Generation of a Syngeneic Heterozygous ACVRL1(wt/mut) Knockout iPS Cell Line for the In Vitro Study of HHT2-Associated Angiogenesis

Li Xiang-Tischhauser; Michael Bette; Johanna R Rusche; Katrin Roth; Norio Kasahara; Boris A Stuck; Udo Bakowsky; Maria Wartenberg; Heinrich Sauer; Urban W Geisthoff; Robert Mandic

doi:10.3390/cells12121600

Generation of a Syngeneic Heterozygous ACVRL1^(wt/mut) Knockout iPS Cell Line for the In Vitro Study of HHT2-Associated Angiogenesis

Cells. 2023 Jun 10;12(12):1600. doi: 10.3390/cells12121600.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ VASCERN HHT Reference Centre, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, University Hospital Marburg, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35033 Marburg, Germany.
² Department of Molecular Neuroscience, Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35037 Marburg, Germany.
³ Cellular Imaging Core Facility, Center for Tumor Biology and Immunology (ZTI), Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
⁴ Department of Oral- and Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery, University Hospital Marburg, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35043 Marburg, Germany.
⁵ Department of Histology and Developmental Biology, Tokyo Dental College, Tokyo 101-0061, Japan.
⁶ Department of Pharmaceutics and Biopharmaceutics, Philipps-Universität Marburg, 35037 Marburg, Germany.
⁷ Department of Internal Medicine I, Division of Cardiology, University Hospital Jena, Friedrich Schiller University, 07747 Jena, Germany.
⁸ Department of Physiology, Justus-Liebig University Giessen, 35392 Giessen, Germany.

Abstract

Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) type 2 is an autosomal dominant disease in which one allele of the ACVRL1 gene is mutated. Patients exhibit disturbances in TGF-beta/BMP-dependent angiogenesis and, clinically, often present with severe nosebleeds as well as a reduced quality of life. The aim of our study was to use CRISPR/Cas9 to knockout ACVRL1 in normal induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and evaluate the effects on TGF-beta- and BMP-related gene expression as well as angiogenesis. The CRISPR/Cas9 knockout of the ACVRL1 gene was carried out in previously characterized wild-type (ACVRL1^wt/wt) iPSCs. An HHT type 2 iPS cell line was generated via a single-allele knockout (ACVRL1^wt/mut) in wild-type (ACVRL1^wt/wt) iPSCs, resulting in a heterozygous 17 bp frameshift deletion in the ACVRL1 gene [NG_009549.1:g.13707_13723del; NM_000020.3:c.1137_1153del]. After the generation of embryoid bodies (EBs), endothelial differentiation was induced via adding 4 ng/mL BMP4, 2% B27, and 10 ng/mL VEGF. Endothelial differentiation was monitored via immunocytochemistry. An analysis of 151 TGF-beta/BMP-related genes was performed via RT-qPCR through the use of mRNA derived from single iPS cell cultures as well as endothelial cells derived from EBs after endothelial differentiation. Differential TGF-beta/BMP gene expression was observed between ACVRL1^wt/wt and ACVRL1^wt/mut iPSCs as well as endothelial cells. EBs derived from CRISPR/Cas9-designed ACVRL1 mutant HHT type 2 iPSCs, together with their isogenic wild-type iPSC counterparts, can serve as valuable resources for HHT type 2 in vitro studies.

Keywords: ACVRL1; HHT2; Morbus Osler; iPSC.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Activin Receptors, Type II / genetics
Cell Line
Endothelial Cells
Humans
Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells*
Mutation
Quality of Life
Telangiectasia, Hereditary Hemorrhagic* / genetics
Transforming Growth Factor beta / genetics

Substances

Transforming Growth Factor beta
ACVRL1 protein, human
Activin Receptors, Type II

Grants and funding

This study was supported by the Research Campus of Central Hessen/Forschungscampus Mittelhessen (2021_2_1_3_Geisthoff). Open Access funding provided by the Open Acess Publishing Fund of Philipps-Universität Marburg with support of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation).