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H2S-mediated protein sulfhydration in stress reveals metabolic reprogramming

Posted in Biochemical pathways, Curation, Disease Biology, Metabolism, Sepsis, Signaling, Stress Disorders, Systemic Inflammatory Response Related Disorders, tagged -SH group, adaptive compensatory glycolysis, cancer cells, Cysteine, endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress), H2S, metabolic reprogramming, metabolic switch, pancreatic beta cell, stress response, sulfhydration, TCA cycle, Warburg Effect on November 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »

H2S-mediated protein sulfhydration in stress reveals metabolic reprogramming

Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP, Curator

LPBI

Quantitative H₂S-mediated protein sulfhydration reveals metabolic reprogramming during the Integrated Stress Response

” data-author-inst=”CaseWesternReserveUniversityUnitedStates”>Xing-HuangGao,

” data-author-inst=”CaseWesternReserveUniversityUnitedStates”>DawidKrokowski,

” data-author-inst=”CaseWesternReserveUniversityUnitedStates”>Bo-JhihGuan,

” data-author-inst=”CaseWesternReserveUniversityUnitedStates”>IlyaBederman,

” data-author-inst=”CaseWesternReserveUniversityUnitedStates”>MithuMajumder, et al.
eLife 2015;10.7554/eLife.10067

http://elifesciences.org/content/early/2015/11/23/eLife.10067 http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10067

The sulfhydration of cysteine residues in proteins is an important mechanism involved in diverse biological processes. We have developed a proteomics approach to quantitatively profile the changes of sulfhydrated cysteines in biological systems. Bioinformatics analysis revealed that sulfhydrated cysteines are part of a wide range of biological functions. In pancreatic β cells exposed to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, elevated H2S promotes the sulfhydration of enzymes in energy metabolism and stimulates glycolytic flux. We propose that transcriptional and translational reprogramming by the Integrated Stress Response (ISR) in pancreatic β cells is coupled to metabolic alternations triggered by sulfhydration of key enzymes in intermediary metabolism.

Posttranslational modification is a fundamental mechanism in the regulation of structure and function of proteins. The covalent modification of specific amino acid residues influences diverse biological processes and cell physiology across species. Reactive cysteine residues in proteins have high nucleophilicity and low pKa values and serve as a major target for oxidative modifications, which can vary depending on the subcellular environment, including the type and intensity of intracellular or environmental cues. Oxidative environments cause different post-translational cysteine modifications, including disulfide bond formation (-S-S-), sulfenylation (-S-OH), nitrosylation (-S-NO), glutathionylation (-S-SG), and sulfhydration (-S-SH) (also called persulfidation) (Finkel, 2012; Mishanina et al., 2015). In the latter, an oxidized cysteine residue included glutathionylated, 60 sulfenylated and nitrosylated on a protein reacts with the sulfide anion to form a cysteine persulfide. The reversible nature of this modification provides a mechanism to fine tune biological processes in different cellular redox states. Sulfhydration coordinates with other post-translational protein modifications such as phosphorylation and nitrosylation to regulate cellular functions (Altaany et al., 2014; Sen et al., 2012). Despite great progress in bioinformatics and advanced mass spectroscopic techniques (MS), identification of different cysteine-based protein modifications has been slow compared to other post-translational modifications. In the case of sulfhydration, a small number of proteins have been identified, among them the glycolytic enzyme glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase, GAPDH (Mustafa et al., 2009). Sulfhydrated GAPDH at Cys150 exhibits an increase in its catalytic activity, in contrast to the inhibitory effects of nitrosylation or glutathionylation of the same cysteine residue (Mustafa et al., 2009; Paul and Snyder, 2012). The biological significance of the Cys150 modification by H2S is not well-studied, but H2S could serve as a biological switch for protein function acting via oxidative modification of specific cysteine residues in response to redox homeostasis (Paul and Snyder, 2012). Understanding the physiological significance of protein sulfhydration requires the development of genome-wide innovative experimental approaches. Current methodologies based on the modified biotin switch technique do not allow detection of a broad spectrum of sulfhydrated proteins (Finkel, 2012). Guided by a previously reported strategy (Sen et al., 2012), we developed an experimental approach that allowed us to quantitatively evaluate the sulfhydrated proteome and the physiological consequences of H2S synthesis during chronic ER stress. The new methodology allows a quantitative, close-up view of the integrated cellular response to environmental and intracellular cues, and is pertinent to our understanding of human disease development.

