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Abstract 785: Modeling Congenital Heart Disease-Associated Variants in GATA6 Using CRISPR/Cas9 and Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Authors: Christopher N. Toepfer; Meraj Neyazi; Megan Jang; Jon A. L. Willcox; David A. Conner; Christine E. Seidman; Seongwon Kim; +14 Authors

Abstract 785: Modeling Congenital Heart Disease-Associated Variants in GATA6 Using CRISPR/Cas9 and Human Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

Abstract

The discovery of damaging gene mutations in congenital heart disease (CHD) patients enables identification of regulators of cardiac development. Exome sequencing identified de novo heterozygous loss-of-function (LoF) and missense variants in GATA6 among CHD probands, most with outflow tract malformations. Other subjects with GATA6 LoF mutations developed pancreatic agenesis. To elucidate the molecular basis for the predominance of this heart defect, we modeled GATA6 mutations in cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC-CMs). GATA6 variants were introduced into isogenic hiPSCs using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. Genome-wide molecular profiles including chromatin accessibility (ATAC-Seq) and gene expression (single cell and bulk RNA-Seq) were evaluated during hiPSC-CM differentiation. Analyses of GATA6 mutant hiPSC-CMs showed deficits in hiPSC-CM differentiation, chromatin accessibility and transcriptional profiles. Heterozygous GATA6 LoF hiPSCs made hiPSC-CMs but exhibited reduced expression of second heart field genes. Homozygous GATA6 LoF hiPSCs failed to differentiate and adopted fibroblast expression profiles. hiPSCs carrying a homozygous GATA6 missense variant, R456G, which altered a DNA-binding domain residue, showed enhanced capacity to differentiate into neuroepithelial-like cells. Chromatin-accessibility studies confirmed that GATA6 normally binds to genes in the promoter region and other genes at distal enhancers. Human GATA6 haploinsufficiency disrupts developmental transcriptional responses driving cardiac morphogenesis. The HAND2 -dependent genetic program, operant during outflow tract development, is particularly sensitive to GATA6 dosage. The mixed differentiation patterns observed in mutation-carrying hiPSCs likely contributes to vascular phenotypes observed in CHD patients. GATA6 haploinsufficiency preferentially alters binding of distal enhancers to promoters in genes where GATA6 normally binds the enhancer rather than the promoter. We speculate that pathogenicity of GATA6 haploinsufficiency is mediated by weaker binding of GATA6 to distal enhancers than to promoter elements, altering expression of these genes in GATA6 haploinsufficient patients.

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citations
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
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