CRISPR/Cas9-mediated correction of mutated copper transporter ATP7B

Wilson's disease (WD) is a monogenetic liver disease that is based on a mutation of the ATP7B gene and leads to a functional deterioration in copper (Cu) excretion in the liver. The excess Cu accumulates in various organs such as the liver and brain. WD patients show clinical heterogeneity, which can range from acute or chronic liver failure to neurological symptoms. The course of the disease can be improved by a life-long treatment with zinc or chelators such as D-penicillamine in a majority of patients, but serious side effects have been observed in a significant portion of patients, e.g. neurological deterioration and nephrotoxicity, so that a liver transplant would be inevitable. An alternative therapy option would be the genetic correction of the ATP7B gene. The novel gene therapy method CRISPR/Cas9, which has recently been used in the clinic, may represent a suitable therapeutic opportunity. In this study, we first initiated an artificial ATP7B point mutation in a human cell line using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing, and corrected this mutation by the additional use of single-stranded oligo DNA nucleotides (ssODNs), simulating a gene correction of a WD point mutation in vitro. By the addition of 0.5 mM of Cu three days after lipofection, a high yield of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated ATP7B repaired cell clones was achieved (60%). Moreover, the repair efficiency was enhanced using ssODNs that incorporated three blocking mutations. The repaired cell clones showed a high resistance to Cu after exposure to increasing Cu concentrations. Our findings indicate that CRISPR/Cas9-mediated correction of ATP7B point mutations is feasible and may have the potential to be transferred to the clinic.