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PubMed2025

HyperCas12a enables multiplexed CRISPRi screens.

Interactions between multiple genes or cis-regulatory elements (CREs) underlie a wide range of biological processes in both health and disease. High-throughput screens using dCas9 fused to epigenome editing domains have allowed researchers to assess the impact of activation or repression of both coding and non-coding genomic regions on a phenotype of interest, but assessment of genetic interactions between those elements has been limited to pairs. Here, we combine a hyper-efficient version of Lachnospiraceae bacterium dCas12a (dHyperLbCas12a) with RNA Polymerase II expression of long CRISPR RNA (crRNA) arrays to enable efficient highly-multiplexed epigenome editing. We demonstrate that this system is compatible with several activation and repression domains, including the P300 histone acetyltransferase domain and SIN3A interacting domain (SID). We further show that the system can be used in cultured primary immune cells and to drive differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells. We also developed new approaches to use the dCas12a platform for simultaneous activation and repression from a single crRNA array via co-expression of multiple dCas12a orthologues. Lastly, we demonstrate that the dHyperLbCas12a effectors are highly effective for multiple modalities of high-throughput screens, namely proliferation screens and screens to dissect the independent and combinatorial contributions of CREs on gene expression. The tools and methods introduced here create new possibilities for highly multiplexed control of gene expression in a wide variety of biological systems.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2015

Ptpn22 and Cd2 Variations Are Associated with Altered Protein Expression and Susceptibility to Type 1 Diabetes in Nonobese Diabetic Mice.

By congenic strain mapping using autoimmune NOD.C57BL/6J congenic mice, we demonstrated previously that the type 1 diabetes (T1D) protection associated with the insulin-dependent diabetes (Idd)10 locus on chromosome 3, originally identified by linkage analysis, was in fact due to three closely linked Idd loci: Idd10, Idd18.1, and Idd18.3. In this study, we define two additional Idd loci--Idd18.2 and Idd18.4--within the boundaries of this cluster of disease-associated genes. Idd18.2 is 1.31 Mb and contains 18 genes, including Ptpn22, which encodes a phosphatase that negatively regulates T and B cell signaling. The human ortholog of Ptpn22, PTPN22, is associated with numerous autoimmune diseases, including T1D. We, therefore, assessed Ptpn22 as a candidate for Idd18.2; resequencing of the NOD Ptpn22 allele revealed 183 single nucleotide polymorphisms with the C57BL/6J (B6) allele--6 exonic and 177 intronic. Functional studies showed higher expression of full-length Ptpn22 RNA and protein, and decreased TCR signaling in congenic strains with B6-derived Idd18.2 susceptibility alleles. The 953-kb Idd18.4 locus contains eight genes, including the candidate Cd2. The CD2 pathway is associated with the human autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis, and mice with NOD-derived susceptibility alleles at Idd18.4 have lower CD2 expression on B cells. Furthermore, we observed that susceptibility alleles at Idd18.2 can mask the protection provided by Idd10/Cd101 or Idd18.1/Vav3 and Idd18.3. In summary, we describe two new T1D loci, Idd18.2 and Idd18.4, candidate genes within each region, and demonstrate the complex nature of genetic interactions underlying the development of T1D in the NOD mouse model.

Alleles↗
PubMed2026

In Vivo Screen of Parkinson's Disease GWAS Risk Genes Identifies ARIH2 as a Novel Regulator of α-Synuclein Toxicity in Dopaminergic Neurons.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disease characterized by preferential degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons and α-synuclein-containing Lewy bodies that are found in both familial and sporadic forms. Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified many loci associated with risk of sporadic PD, but their role in PD pathogenesis remains largely unknown. We screened a subset of GWAS genes in Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) as potential modulators of α-synuclein-mediated degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. Loss of ari-2 (human ARIH2), an E3 ubiquitin ligase, was identified as the strongest suppressor of dopaminergic neurodegeneration in C. elegans. Unbiased proteomics analysis in human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived dopaminergic neurons revealed novel substrates of ARIH2 including TPPP3, a regulator of microtubule dynamics. Importantly, TPPP3 was required for ARIH2's effects on α-synuclein-induced dopaminergic neurodegeneration. Our studies reveal an unexpected genetic interaction between two PD-linked genes, α-synuclein and ARIH2, and suggest that inhibition of ARIH2's enzymatic activity may serve as a potential therapeutic approach in PD.