The ER is an organelle involved in synthesis of proteins followed by various modifications. Disruption of this process results in the accumulation of misfolded proteins, causing ER stress (Tabas and Ron, 2011; Walter and Ron, 2011), which is associated with development of many diseases ranging from metabolic dysfunction to neurodegeneration (Hetz, 2012). ER stress induces transcriptional, translational, and metabolic reprogramming, all of which are interconnected through the transcription factor Atf4. Atf4 increases expression of genes promoting adaptation to stress via their protein products. One such gene is the H2S-producing enzyme, γ-cystathionase (CTH), previously shown to be involved in the signaling pathway that negatively regulates the activity of the protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP1B) via sulfhydration (Krishnan et al., 2011). We therefore hypothesized that low or even modest levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) during ER stress may reprogram cellular metabolism via H2S-mediated protein sulfhydration (Figure 1A).

In summary, sulfhydration of specific cysteines in proteins is a key function of H2S (Kabil and Banerjee, 2010; Paul and Snyder, 2012; Szabo et al., 2013). Thus, the development of tools that can quantitatively measure genome-wide protein sulfhydration in physiological or pathological conditions is of central importance. However, a significant challenge in studies of the biological significance of protein sulfhydration is the lack of an approach to selectively detect sulfhydrated cysteines from other modifications (disulfide bonds, glutathionylated thiols and sulfienic acids) in complex biological samples. In this study, we introduced the BTA approach that allowed the quantitative assessment of changes in the sulfhydration of specific cysteines in the proteome and in individual proteins. BTA is superior to other reported methodologies that aimed to profile cysteine modifications, such as the most commonly used, a modified biotin switch technique (BST). BST was originally designed to study protein nitrosylation and postulated to differentiate free thiols and persulfides (Mustafa et al., 2009). A key advantage of BTA over the existing methodologies, is that the experimental approach has steps to avoid false-positive and negative results, as target proteins for sulfhydration. BST is commonly generating such false targets for cysteine modifications (Forrester et al., 2009; Sen et al., 2012). Using mutiple validations, our data support the specificity and reliability of the BTA assay for analysis of protein sulfhydration both in vitro and in vivo. With this approach, we found that ATF4 is the master regulator of protein sulfhydration in pancreatic β cells during ER stress, by means of its function as a transcription factor. A large number of protein targets have been discovered to undergo sulfhydration in β cells by the BTA approach. Almost 1,000 sulfhydrated cysteine- containing peptides were present in the cells under the chronic ER stress condition of treatment with Tg for 18 h. Combined with the isotopic-labeling strategy, almost 820 peptides on more than 500 proteins were quantified in the 405 cells overexpressing ATF4. These data show the potential of the BTA method for further systematic studies of biological events. To our knowledge, the current dataset encompasses most known sulfhydrated cysteine residues in proteins in any organism. Our bioinformatics analyses revealed sulfhydrated cysteine residues located on a variety of structure-function domains, suggesting the possibility of regulatory mechanism(s) mediated by protein sulfhydration. Structure and sequence analysis revealed consensus motifs that favor sulfhydration; an arginine residue and alpha-helix dipoles are both contributing to stabilize sulfhydrated cysteine thiolates in the local environment.

