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Lookup NU author(s): Avril Watson, Dr Rachel QueenORCiD, Dr Joseph Collin, Raf Hussain, Dr Jonathan Coxhead, Michael McCorkindaleORCiD, Dr Darin Zerti, Dr Valeria Chichagova, Professor Lyle ArmstrongORCiD, Professor Majlinda LakoORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s) 2025. Stargardt disease is an inherited retinopathy affecting approximately 1:8000 individuals. It is characterised by biallelic variants in ABCA4 which encodes a vital protein for the recycling of retinaldehydes in the retina. Despite its prevalence and impact, there are currently no treatments available for this condition. Furthermore, 35% of STGD1 cases remain genetically unsolved. To investigate the cellular and molecular characteristics associated with STGD1, we generated iPSCs from two monoallelic unresolved (PT1 & PT2), late-onset STGD1 cases with the heterozygous complex allele - c.[5461-10 T > C;5603 A > T]. Both patient iPSCs and those from a biallelic affected control (AC) carrying -c.4892 T > C and c.4539+2001G > A, were differentiated to retinal organoids, which developed all key retinal neurons and photoreceptors with outer segments positive for ABCA4 expression. We observed patient-specific disruption to lamination with OPN1MW/LW+ cone photoreceptor retention in the retinal organoid centre during differentiation. Photoreceptor retention was more severe in the AC case affecting both cones and rods, suggesting a genotype/phenotype correlation. scRNA-Seq suggests retention may be due to the induction of stress-related pathways in photoreceptors. Whole genome sequencing successfully identified the missing alleles in both cases; PT1 reported c.-5603A > T in homozygous state and PT2 uncovered a rare hypomorph - c.-4685T > C. Furthermore, retinal organoids were able to recapitulate the retina-specific splicing defect in PT1 as shown by long-read RNA-seq data. Collectively, these results highlight the suitability of retinal organoids in STGD1 modelling. Their ability to display genotype-phenotype correlations enhances their utility as a platform for therapeutic development. (Figure presented.)
Author(s): Watson A, Queen R, Ferrandez-Peral L, Dorgau B, Collin J, Nelson A, Hussain R, Coxhead J, McCorkindale M, Atkinson R, Zerti D, Chichagova V, Conesa A, Armstrong L, Cremers FPM, Lako M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Cell Death and Disease
Year: 2025
Volume: 16
Online publication date: 19/02/2025
Acceptance date: 03/02/2025
Date deposited: 10/03/2025
ISSN (electronic): 2041-4889
Publisher: Springer Nature
URL: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41419-025-07420-7
DOI: 10.1038/s41419-025-07420-7
Data Access Statement: scRNA-Seq data has been deposited to GEO under the following accession number: GSE236097.
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