Animals↗
PubMed2025

The SlGRAS9-SlMYC1 regulatory module controls glandular trichome formation and modulates resilience to pest in tomato.

Trichomes of aerial plant organs contribute to adaptive responses to abiotic and biotic stresses. In horticultural plants, increasing glandular trichome density is an effective breeding strategy to enhance resistance to herbivores through promoting the capacity to produce specialized metabolites. The regulatory mechanisms controlling multicellular trichome formation are only partially understood. In this study, we reveal that SlGRAS9 and SlMYC1 transcription factors form a regulatory module controlling glandular trichome formation in multiple tissues. Knockout of SlGRAS9 or overexpression of SlMYC1 in tomato leads to an increased number of type VI glandular trichomes and to higher terpenoid accumulation in leaves, petals, sepals, and fruits. Conversely, knockout of SlMYC1 results in reduced type VI glandular trichomes number and terpenoid levels. Promoter-binding and genetic interaction experiments revealed that SlGRAS9 negatively regulates the transcription of SlMYC1, indicating that the regulation of glandular trichome formation by SlGRAS9 is dependent, at least partly, on SlMYC1. Consistently, both SlGRAS9 knockout and SlMYC1 overexpression result in higher tolerance of tomato plants to spider mites and aphids. In addition to adding some of the missing components to the mechanisms controlling formation of type VI glandular trichome, our findings also uncover new targets for breeding strategies aimed at improving crop protection against pest invasion, thus ensuring crop yield resilience to climate change.

Trichomes↗
PubMed2026

Cohesin cofactor dosage sets the rate of loop extrusion, rendering genome folding tunable yet vulnerable to genetic disruption.

Genome folding is not static but emerges from dynamic processes that control transcription, replication, recombination, and repair. DNA loop extrusion by cohesin is central to genome organization, yet it remains unclear how cells can tune extrusion kinetics to achieve precise and functional chromosome folding patterns. Here, we show that extrusion rate acts as a tunable biophysical parameter in cells, quantitatively dialed by the respective dosage of the cohesin cofactors NIPBL and PDS5. Modulation of extrusion rate can offset changes in cohesin lifetime to buffer steady-state chromosome structure and transcriptional states, even in the face of abnormal extrusion dynamics. These findings provide a long-sought mechanistic basis for the genetic interactions between cohesin cofactors and for the molecular origin of haploinsufficiency in cohesinopathies, such as Cornelia de Lange syndrome.

Cell Cycle Proteins↗
PubMed2025

Efficient and multiplexed somatic genome editing with Cas12a mice.

Somatic genome editing in mouse models has increased our understanding of the in vivo effects of genetic alterations. However, existing models have a limited ability to create multiple targeted edits, hindering our understanding of complex genetic interactions. Here we generate transgenic mice with Cre-regulated and constitutive expression of enhanced Acidaminococcus sp. Cas12a (enAsCas12a), which robustly generates compound genotypes, including diverse cancers driven by inactivation of trios of tumour suppressor genes or an oncogenic translocation. We integrate these modular CRISPR RNA (crRNA) arrays with clonal barcoding to quantify the size and number of tumours with each array, as well as the impact of varying the guide number and position within a four-guide array. Finally, we generate tumours with inactivation of all combinations of nine tumour suppressor genes and find that the fitness of triple-knockout genotypes is largely explainable by one- and two-gene effects. These Cas12a alleles will enable further rapid creation of disease models and high-throughput investigation of coincident genomic alterations in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Chemogenomic maps reveal a PRDX1-dependent iron-damage axis in the DNA damage response.