Pathway analyses showed that H2S-mediated sulfhydration of cysteine residues is that part of the ISR with the highest enrichment in proteins involved in energy metabolism. The metabolic flux revealed that H2S promotes aerobic glycolysis associated with decreased oxidative phosphorylation in mitochondria during ER stress in β cells. The TCA cycle revolves by the action of the respiratory chain that requires oxygen to operate. In response to ER stress, mitochondrial function and cellular respiration are down-regulated to limit oxygen demand and to sustain mitochondria. When ATP production from the TCA cycle becomes limited and glycolytic flux increases, there is a risk of accumulation of lactate from pyruvate. One way to escape accumulation of lactate is the mitochondrial conversion of pyruvate to oxalacetic acid (OAA) by pyruvate carboxylase. This latter enzyme was found to be sulfhydrated, consistent with the notion that sulfhydration is linked to metabolic reprogramming towards glycolysis.

The switch of energy production from mitochondria to glycolysis is known as a signature of hypoxic conditions. This metabolic switch has also been observed in many cancer cells characterized as the Warburg effect, which contributes to tumor growth. The Warburg effect provides advantages to cancer cell survival via the rapid ATP production through glycolysis, as well as the increased conversion of glucose into anabolic biomolecules (amino acid, nucleic acid and lipid biosynthesis) and reducing power (NADPH) for regeneration of antioxidants. This metabolic response of tumor cells contributes to tumor growth and metastasis (Vander Heiden et al., 2009). By analogy, the aerobic glycolysis trigged by increased H2S production could give β cells the capability to acquire ATP and nutrients to adapt their cellular metabolism towards maintaining ATP levels in the ER (Vishnu et al., 2014), increasing synthesis of glycerolphospholipids, glycoproteins and protein (Krokowski et al., 2013b), all important components of the ISR. Similar to hypoxic conditions, a phenotype associated with most tumors, the decreased mitochondria function in β cells during ER stress, can also be viewed as an adaptive response by limiting mitochondria ROS and mitochondria-mediated apoptosis. We therefore view that the H2S-mediated increase in glycolysis is an adaptive mechanism for survival of β cells to chronic ER stress, along with the improved ER function and insulin production and folding, both critical factors controlling hyperglycemia in diabetes. Future work should determine which are the key proteins targeted by H2S and thus contributing to metabolic reprogramming of β cells, and if and how insulin synthesis and secretion is affected by sulfhydration of these proteins during ER stress.

Abnormal H2S metabolism has been reported to occur in various diseases, mostly through the deregulation of gene expression encoding for H2S-generating enzymes (Wallace and Wang, 2015). An increase of their levels by stimulants is expected to have similar effects on sulfhydration of proteins like the ATF4- induced CTH under conditions of ER stress. It is the levels of H2S under oxidative conditions that influence cellular functions. In the present study, ER stress in β cells induced elevated Cth levels, whereas CBS was unaffected. The deregulated oxidative modification at cysteine residues by H2S may be a major contributing factor to disease development. In this case, it would provide a rationale for the design of therapeutic agents that would modulate the activity of the involved enzymes.

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Protein regulator of HIV replication

Posted in Curation, Proteins, Viral diseases, Virology, tagged CAP-Gly domain, dynactin's, endoplasmic reticulum stress (ER stress), endoplasmic-reticulum-associated protein degradation (ERAD), functional proteomics, glycoprotein, glycoprotein biosynthesis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), intermolecular interface determination, magic angle spinning NMR, microtubules, protein degradation, structure determination, Unfolded Protein Response (UPR), viral protein on November 25, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Protein regulator of HIV replication

Larry H. Bernstein, MD, FCAP, Curator

LPBI

Updated 11/26/2015

Closing the loop on an HIV escape mechanism

University of Delaware

http://www.rdmag.com/news/2015/11/closing-loop-hiv-escape-mechanism

http://www.rdmag.com/sites/rdmag.com/files/newsletter-ads/CHEM-Polenova_Research_Groups-111015-015.jpg

Tatyana Polenova, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UD (background, left), with her UD research team involved in the HIV study. Next to her is Huilan Zhang. In the foreground, from left, are Guangjin Hou and Manman Lu.

