- and caffeine-triggered Fura-2 or ER-GCaMP6 signals were suppressed, even when ICa was significantly enhanced in Q3925E and E3848A mutant cardiomyocytes; (ii) spontaneous beating (Fura-2 Ca2+ transients) persisted in mutant cells without the SR-release signals; (iii) while 5-20 mM caffeine failed to trigger Ca2+-release in voltage-clamped mutant cells, only ∼20% to ∼70% of intact myocytes responded respectively to caffeine; (iv) and 20 mM caffeine transients, however, activated slowly, were delayed, and variably suppressed by 2-APB, FCCP, or ruthenium red.

CONCLUSION

Mutating RyR2 Ca2+-binding residues, irrespective of their reported pathogenesis, suppressed both ICa- and caffeine-triggered Ca2+ releases, suggesting interaction between Ca2+- and caffeine-binding sites. Enhanced transmembrane calcium influx and remodelling of EC-coupling pathways may underlie the persistence of spontaneous beating in Ca2+-induced Ca2+ release-suppressed mutant myocytes.

Calcium Signaling Consequences of RyR2-S4938F Mutation Expressed in Human iPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes

Type-2 ryanodine receptor (RyR2) is the major Ca2+ release channel of the cardiac sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) that controls the rhythm and strength of the heartbeat, but its malfunction may generate severe arrhythmia leading to sudden cardiac death or heart failure. S4938F-RyR2 mutation in the carboxyl-terminal was expressed in human induced pluripotent stem cells derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) using CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing technique. Ca2+ signaling and electrophysiological properties of beating cardiomyocytes carrying the mutation were studied using total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy (TIRF) and patch clamp technique. In mutant cells, L-type Ca2+ currents (ICa), measured either by depolarizations to zero mV or repolarizations from +100 mV to -50 mV, and their activated Ca2+ transients were significantly smaller, despite their larger caffeine-triggered Ca2+ release signals compared to wild type (WT) cells, suggesting ICa-induced Ca2+ release (CICR) was compromised. The larger SR Ca2+ content of S4938F-RyR2 cells may underlie the higher frequency of spontaneously occurring Ca2+ sparks and Ca2+ transients and their arrhythmogenic phenotype.

Arrhythmogenic mechanism of a novel ryanodine receptor mutation underlying sudden cardiac death

AIMS

The ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2) is essential for cardiac muscle excitation-contraction coupling; dysfunctional RyR2 participates in the development of inherited arrhythmogenic cardiac disease. In this study, a novel RyR2 mutation A690E is identified from a patient with family inheritance of sudden cardiac death, and we aimed to investigate the pathogenic basis of the mutation.

METHODS AND RESULTS

We generated a mouse model that carried the A690E mutation. Mice were characterized by adrenergic-induced ventricular arrhythmias similar to clinical manifestation of the patient. Optical mapping studies revealed that isolated A690E hearts were prone to arrhythmogenesis and displayed frequency-dependence calcium transient alternans. Upon β-adrenoceptor challenge, the concordant alternans was shifted towards discordant alternans that favour triggering ectopic beats and Ca2+ re-entry; similar phenomenon was also found in the A690E cardiomyocytes. In addition, we found that A690E cardiomyocytes manifested abnormal Ca2+ release and electrophysiological disorders, including an increased sensitivity to cytosolic Ca2+, an elevated diastolic RyR2-mediated Ca2+ leak, and an imbalance between Ca2+ leak and reuptake. Structural analyses reveal that the mutation directly impacts RyR2-FK506 binding protein interaction.

CONCLUSION

In this study, we have identified a novel mutation in RyR2 that is associated with sudden cardiac death. By characterizing the function defects of mutant RyR2 in animal, whole heat, and cardiomyocytes, we demonstrated the pathogenic basis of the disease-causing mutation and provided a deeper mechanistic understanding of a life-threatening cardiac arrhythmia.