The DNA damage response (DDR) is a sophisticated network of cellular pathways whose perturbation leads to genome instability and is a key hallmark of oncogenesis. Here, we present data from 32 genome-scale loss-of-function CRISPR interference chemical-genetic screens with inhibitors targeting core constituents of the DDR machinery (PARP, ATR, ATM, DNAPK and WEE1), as both single agents and in combination with poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors. These experiments identify >1,000 genes whose perturbation modifies the DDR and provides a rich resource to the DDR community. In addition, this compendium of functional genomics data reveals key principles governing the DDR and highlights a strong chemical-genetic interaction between loss of activity of the peroxiredoxin PRDX1 and all tested DDR inhibitors through a mechanism involving iron availability mediated by an MRGBP-PAX7-IREB2 axis. Our data position PRDX1 as a key suppressor of DNA damage accumulation and potential druggable target in combination with DDR inhibitors.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2024

Ageing-associated long non-coding RNA extends lifespan and reduces translation in non-dividing cells.

Genomes produce widespread long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) of largely unknown functions. We characterize aal1 (ageing-associated lncRNA), which is induced in quiescent fission yeast cells. Deletion of aal1 shortens the chronological lifespan of non-dividing cells, while ectopic overexpression prolongs their lifespan, indicating that aal1 acts in trans. Overexpression of aal1 represses ribosomal-protein gene expression and inhibits cell growth, and aal1 genetically interacts with coding genes functioning in protein translation. The aal1 lncRNA localizes to the cytoplasm and associates with ribosomes. Notably, aal1 overexpression decreases the cellular ribosome content and inhibits protein translation. The aal1 lncRNA binds to the rpl1901 mRNA, encoding a ribosomal protein. The rpl1901 levels are reduced ~2-fold by aal1, which is sufficient to extend lifespan. Remarkably, the expression of the aal1 lncRNA in Drosophila boosts fly lifespan. We propose that aal1 reduces the ribosome content by decreasing Rpl1901 levels, thus attenuating the translational capacity and promoting longevity. Although aal1 is not conserved, its effect in flies suggests that animals feature related mechanisms that modulate ageing, based on the conserved translational machinery.

RNA, Long Noncoding↗
PubMed2026

Involvement of tRNA thiolation in uORF-mediated translational regulation during Xylogenesis in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Post-transcriptional modification of tRNAs is an important mechanism for regulating translation efficiency and cellular homeostasis, yet its contribution to upstream open reading frame (uORF)-mediated translational control remains largely unexplored. In this study, we investigated the role of tRNA thiolation in thermospermine-dependent regulation of xylem development in Arabidopsis thaliana. Using a suppressor screen of the thermospermine-deficient mutant acaulis5 (acl5), which exhibits dwarfism and excessive xylem differentiation, we identified suppressor-of-acl502 (sac502) as a recessive loss-of-function allele of CTU2, a gene encoding a key enzyme in the biosynthesis of the wobble uridine modification 5-methoxycarbonylmethyl-2-thiouridine. Mutations in other components of the same modification pathway, including ROL5 and TRM9, similarly suppressed the acl5 phenotype. Translational analyses using 5' leader-GUS reporter constructs revealed that the ctu2 mutation did not enhance translation of the mRNA containing a thermospermine-responsive uORF of SAC51, but instead significantly reduced translation of that of SACL3, a member of the SAC51 family, and that of LONESOME HIGHWAY (LHW), which contains another conserved uORF in the 5' leader region. Polysome profiling further demonstrated decreased association of SACL3 and LHW mRNAs with actively translating ribosomes in ctu2. Genetic interaction analyses supported the conclusion that the suppression of excessive xylem formation in acl5 by ctu2 is attributable to reduced LHW activity. In addition, ctu2 mutants displayed increased sensitivity to exogenous thermospermine, resembling the response of lhw mutants. Together, our results reveal that tRNA thiolation contributes to uORF-mediated translational regulation of key developmental regulators and identify tRNA modification as an important regulatory layer controlling vascular development.