Nearly 37 million people worldwide are living with HIV. When the virus destroys so many immune cells that the body can’t fight off infection, AIDS will develop. The disease took the lives of more than a million people last year.

For the past three and a half years, a team of researchers from six universities, led by the University of Delaware and funded by the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, has been working to uncover new information about a protein that regulates HIV’s capability to hijack a cell and start replicating. Their findings, reported recently in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, point to a new avenue for developing potential strategies to thwart the virus.

The team included scientists from UD, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Carnegie Mellon University, the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory at Florida State University and Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. They used a combination of high-tech tools and techniques, including magic-angle-spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and computer simulations of molecules, to examine the interactions between HIV and the host-cell protein cyclophilin A (CypA), right down to the movement of individual atoms.

“In a nutshell, we found that the infectivity of HIV is regulated by the motions of these proteins,” says Tatyana Polenova, professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Delaware, who led the study. “It’s a subtle regulation strategy that does not involve major structural changes in the virus.”

Sixty times smaller than a red blood cell, HIV contains a cone-shaped shell, or capsid, made of protein, which surrounds two strands of RNA and the enzymes the virus needs for replication. Like any virus, HIV can only produce copies of itself once it has invaded a host organism. Then it will begin directing certain host cells to begin producing the virus.

But how does HIV invade a cell? In humans, the protein CypA can either promote or inhibit viral infection through interactions with the HIV capsid, although the exact mechanism is not yet known. A portion of the HIV capsid protein, called the CypA loop, is responsible for binding to the CypA in the human host cell. Once this occurs, the virus typically becomes infectious.

However, a change of just one amino acid in the CypA loop can cause the virus to operate opposite from how it does normally, allowing the virus to become non-infectious when CypA is present, and to become infectious when there is no CypA present. Such changes are called “escape mutations,” Polenova says, because they allow the virus to “escape” from its dependence on CypA.

To home in on this escape mechanism, the research team examined assemblies of different variants of HIV capsid protein complexed with CypA. Using magic-angle-spinning NMR, they recorded the motions in these assemblies, atom by atom, on time scales ranging from nanoseconds to milliseconds, from a billionth of a second to a thousandth of a second.

The team found that a reduction in the naturally occurring motions in the binding region due to the mutations allowed the virus to escape from CypA dependence. Magic-angle-spinning NMR experiments provided a direct probe of these motions, recording the changes in the magnetic interactions between nuclei. Computer simulations allowed the team to visualize the motions.

Some portions of the capsid protein do not move at all or move only a little while other portions undergo large-amplitude motions distributed over a wide range of time scales, with the most dynamic region being the CypA loop. Polenova says it is rather surprising that such extensive motions are present in the assembled capsid, and that these dynamics could be detected by both NMR and computer simulations.

“It is the first time that quantitative agreement between experiment and computation was achieved in a dynamics study, and it’s particularly exciting that this was attained for such a complex system,” Polenova says. “We hope this work may guide the development of new therapeutic interventions, such as small molecules that would serve as interactors with the HIV capsid and inhibit these dynamics.”

Polenova says the diverse team of researchers, with expertise in HIV virology, structural biology, biophysics and biochemistry, was critical to the study’s success, along with access to national high-field NMR facilities through the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. The team was assembled through the NIH-funded Pittsburgh Center for HIV Protein Interactions. Led by Prof. Angela Gronenborn, the center brings together high-caliber scientists and facilities to elucidate the interactions of HIV proteins with host cell factors.