Recent advances in CRISPR-based genome editing technology and its applications in cardiovascular research

The rapid development of genome editing technology has brought major breakthroughs in the fields of life science and medicine. In recent years, the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-based genome editing toolbox has been greatly expanded, not only with emerging CRISPR-associated protein (Cas) nucleases, but also novel applications through combination with diverse effectors. Recently, transposon-associated programmable RNA-guided genome editing systems have been uncovered, adding myriads of potential new tools to the genome editing toolbox. CRISPR-based genome editing technology has also revolutionized cardiovascular research. Here we first summarize the advances involving newly identified Cas orthologs, engineered variants and novel genome editing systems, and then discuss the applications of the CRISPR-Cas systems in precise genome editing, such as base editing and prime editing. We also highlight recent progress in cardiovascular research using CRISPR-based genome editing technologies, including the generation of genetically modified in vitro and animal models of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) as well as the applications in treating different types of CVD. Finally, the current limitations and future prospects of genome editing technologies are discussed.

iPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes in Inherited Cardiac Arrhythmias: Pathomechanistic Discovery and Drug Development

With the discovery of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSCs) a wide range of cell types, including iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes (iPSC-CM), can now be generated from an unlimited source of somatic cells. These iPSC-CM are used for different purposes such as disease modelling, drug discovery, cardiotoxicity testing and personalised medicine. The 2D iPSC-CM models have shown promising results, but they are known to be more immature compared to in vivo adult cardiomyocytes. Novel approaches to create 3D models with the possible addition of other (cardiac) cell types are being developed. This will not only improve the maturity of the cells, but also leads to more physiologically relevant models that more closely resemble the human heart. In this review, we focus on the progress in the modelling of inherited cardiac arrhythmias in both 2D and 3D and on the use of these models in therapy development and drug testing.

Cardiac calcium regulation in human induced pluripotent stem cell cardiomyocytes: Implications for disease modeling and maturation

Human induced pluripotent stem cell cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) are based on ground-breaking technology that has significantly impacted cardiovascular research. They provide a renewable source of human cardiomyocytes for a variety of applications including in vitro disease modeling and drug toxicity testing. Cardiac calcium regulation plays a critical role in the cardiomyocyte and is often dysregulated in cardiovascular disease. Due to the limited availability of human cardiac tissue, calcium handling and its regulation have most commonly been studied in the context of animal models. hiPSC-CMs can provide unique insights into human physiology and pathophysiology, although a remaining limitation is the relative immaturity of these cells compared to adult cardiomyocytes Therefore, this field is rapidly developing techniques to improve the maturity of hiPSC-CMs, further establishing their place in cardiovascular research. This review briefly covers the basics of cardiomyocyte calcium cycling and hiPSC technology, and will provide a detailed description of our current understanding of calcium in hiPSC-CMs.

An Optogenetic Arrhythmia Model—Insertion of Several Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia Mutations Into Caenorhabditis elegans UNC-68 Disturbs Calstabin-Mediated Stabilization of the Ryanodine Receptor Homolog

Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is an inherited disturbance of the heart rhythm (arrhythmia) that is induced by stress or that occurs during exercise. Most mutations that have been linked to CPVT are found in two genes, i.e., ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2) and calsequestrin 2 (CASQ2), two proteins fundamentally involved in the regulation of intracellular Ca²⁺ in cardiac myocytes. We inserted six CPVT-causing mutations via clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)-Cas9 into unc-68 and csq-1, the Caenorhabditis elegans homologs of RyR and CASQ, respectively. We characterized those mutations via video-microscopy, electrophysiology, and calcium imaging in our previously established optogenetic arrhythmia model. In this study, we additionally enabled high(er) throughput recordings of intact animals by combining optogenetic stimulation with a microfluidic chip system. Whereas only minor/no pump deficiency of the pharynx was observed at baseline, three mutations of UNC-68 (S2378L, P2460S, Q4623R; RyR2-S2246L, -P2328S, -Q4201R) reduced the ability of the organ to follow 4 Hz optogenetic stimulation. One mutation (Q4623R) was accompanied by a strong reduction of maximal pump rate. In addition, S2378L and Q4623R evoked an altered calcium handling during optogenetic stimulation. The 1,4-benzothiazepine S107, which is suggested to stabilize RyR2 channels by enhancing the binding of calstabin2, reversed the reduction of pumping ability in a mutation-specific fashion. However, this depends on the presence of FKB-2, a C. elegans calstabin2 homolog, indicating the involvement of calstabin2 in the disease-causing mechanisms of the respective mutations. In conclusion, we showed for three CPVT-like mutations in C. elegans RyR a reduced pumping ability upon light stimulation, i.e., an arrhythmia-like phenotype, that can be reversed in two cases by the benzothiazepine S107 and that depends on stabilization via FKB-2. The genetically amenable nematode in combination with optogenetics and high(er) throughput recordings is a promising straightforward system for the investigation of RyR mutations and the selection of mutation-specific drugs.