Arabidopsis↗
PubMed2025

Tulp3 quantitative alleles titrate requirements for viability, brain development, and kidney homeostasis but do not suppress Zfp423 mutations in mice.

Tubby-like protein 3 (TULP3) regulates receptor trafficking in primary cilia and antagonizes SHH signaling. Tulp3 knockout mice are embryonic lethal with developmental abnormalities in multiple organs, while tissue-specific knockouts and viable missense alleles cause polycystic kidney disease. Human patients with TULP3 mutations present with variable, but often multi-organ fibrotic disease. We previously showed that mouse and human Tulp3 expression is negatively regulated by ZNF423, which is required for SHH sensitivity in some progenitor cell models. The level of TULP3 function required to prevent mutant phenotypes has not been known. Here we report a Tulp3 quantitative allelic series, designed by targeting the polypyrimidine tract 5' to the splice acceptor of a critical exon, that shows distinct dose-response effects on viability, brain overgrowth, weight gain, and cystic kidney disease. We find limited evidence for genetic interaction with Zfp423 null or hypomorphic mutations. Together, these results establish an approach to developing quantitative allelic series by exon exclusion, rank-order dose-sensitivity of Tulp3 phenotypes, and model thresholds for TULP3 function to prevent severe outcomes.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2025

Dosage sensitivity of the loop extrusion rate confers tunability to genome folding while creating vulnerability to genetic disruption.

Genome folding is not static, but emerges from dynamic processes that control transcription, replication, recombination, and repair. DNA loop extrusion by cohesin is central to genome organization, yet it remains unclear how cells can tune extrusion kinetics to achieve precise and functional chromosome folding patterns. Here we discover extrusion rate acts as a tunable biophysical parameter in cells, quantitatively dialed by the respective dosage of the cohesin cofactors NIPBL and PDS5. Modulation of extrusion rate can offset changes in cohesin lifetime to buffer steady-state chromosome structure and transcriptional states, even in the face of abnormal extrusion dynamics. These findings provide a long-sought mechanistic basis for the genetic interactions between cohesin cofactors and the molecular origin of haploinsufficiency in cohesinopathies, such as Cornelia de Lange syndrome.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2025

Hypercalcemia and co-occurring TBX1 mutation in Glycogen Storage Disease Type Ib: case report.

Glycogen Storage Disease Type Ib (GSD-Ib) is a rare autosomal recessive metabolic disorder caused by mutations in SLC37A4, leading to a deficiency in glucose-6-phosphate translocase. This disorder is characterized by impaired glycogenolysis and gluconeogenesis, resulting in clinical and metabolic manifestations. We report a three-month-old Moroccan female patient presenting with doll-like facies, hepatomegaly, dysmorphic features, and developmental delays. Laboratory analysis revealed hypoglycemia, elevated triglyceride levels, hypercalcemia, and neutropenia. Genetic testing confirmed a homozygous pathogenic variant in SLC37A4 and a heterozygous variant of uncertain significance in TBX1. Initial management included a lactose-free and galactose-free diet, multivitamin supplementation, and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) therapy to address neutropenia. A novel aspect of this case involves hypercalcemia as an unusual finding in GSD-Ib and the co-occurrence of a variant in the TBX1 gene, which is not typically associated with the disease but may contribute to the patient's clinical presentation. These findings add a new dimension to our understanding of GSD-Ib and suggest potential avenues for future research to elucidate these genetic interactions and their impact on clinical outcomes.

Humans↗
PubMed2026

AI-driven CRISPR screening: optimizing gene editing through automation and intelligent decision support.