Atomic-resolution structure of the CAP-Gly domain of dynactin on polymeric microtubules determined by magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy

Si Yan^a,¹, Changmiao Guo^a,¹, Guangjin Hou^a, Huilan Zhang^a, Xingyu Lu^a, John Charles Williams^b, and Tatyana Polenova^a,²Author Affiliations

PNAS Nov 24, 2015; 112(47): 14611–14616 http://dx.doi.org:/10.1073/pnas.1509852112

Significance

Microtubules and their associated proteins are central to most cellular functions. They have been extensively studied at multiple levels of resolution; however, significant knowledge gaps remain. Structures of microtubule-associated proteins bound to microtubules are not known at atomic resolution. We used magic angle spinning NMR to solve a structure of dynactin’s cytoskeleton-associated protein glycine-rich (CAP-Gly) domain bound to microtubules and to determine the intermolecular interface, the first example, to our knowledge, of the atomic-resolution structure of a microtubule-associated protein on polymeric microtubules. The results reveal remarkable structural plasticity of CAP-Gly, which enables CAP-Gly’s binding to microtubules and other binding partners. This approach offers atomic-resolution information of microtubule-binding proteins on microtubules and opens up the possibility to study critical parameters such as protonation states, strain, and dynamics on multiple time scales.

Microtubules and their associated proteins perform a broad array of essential physiological functions, including mitosis, polarization and differentiation, cell migration, and vesicle and organelle transport. As such, they have been extensively studied at multiple levels of resolution (e.g., from structural biology to cell biology). Despite these efforts, there remain significant gaps in our knowledge concerning how microtubule-binding proteins bind to microtubules, how dynamics connect different conformational states, and how these interactions and dynamics affect cellular processes. Structures of microtubule-associated proteins assembled on polymeric microtubules are not known at atomic resolution. Here, we report a structure of the cytoskeleton-associated protein glycine-rich (CAP-Gly) domain of dynactin motor on polymeric microtubules, solved by magic angle spinning NMR spectroscopy. We present the intermolecular interface of CAP-Gly with microtubules, derived by recording direct dipolar contacts between CAP-Gly and tubulin using double rotational echo double resonance (dREDOR)-filtered experiments. Our results indicate that the structure adopted by CAP-Gly varies, particularly around its loop regions, permitting its interaction with multiple binding partners and with the microtubules. To our knowledge, this study reports the first atomic-resolution structure of a microtubule-associated protein on polymeric microtubules. Our approach lays the foundation for atomic-resolution structural analysis of other microtubule-associated motors.

How Viruses Commandeer Human Proteins

http://www.technologynetworks.com/Proteomics/news.aspx?ID=185156

Researchers have produced the first image of an important human protein as it binds with ribonucleic acid (RNA), a discovery that could offer clues to how some viruses, including HIV, control expression of their genetic material.

RNA is one of three macromolecules — along with DNA and proteins — essential to all forms of life. By understanding how hnRNP A1 binds to RNA, the scientists may find ways to jam up components of the replication machinery when the protein is coopted by disease.

The team of scientists reveals the mechanism used by the protein, hnRNP A1 to link to the section of RNA, called the ‘hairpin loop.’

They found that hnRNP A1, a protein essential to cell function and virus replication, has a significantly different structure than its only previously known form: binding to DNA.

“We solved the three-dimensional structure of the protein bound to an RNA hairpin derived from the HIV virus,” said Blanton Tolbert, a chemistry professor at Case Western Reserve. “But because the hairpin loop is found in other viruses and throughout healthy cells, our findings may help explain how the protein connects to the other hairpin targets.”

Tolbert began this research six years ago, frustrated that the only information available was the structure of the protein bound to a synthetic DNA, which isn’t its natural target.

Proteins that bind hairpins sense both the structure and the sequence information presented in the loop. The structure of the DNA complex did not demonstrate the molecular recognition that must take place to bind RNA hairpins.

The process

To discover the structure bound to RNA, the researchers combined three techniques: X-ray crystallography, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and small angle x-ray scattering. Each technique yielded a piece of the puzzle.

