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P031

ASD phenotype reversal through the optimisation of multiple delivery methods in 2D and 3D cellular models: genome editing-based method as a therapeutic approach.

L F Pedrera-Garbayo(1,2) S Veiga-Rúa(1,2) A Salgado-Roo(1,2) M Hernández-Gamarra(1,2) A Carracedo(1,2,4) C Allegue(1,2,3)

1:Genomic Medicine, Center for Research in Molecular Medicine and Chronic Diseases (CiMUS), University of Santiago de Compostela, Santiago de Compostela, 15706, Spain; 2:C005, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria de Santiago (IDIS), Santiago de Compostela, 15706, Spain; 3:U711, Center for Biomedical Network Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER), Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, 28029, Spain; 4:Fundación Pública Galega de Medicina Xenómica (FPGMX), Hospital Clínico Universitario, Santiago de Compostela, 15706, Spain.

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders, reaching over 1% of individuals diagnosed worldwide. Its wide heterogeneity makes it particularly challenging to determine the ASD aetiology or to design a pharmacological treatment. While hundreds of ASD risk genes are being identified, no single one is found in more than 2% of diagnosed individuals, raising the need for a personalised approach. Cutting-edge genome editing tools are currently overcoming such limitations and can be used to correct disease mutations. Our aim is to address these limitations by creating a patient-derived hiPSCs models in which ASD aetiology can be investigated and potential gene therapy could be developed according to the mutation detected. First, a study with wild-type (WT) human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) is being conducted by introducing an ASD risk mutation through precision gene editing technology, Prime Editing (PE); as PE efficiency can vary across different delivery methods, both plasmid DNA and mRNA are being optimised for the delivery of the PE machinery.  The knock-in (KI) hiPSCs will be differentiated into a whole-brain ASD-like three-dimensional (3D) model representing the neurodevelopment of an individual carrying an ASD risk mutation by using adjusted published protocols. Finally, a nanometric delivery system will be used to encapsulate the CRISPR/Cas9 machinery penetrating both the 2D and three-dimensional model, attempting to reverse the phenotype displayed in both models. This study could be applied to patient-derived hiPSCs which ultimately could set a precedent for evaluating gene therapy in ASD- derived in vitro models.

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