Mutation in RyR2-FKBP Binding site alters Ca2+ signaling modestly but increases "arrhythmogenesis" in human stem cells derived cardiomyocytes

AIMS

To gain insights into FKBP regulation of cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) and Ca²⁺ signaling, we introduced the point mutation (N771D-RyR2) corresponding to skeletal muscle mutation (N760D-RyR1) associated with central core disease (CCD) via CRISPR/Cas9 gene-editing in the RyR2 FKBP binding site expressed in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSCCMs). Patients inflicted with CCD and other hereditary skeletal muscle diseases often show higher incidence of atrial or ventricular arrhythmias.

METHODS AND RESULTS

Ca²⁺ imaging of voltage-clamped N771D-RyR2 mutant compared to WT hiPSCCMs showed: (1) ∼30% suppressed I_Ca with no significant changes in the gating kinetics of I_Ca; (2) 29% lower SR Ca²⁺ content and 33% lower RyR2 Ca²⁺ leak; (3) higher CICR gain and 30-35% increased efficiency of I_Ca-triggered Ca^2±release; (4) higher incidence of aberrant SR Ca²⁺ releases, DADs, and Ca²⁺ sparks; (5) no change in fractional Ca²⁺-release, action potential morphology, sensitivity to isoproterenol, and sarcomeric FKBP-binding pattern.

CONCLUSIONS

The more frequent spontaneous Ca²⁺ releases and longer Ca²⁺ sparks underlie the increased incidence of DADs and cellular arrhythmogenesis of N771D-RyR2 mutant. The smaller RyR2 Ca^2±leak and SR content result from suppressed I_Cathat is compensated by higher CICR gain.

CRISPR/Cas9 Gene Editing of RYR2 in Human iPSC-Derived Cardiomyocytes to Probe Ca2+ Signaling Aberrancies of CPVT Arrhythmogenesis

Human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) provide a powerful platform to study biophysical and molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of genetic mutations associated with cardiac arrhythmia. Human iPSCs can be generated by reprograming of dermal fibroblasts of normal or diseased individuals and be differentiated into cardiac myocytes. Obtaining biopsies from patients afflicted with point mutations causing arrhythmia is often a cumbersome process even when patients are available. Recent development of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing system makes it, however, possible to introduce arrhythmia-associated point mutations at the desired loci of the wild-type hiPSCs in relatively short times. This platform was used by us to compare the Ca2+ signaling phenotypes of cardiomyocytes harboring point mutations in cardiac Ca2+ release channel, type-2 ryanodine receptor (RyR2), since over 200 missense mutations in RYR2 gene appear to be associated with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT1). We have created cardiac myocytes harboring mutations in different domains of RyR2, to study not only their Ca2+ signaling consequences but also their drug and domain specificity as related to CPVT1 pathology. In this chapter, we describe our procedures to establish CRISPR/Cas9 gene-edited hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes.

A novel mutation in ryanodine receptor 2 (RYR2) genes at c.12670G>T associated with focal epilepsy in a 3-year-old child

BACKGROUND

Ryanodine receptor 2 (RYR2) encodes a component of a calcium channel. RYR2 variants were well-reported to be associated with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT), but rarely reported in epilepsy cases. Here, we present a novel heterozygous mutation of RYR2 in a child with focal epilepsy.