To bind to RNA, hnRNP A1 has two domains, RRM1 and RRM2, which are akin to hands. Scientists already knew both hands are needed to connect to RNA.

But the researchers found that, instead of each domain grabbing a section of the loop, only RRM1 makes contact with the RNA. RRM2 acts as support, helping organize RRM1 into the structure needed to conform to a certain section of the loop.

To confirm that the structures are key to binding, the researchers inserted mutations by changing amino acids on the surface of the domains.

Surprisingly, mutations on the far side of RRM1 — the surface not in contact with the RNA but with the RRM2 — caused decoupling at that site and substantially weakened the affinity for RNA.

Without the normal connection between the two domains, RRM1 fails to adopt the geometric shape that conforms to the RNA hairpin loop.

The researchers are further investigating how the protein transmits the effects of RRM2 to RRM1 and bind. They are also exploring the development of antagonistic agents that would disrupt the interaction of the protein with viruses.

Natural defense protein against HIV discovered

Earlier research had shown that it was possible to interfere with HIV spread but the exact molecular mechanisms had not been identified. For the first time, scientists have identified ERManI (Endoplasmic Reticulum Class I α-Mannosidase) as the essential host protein that slows the spread of HIV-1. Scientists investigated how the four ER-associated glycoside hydrolase family 47 (GH47) α-mannosidases, ERManI, and ER-degradation enhancing α-mannosidase-like (EDEM) proteins 1, 2, and 3, are involved in the HIV-1 envelope (Env) degradation process. Ectopic expression of these four α-mannosidases uncovered that only ERManI inhibited HIV-1 Env expression in a dose-dependent manner. Basically, ERManI is a host enzyme that adds sugars to proteins. The Env glycoprotein is targeted to the endoplasmic reticulum-associated protein degradation pathway for degradation after infecting cells. And ERManI was found to interact with the Env and initiate this degradation pathway.

With this discovery, ERManI has the potential as a new antiretroviral treatment option. Currently there is no cure for HIV-1 and once patients are infected, they have it for life. Current antiretroviral therapies can prolong life but cannot fully cure a patient. ERManI is different from current treatments in the sense that it can help the body protect itself.

ERManI (Endoplasmic Reticulum Class I α-Mannosidase) Is Required for HIV-1 Envelope Glycoprotein Degradation via Endoplasmic Reticulum-associated Protein Degradation Pathway (Sep 2015)

ERManI (Endoplasmic Reticulum Class I α-Mannosidase) Is Required for HIV-1 Envelope Glycoprotein Degradation via Endoplasmic Reticulum-associated Protein Degradation Pathway.

Zhou T¹, Frabutt DA², Moremen KW³, Zheng YH⁴. Author information

J Biol Chem. 2015 Sep 4;290(36):22184-92. http://dx.doi.org:/ 10.1074/jbc.M115.675207. Epub 2015 Jul 23

Previously, we reported that the mitochondrial translocator protein (TSPO) induces HIV-1 envelope (Env) degradation via the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-associated protein degradation (ERAD) pathway, but the mechanism was not clear. Here we investigated how the four ER-associated glycoside hydrolase family 47 (GH47) α-mannosidases, ERManI, and ER-degradation enhancing α-mannosidase-like (EDEM) proteins 1, 2, and 3, are involved in the Env degradation process. Ectopic expression of these four α-mannosidases uncovers that only ERManI inhibits HIV-1 Env expression in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, genetic knock-out of the ERManI gene MAN1B1 using CRISPR/Cas9 technology disrupts the TSPO-mediated Env degradation. Biochemical studies show that HIV-1 Env interacts with ERManI, and between the ERManI cytoplasmic, transmembrane, lumenal stem, and lumenal catalytic domains, the catalytic domain plays a critical role in the Env-ERManI interaction. In addition, functional studies show that inactivation of the catalytic sites by site-directed mutagenesis disrupts the ERManI activity. These studies identify ERManI as a critical GH47 α-mannosidase in the ER-associated protein degradation pathway that initiates the Env degradation and suggests that its catalytic domain and enzymatic activity play an important role in this process.