BACKGROUND: CRISPR-based genetic screening has become a central methodology in functional genomics, enabling systematic interrogation of gene function, genetic interactions and context-dependent vulnerabilities at scale. However, the rapid expansion of screening modalities-including multi-condition designs, combinatorial perturbations, in vivo applications and single-cell readouts-has exposed fundamental limitations of heuristic-driven experimental design and post hoc statistical analysis. MAIN BODY: This Review synthesizes how artificial intelligence is reshaping CRISPR screening by introducing predictive, adaptive and system-level intelligence across the experimental lifecycle. We organize recent advances into two tightly coupled modules. First, machine learning and deep learning (ML/DL) methods optimize experimental design by learning context-dependent perturbation behavior, anticipating confounding effects and enabling iterative, information-efficient screening strategies. Second, large language model-agent (LLM-agent) systems complement these advances by externalizing scientific reasoning, integrating biological knowledge at scale and coordinating analysis and decision-making in human-in-the-loop workflows. CONCLUSIONS: Together, ML/DL and LLM-agent approaches reframe CRISPR screening from a static analytical pipeline into an intelligent experimental system, with important implications for robustness, scalability and biological discovery.

Artificial Intelligence↗
PubMed2026

Genetic and environmental interactions outweigh mitonuclear coevolution for complex traits in Drosophila.

The interdependent relationship between mitochondrial and nuclear genomes is a powerful model for understanding how epistasis shapes the architecture and evolution of complex traits. Once considered a neutral marker, mitochondrial DNA variation is now recognized as critical to phenotypic evolution because of its epistatic interactions and history of coevolution with the nuclear genome. A central challenge in evolutionary genetics is to quantify the relative importance of stabilizing and directional selection shaping complex trait distributions within and among species. Both can act on interacting and/or co-evolving genes contributing to quantitative traits, but resolving their relative roles is complicated by the complex architecture of most traits. Here, we use a panel of 90 Drosophila mitonuclear genotypes to quantify the relative contributions of mitochondrial, nuclear, and environmental variation and their interactions to four metabolically demanding complex traits. We sample both within-species and between-species mitochondrial variation and observe stronger interaction effects attributable to within-species variation, consistent with stabilizing selection maintaining mitonuclear function. Additionally, culturing the flies on a mitochondrial Complex I inhibitor, rotenone, reveals significant genotype x environment (G×E and G×G×E) interaction effects, providing insight into how genetic variation can be maintained across changing environments. Our results have broader implications in medicine, where mitochondrial DNA donors with longer purifying selection histories may be safer for mitochondrial replacement therapies.

Journal Article↗
PubMed2026

Genetic and physical interactions reveal overlapping and distinct contributions to meiotic double-strand break formation in C. elegans.

Double-strand breaks (DSBs) are the most deleterious lesions experienced by our genome. Yet, DSBs are intentionally induced during gamete formation to promote the exchange of genetic material between homologous chromosomes. While the conserved topoisomerase-like enzyme Spo11 catalyzes DSBs, additional regulatory proteins-referred to as 'Spo11 accessory factors'-regulate the number, timing, and placement of DSBs during meiotic prophase, ensuring that SPO-11 does not wreak havoc on the genome. Despite the importance of the accessory factors, they are poorly conserved at the sequence level, suggesting that these factors may adopt unique functions in different species. In this work, we present a detailed analysis of the genetic and physical interactions between the DSB factors in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, providing new insights into conserved and novel functions of these proteins. This work shows that HIM-5 is the determinant of X-chromosome-specific crossovers and that its retention in the nucleus is dependent on DSB-1, the sole accessory factor that interacts with SPO-11. We further provide evidence that HIM-5 mediates interactions with the different accessory factors subgroups, providing insights into how components on the DNA loops may interact with the chromosome axis.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Duplication-based genetic dissection of the Down syndrome critical region reveals its complex functional organization.

