Vanessa Todorow | Search PubMed

PubMed2026

Integrative chemical genetics platform identifies condensate modulators linked to neurological disorders.

Dysregulation of biomolecular condensates is implicated across multiple neurological disorders. However, approaches to systematically identify their modulators remain limited. Here, we expand the utility of MLF2 as a versatile condensate biomarker and develop CondenScreen, an integrated high-content screening and bioinformatics pipeline enabling identification of condensate modulators across chemical and genetic space. Screening 1760 bioactive compounds in a cellular DYT1 dystonia model, we validate the platform for condensate-targeted drug discovery, identifying drugs that prevent the accumulation of the MLF2 reporter into nuclear envelope condensates. In parallel, a genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 screen correlates nuclear condensate abundance with genes implicated in microcephaly and over eight additional neurodevelopmental disorders. Machine learning and confocal imaging resolve distinct condensate phenotypes, with RNF26 deletion provoking nuclear envelope condensates that phenocopy hallmarks of torsin deficiency. Our study provides a scalable platform for identifying modulators of condensates and establishes a correlative connection between nuclear condensate accumulation and genes implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Humans↗

PubMed2025

Elimination of myotonia improves myopathy in a muscleblind knockout model of myotonic dystrophy.

A cardinal sign of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is slow of muscle relaxation after voluntary contraction known as myotonia. Myotonia results from mis-regulated splicing of chloride channel 1 (ClC-1), leading to loss of channel function and runs of involuntary action potentials in muscle fibers. Heralding the onset of weakness, myotonia is often the first symptom of DM1, and raising the possibility that muscle hyperexcitability promotes the subsequent development of myopathy. We used genome editing to test this possibility by deleting the alternatively spliced and frameshift inducing ClC-1 exon 7a (E7a) in the Mbnl1 knockout model of DM1. Although several ClC-1 exons exhibit mis-regulated splicing in DM1, deletion of this single cryptic exon was sufficient to restore ClC-1 function and eliminate myotonia systemically and permanently. As determined by long-read sequencing, deletion of E7a reduced the frequency of other splicing defects in ClC-1 transcripts, likely as a passive consequence of restoring reading frame and nonsense surveillance. Furthermore, we observed significantly improved muscle force generation, fiber-type distribution, and histology, and partial restoration of the muscle transcriptome, including differential gene expression and alternative splicing, in non-myotonic Mbnl1 knockout mice. These results suggest that E7a inclusion is a lynchpin splice event that contributes to skeletal myopathy, highlighting myotonia as a therapeutic target and an outcome of interest in DM1.

Journal Article↗