T cell editing using CRISPR/Cas9 could revolutionize HIV therapeutics
September 15, 2015

Reinforcing the immune system by engineering lymphocytes to target and destroy viruses has the potential to be an effective therapy for many diseases. One potential approach to this strategy is to alter the genome of lymphocytes so that proteins that are typically hijacked by viruses are no longer present. While conceptually feasible, editing T cells has been challenging in practice; however, with the advent of mammalian cell editing using CRISPR/Cas9, T-cell editing is closer to becoming a reality.

How can CRISPR/Cas9 bring us closer to finding a cure for HIV?

In a study recently published in PNAS, scientists have optimized a protocol to introduce nucleotide replacements that would inhibit CXCR4 expression. The authors streamlined the CRISPR/Cas9 editing process by electroporating Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) into CD4+ T cells. The RNPs, consisting of both a recombinant Cas9 enzyme and guide RNA, vastly improved editing efficiency, ultimately promoting knock-out of the CXCR4 cell-surface receptor. Taken together, these result suggest the potential of a new cell therapy approach for the fight against HIV.

Generation of knock-in primary human T cells using Cas9 ribonucleoproteins
Kathrin Schumann ^a , ^b , ¹ , Steven Lin ^c , ¹ , Eric Boyer ^a , ^b , Dimitre R. Simeonov ^a , ^b , ^d , Meena Subramaniam ^e , ^f , Rachel E. Gate ^e , ^f , et al. PNAS. 2015; 112(33): 10437-10442. http://dx.doi.org:/10.1073/pnas.1512503112

Significance

T-cell genome engineering holds great promise for cancer immunotherapies and cell-based therapies for HIV, primary immune deficiencies, and autoimmune diseases, but genetic manipulation of human T cells has been inefficient. We achieved efficient genome editing by delivering Cas9 protein pre-assembled with guide RNAs. These active Cas9 ribonucleoproteins (RNPs) enabled successful Cas9-mediated homology-directed repair in primary human T cells. Cas9 RNPs provide a programmable tool to replace specific nucleotide sequences in the genome of mature immune cells—a longstanding goal in the field. These studies establish Cas9 RNP technology for diverse experimental and therapeutic genome engineering applications in primary human T cells.

T-cell genome engineering holds great promise for cell-based therapies for cancer, HIV, primary immune deficiencies, and autoimmune diseases, but genetic manipulation of human T cells has been challenging. Improved tools are needed to efficiently “knock out” genes and “knock in” targeted genome modifications to modulate T-cell function and correct disease-associated mutations. CRISPR/Cas9 technology is facilitating genome engineering in many cell types, but in human T cells its efficiency has been limited and it has not yet proven useful for targeted nucleotide replacements. Here we report efficient genome engineering in human CD4⁺ T cells using Cas9:single-guide RNA ribonucleoproteins (Cas9 RNPs). Cas9 RNPs allowed ablation of CXCR4, a coreceptor for HIV entry. Cas9 RNP electroporation caused up to ∼40% of cells to lose high-level cell-surface expression of CXCR4, and edited cells could be enriched by sorting based on low CXCR4 expression. Importantly, Cas9 RNPs paired with homology-directed repair template oligonucleotides generated a high frequency of targeted genome modifications in primary T cells. Targeted nucleotide replacement was achieved in CXCR4 and PD-1 (PDCD1), a regulator of T-cell exhaustion that is a validated target for tumor immunotherapy. Deep sequencing of a target site confirmed that Cas9 RNPs generated knock-in genome modifications with up to ∼20% efficiency, which accounted for up to approximately one-third of total editing events. These results establish Cas9 RNP technology for diverse experimental and therapeutic genome engineering applications in primary human T cells.