Retinal Ciliopathies and Potential Gene Therapies: A Focus on Human iPSC-Derived Organoid Models.

The human photoreceptor function is dependent on a highly specialised cilium. Perturbation of cilial function can often lead to death of the photoreceptor and loss of vision. Retinal ciliopathies are a genetically diverse range of inherited retinal disorders affecting aspects of the photoreceptor cilium.

Characterization and AAV-mediated gene augmentation in human-derived and retinal organoids.

The majority of patients with mutations in develop either early-onset retinitis pigmentosa as young children or Leber congenital amaurosis as newborns. The cause for the phenotypic variability in -associated retinopathies is unknown, but might be linked to differences in CRB1 and CRB2 protein levels in Müller glial cells and photoreceptor cells. Here, and differentiation day 210 retinal organoids showed a significant decrease in the number of photoreceptor nuclei in a row and a significant increase in the number of photoreceptor cell nuclei above the outer limiting membrane.

mRNA trans-splicing dual AAV vectors for (epi)genome editing and gene therapy.

Large genes including several CRISPR-Cas modules like gene activators (CRISPRa) require dual adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors for an efficient in vivo delivery and expression. Current dual AAV vector approaches have important limitations, e.g.

Quality of life in patients with CRB1-associated retinal dystrophies: A longitudinal study.

Purpose: To assess the longitudinal vision-related quality of life among patients with CRB1-associated inherited retinal dystrophies.

Methods: In this longitudinal questionnaire study, the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (39 items, NEI VFQ-39) was applied at baseline, two-year follow-up, and 4-year follow-up in patients with pathogenic CRB1 variants. [Correction added on 20 November 2023, after first online publication: The preceding sentence has been updated in this version.

CRB1 is required for recycling by RAB11A+ vesicles in human retinal organoids.

CRB1 gene mutations can cause early- or late-onset retinitis pigmentosa, Leber congenital amaurosis, or maculopathy. Recapitulating human CRB1 phenotypes in animal models has proven challenging, necessitating the development of alternatives. We generated human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived retinal organoids of patients with retinitis pigmentosa caused by biallelic CRB1 mutations and evaluated them against autologous gene-corrected hiPSCs and hiPSCs from healthy individuals.