Down syndrome (DS), associated with trisomy 21, is the most common genetic cause of developmental delay and intellectual disability, yet the specific dosage-sensitive genes and the associated genetic mechanisms underlying these phenotypes remain incompletely defined. Here, we applied an additive genetic strategy to dissect the Down syndrome critical region (DSCR) by generating 2 complementary mouse models using Cre/loxP-mediated chromosome engineering that together span the entire DSCR on mouse chromosome 16: Dp(16)5Yey, duplicating the Setd4-Kcnj6 interval, and Dp(16)6Yey, duplicating the Kcnj15-Mx2 interval. In addition, we engineered a third duplication model, Dp(16)7Yey, carrying a selective duplication of the Dyrk1a-Kcnj6 interval containing only these 2 genes. Building upon our previously reported results, cognitive behavioral analyses of these 3 models reveal a complex functional genetic architecture of the DSCR, including dosage-sensitive genetic elements, interactions among these elements, and their contributions to DS-associated cognitive deficits. Together, these findings highlight the complexity of dosage-dependent genetic interactions, which provide important insights into DSCR functional organization and have major implications for the development of effective therapeutic strategies for DS-associated cognitive deficits. In addition, these duplication mouse models represent valuable resources for further genetic dissection of DS phenotypes beyond cognition.

Animals↗
PubMed2026

Biological Foundation Models for Complex Disease Research and Clinical Translation.

Complex diseases, including cancer, rare genetic disorders, neurodevelopmental and psychiatric conditions, and neurodegenerative diseases, arise from interactions among genetic variation, gene regulation, and cellular states that are difficult to capture using a single data type or biological scale. Biological foundation models address this challenge by treating nucleotides and genes as tokens and learning representations that can be transferred to downstream biomedical and clinical tasks. In this review, we examine two major model classes, genomic sequence foundation models and cell foundation models, and compare their tokenization strategies, model architectures, pretraining objectives, and adaptation methods. We summarize their emerging applications in regulatory variant interpretation, disease-associated cell-state analysis, drug-response prediction, and therapeutic target discovery across complex diseases. We distinguish applications supported by experimental or retrospective validation from those that remain primarily computational or conceptual. We further discuss key challenges to clinical translation, including multimodal data integration, model interpretability, benchmarking, patient-specific prediction, and privacy protection. We highlight future opportunities to integrate biological foundation models with emerging frameworks of medical digital twins, agentic AI, and federated learning. By linking model design to translational goals, this review provides a practical framework for evaluating biological foundation models and their readiness for complex disease research and clinical use.

biological foundation model↗
PubMed2025

Gene-environment interaction analysis in atopic eczema: evidence from large population datasets and modelling in vitro.

BACKGROUND: Environmental factors play a role in the pathogenesis of complex traits including atopic eczema (AE) and a greater understanding of gene-environment interactions (G*E) is needed to define pathomechanisms for disease prevention. We analysed data from 16 European studies to test for interaction between the 24 most significant AE-associated loci identified from genome-wide association studies and 18 early-life environmental factors. We tested for replication using a further 10 studies and in vitro modelling to independently assess findings. RESULTS: The discovery analysis showed suggestive evidence for interaction (p<0.05) between 7 environmental factors (antibiotic use, cat ownership, dog ownership, breastfeeding, elder sibling, smoking and washing practices) and at least one established variant for AE, 14 interactions in total (maxN=25,339). In replication analysis (maxN=252,040) dog exposure*rs10214237 (on chromosome 5p13.2 near IL7R) was nominally significant (ORinteraction=0.91 [0.83-0.99] P=0.025), with a risk effect of the T allele observed only in those not exposed to dogs. A similar interaction with rs10214237 was observed for siblings in the discovery analysis (ORinteraction=0.84[0.75-0.94] P=0.003), but replication analysis was under-powered ORinteraction=1.09[0.82-1.46]). Rs10214237 homozygous risk genotype is associated with lower IL-7R expression in human keratinocytes, and dog exposure modelled in vitro showed a differential response according to rs10214237 genotype. CONCLUSIONS: Interaction analysis and functional assessment provide evidence that early-life dog exposure may modify the genetic effect of rs10214237 on AE via IL7R, supporting observational epidemiology showing a protective effect for dog ownership. The lack of evidence for other G*E studied here implies that only weak effects are likely to occur.

Atopic eczema↗