METHODS

At the age of 2 years and 7 months, the patient experienced seizures, such as eye closure, tooth clenching, clonic jerking and hemifacial spasm, as well as abnormal electroencephalogram (EEG). Then, he was analyzed by whole-exome sequencing (WES). The mutations of both the proband and his parents were further confirmed by Sanger sequencing. The pathogenicity of the variant was further assessed by population-based variant frequency screening, evolutionary conservation comparison, and American Association for Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) scoring.

RESULTS

WES sequencing revealed a novel heterozygous truncating mutation [c.12670G > T, p.(Glu4224*), NM_001035.3] in RYR2 gene of the proband. Sanger sequencing confirmed that this mutation was inherited from his mother. This novel variant was predicted to be damaging by different bioinformatics methods. Cardiac investigation showed that the proband had no structural abnormalities, but sinus tachycardia.

CONCLUSION

We proposed that RYR2 is a potential candidate gene for focal epilepsy, and epilepsy patients carried with RYR2 variants should be given more attention, even if they do not show cardiac abnormalities.

"Ryanopathies" and RyR2 dysfunctions: can we further decipher them using in vitro human disease models?

The regulation of intracellular calcium (Ca²⁺) homeostasis is fundamental to maintain normal functions in many cell types. The ryanodine receptor (RyR), the largest intracellular calcium release channel located on the sarco/endoplasmic reticulum (SR/ER), plays a key role in the intracellular Ca²⁺ handling. Abnormal type 2 ryanodine receptor (RyR2) function, associated to mutations (ryanopathies) or pathological remodeling, has been reported, not only in cardiac diseases, but also in neuronal and pancreatic disorders. While animal models and in vitro studies provided valuable contributions to our knowledge on RyR2 dysfunctions, the human cell models derived from patients’ cells offer new hope for improving our understanding of human clinical diseases and enrich the development of great medical advances. We here discuss the current knowledge on RyR2 dysfunctions associated with mutations and post-translational remodeling. We then reviewed the novel human cellular technologies allowing the correlation of patient’s genome with their cellular environment and providing approaches for personalized RyR-targeted therapeutics.

Pediatric Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia: A Translational Perspective for the Clinician-Scientist

Catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (CPVT) is a rare and potentially lethal inherited arrhythmia disease characterized by exercise or emotion-induced bidirectional or polymorphic ventricular tachyarrhythmias. The median age of disease onset is reported to be approximately 10 years of age. The majority of CPVT patients have pathogenic variants in the gene encoding the cardiac ryanodine receptor, or calsequestrin 2. These lead to mishandling of calcium in cardiomyocytes resulting in after-depolarizations, and ventricular arrhythmias. Disease severity is particularly pronounced in younger individuals who usually present with cardiac arrest and arrhythmic syncope. Risk stratification is imprecise and long-term prognosis on therapy is unknown despite decades of research focused on pediatric CPVT populations. The purpose of this review is to summarize contemporary data on pediatric CPVT, highlight knowledge gaps and present future research directions for the clinician-scientist to address.

Atrial-specific hiPSC-derived cardiomyocytes in drug discovery and disease modeling

The discovery and application of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) have been instrumental in the investigation of the pathophysiology of cardiovascular diseases. Patient-specific hiPSCs can now be generated, genome-edited, and subsequently differentiated into various cell types and used for regenerative medicine, disease modeling, drug testing, toxicity screening, and 3D tissue generation. Modulation of the retinoic acid signaling pathway has been shown to direct cardiomyocyte differentiation towards an atrial lineage. A variety of studies have successfully differentiated patient-specific atrial cardiac myocytes (hiPSC-aCM) and atrial engineered heart tissue (aEHT) that express atrial specific genes (e.g., sarcolipin and ANP) and exhibit atrial electrophysiological and contractility profiles. Identification of protocols to differentiate atrial cells from patients with atrial fibrillation and other inherited diseases or creating disease models using genetic mutation studies has shed light on the mechanisms of atrial-specific diseases and identified the efficacy of atrial-selective pharmacological compounds. hiPSC-aCMs and aEHTs can be used in drug discovery and drug screening studies to investigate the efficacy of atrial selective drugs on atrial fibrillation models. Furthermore, hiPSC-aCMs can be effective tools in studying the mechanism, pathophysiology and treatment options of atrial fibrillation and its genetic underpinnings. The main limitation of using hiPSC-CMs is their immature phenotype compared to adult CMs. A wide range of approaches and protocols are used by various laboratories to optimize and enhance CM maturation, including electrical stimulation, culture time, biophysical cues and changes in metabolic factors.

Patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells as “disease-in-a-dish” models for inherited cardiomyopathies and channelopathies – 15 years of research

Among inherited cardiac conditions, a special place is kept by cardiomyopathies (CMPs) and channelopathies (CNPs), which pose a substantial healthcare burden due to the complexity of the therapeutic management and cause early mortality. Like other inherited cardiac conditions, genetic CMPs and CNPs exhibit incomplete penetrance and variable expressivity even within carriers of the same pathogenic deoxyribonucleic acid variant, challenging our understanding of the underlying pathogenic mechanisms. Until recently, the lack of accurate physiological preclinical models hindered the investigation of fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms. The advent of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology, along with advances in gene editing, offered unprecedented opportunities to explore hereditary CMPs and CNPs. Hallmark features of iPSCs include the ability to differentiate into unlimited numbers of cells from any of the three germ layers, genetic identity with the subject from whom they were derived, and ease of gene editing, all of which were used to generate “disease-in-a-dish” models of monogenic cardiac conditions. Functionally, iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes that faithfully recapitulate the patient-specific phenotype, allowed the study of disease mechanisms in an individual-/allele-specific manner, as well as the customization of therapeutic regimen. This review provides a synopsis of the most important iPSC-based models of CMPs and CNPs and the potential use for modeling disease mechanisms, personalized therapy and deoxyribonucleic acid variant functional annotation.

The role of calcium homeostasis remodeling in inherited cardiac arrhythmia syndromes

Sudden cardiac death due to malignant ventricular arrhythmias remains the major cause of mortality in the postindustrial world. Defective intracellular Ca²⁺ homeostasis has been well established as a key contributing factor to the enhanced propensity for arrhythmia in acquired cardiac disease, such as heart failure or diabetic cardiomyopathy. More recent advances provide a strong basis to the emerging view that hereditary cardiac arrhythmia syndromes are accompanied by maladaptive remodeling of Ca²⁺ homeostasis which substantially increases arrhythmic risk. This brief review will focus on functional changes in elements of Ca²⁺ handling machinery in cardiomyocytes that occur secondary to genetic mutations associated with catecholaminergic polymorphic ventricular tachycardia, and long QT syndrome.

Optical Mapping in hiPSC-CM and Zebrafish to Resolve Cardiac Arrhythmias

Inherited cardiac arrhythmias contribute substantially to sudden cardiac death in the young. The underlying pathophysiology remains incompletely understood because of the lack of representative study models and the labour-intensive nature of electrophysiological patch clamp experiments. Whereas patch clamp is still considered the gold standard for investigating electrical properties in a cell, optical mapping of voltage and calcium transients has paved the way for high-throughput studies. Moreover, the development of human-induced pluripotent stem-cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) has enabled the study of patient specific cell lines capturing the full genomic background. Nevertheless, hiPSC-CMs do not fully address the complex interactions between various cell types in the heart. Studies using in vivo models, are therefore necessary. Given the analogies between the human and zebrafish cardiovascular system, zebrafish has emerged as a cost-efficient model for arrhythmogenic diseases. In this review, we describe how hiPSC-CM and zebrafish are employed as models to study primary electrical disorders. We provide an overview of the contemporary electrophysiological phenotyping tools and discuss in more depth the different strategies available for optical mapping. We consider the current advantages and disadvantages of both hiPSC-CM and zebrafish as a model and optical mapping as phenotyping tool and propose strategies for further improvement. Overall, the combination of experimental readouts at cellular (hiPSC-CM) and whole organ (zebrafish) level can raise our understanding of the complexity of inherited cardiac arrhythmia disorders to the next level.