Biology subjects

Sinha, D.

Publications and source records attributed to Sinha, D..

47 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

bioRxiv2020

Rapid, direct detection of bacterial Topoisomerase 1 - DNA adducts by RADAR/ELISA

Topoisomerases are proven drug targets, but antibiotics that poison bacterial Topoisomerase 1 (Top1) have yet to be discovered. We have developed a rapid and direct assay for quantification of Top1-DNA adducts that is suitable for high throughput assays. Adducts are recovered by "RADAR fractionation", a quick, convenient approach in which cells are lysed in chaotropic salts and detergent and nucleic acids and covalently bound adducts then precipitated with alcohol. Here we show that RADAR fractionation followed by ELISA immunodetection can quantify adducts formed by wild-type and mutant Top1 derivatives encoded by two different bacterial pathogens, Y. pestis and M. tuberculosis, expressed in E. coli or M. smegmatis, respectively. For both enzymes, quantification of adducts by RADAR/ELISA produces results comparable to the more cumbersome classical approach of CsCl density gradient fractionation. The experiments reported here establish that RADAR/ELISA assay offers a simple way to characterize Top1 mutants and analyze kinetics of adduct formation and repair. They also provide a foundation for discovery and optimization of drugs that poison bacterial Top1 using standard high-throughput approaches.

microbiology↗

bioRxiv2020

Differential tissue stiffness of body column facilitates locomotion of Hydra on solid substrates

The bell-shaped members of Cnidaria typically move around by swimming, whereas the Hydra polyp can perform locomotion on solid substrates in aquatic environment. To address the biomechanics of locomotion on rigid substrates, we studied the somersaulting locomotion in Hydra. We applied atomic force microscopy to measure the local mechanical properties of Hydras body column and identified the existence of differential Youngs modulus between the shoulder region versus rest of the body column at 3:1 ratio. We show that somersault primarily depends on differential tissue stiffness of the body column and is explained by computational models that accurately recapitulate the mechanics involved in this process. We demonstrate that perturbation of the observed stiffness variation in the body column by modulating the extracellular matrix (ECM) polymerization impairs the somersault movement. These results provide mechanistic basis for the evolutionary significance of differential extracellular matrix properties and tissue stiffness.

biophysics↗

bioRxiv2019

TUTase mediated site-directed access to clickable chromatin employing CRISPR-dCas9

Locus-specific interrogation of the genome using programmable CRISPR-based technologies is tremendously useful in dissecting the molecular basis of target gene function and modulating its downstream output. Although these tools are widely utilized in recruiting genetically encoded functional proteins, display of small molecules using this technique is not well developed due to inadequate labeling technologies. Here, we report the development of a modular technology, sgRNA-Click (sgR-CLK), which harnesses the power of bioorthogonal click chemistry for remodeling CRISPR to display synthetic molecules on target genes. A terminal uridylyl transferase (TUTase) was repurposed to construct an sgRNA containing multiple minimally invasive bioorthogonal clickable handles, which served as a Trojan horse on CRISPR-dCas9 system to guide synthetic tags site-specifically on chromatin employing copper-catalyzed or strain-promoted click reactions. Our results demonstrate that sgR-CLK could provide a simplified solution for site-directed display of small molecules to study as well as modulate the function of gene targets.

biochemistry↗

bioRxiv2019

Marizomib suppresses triple-negative breast cancer via proteasome and oxidative phosphorylation inhibition

Lacking effective targeted therapies, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBCs) is highly aggressive with development of metastasis especially brain, and remains clinically challenging breast cancer subtype to treat. Despite the survival dependency on the proteasome pathway genes, FDA-approved proteasome inhibitors induced minimal clinical response in breast cancer patients due to weak proteasome inhibition. Here, we show that a potent proteasome inhibitor Marizomib (Mzb) inhibits multiple proteasome catalytic activities and induces a better anti-tumor response in TNBC cell lines and patient-derived xenografts alone and in combination with the standard-of-care chemotherapy. Mechanistically, Mzb inhibits oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) via PGC-1 suppression in conjunction with proteasome inhibition in TNBC cells. Mzb reduces lung and brain metastases by reducing the number of circulating tumor cells and the expression of multiple genes involved in the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Furthermore, Mzb-induced OXPHOS inhibition upregulates glycolysis to meet the energetic demands of TNBC cells and, hence, combined inhibition of glycolysis with Mzb exposure leads to a synergistic anti-cancer activity. Collectively, our data provide a strong rationale for a clinical evaluation of Mzb in primary and metastatic TNBC patients.\n\nOne Sentence SummaryMarizomib inhibits primary tumor growth, and also reduces lung and brain metastases in pre-clinical models of triple-negative breast cancer.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2019

Human iPSC modeling elucidates mutation-specific responses to gene therapy in a genotypically diverse dominant maculopathy

Dominantly inherited disorders are not typically considered therapeutic candidates for gene augmentation. Here, we utilized patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelium (iPSC-RPE) to test the potential of gene augmentation to treat Best disease, a dominant macular dystrophy caused by over 200 missense mutations in BEST1. Gene augmentation in iPSC-RPE fully restored BEST1 calcium-activated chloride channel activity and improved rhodopsin degradation in iPSC-RPE models of recessive bestrophinopathy and dominant Best disease caused by two different ion binding domain mutations. A dominant Best disease iPSC-RPE model that did not respond to gene augmentation showed normalization of BEST1 channel activity following CRISPR-Cas9 editing of the mutant allele. We then tested gene editing in all three dominant Best disease iPSC-RPE models, which produced premature stop codons exclusively within the mutant BEST1 alleles. Single-cell profiling demonstrated no adverse perturbation of RPE transcriptional programs in any model, although off-target analysis detected a silent genomic alteration in one model. These results suggest that gene augmentation is a viable first-line approach for some dominant Best disease patients and that non-responders are candidates for alternate approaches such as genome editing. However, testing genome editing strategies for on-target efficiency and off-target events using patient-matched iPSC-RPE model systems is warranted. In summary, personalized iPSC-RPE models can be used to select among a growing list of gene therapy options to maximize safety and efficacy while minimizing time and cost. Similar scenarios likely exist for other genotypically diverse channelopathies, expanding the therapeutic landscape for affected patients. SignificanceDominantly inherited disorders pose distinct challenges for gene therapies, particularly in the face of extreme mutational diversity. We tested whether a broad gene replacement strategy could reverse the cellular phenotype of Best disease, a dominant blinding condition that targets retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Using RPE generated from patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), we show that gene replacement functionally overcomes some, but not all, of the tested mutations. In comparison, all dominant Best disease models tested were phenotypically corrected after mutation-specific genome editing, although one off-target genomic alteration was discovered. Our results support a two-tiered approach to gene therapy for Best disease, guided by safety and efficacy testing in iPSC-RPE models to maximize personal and public health value.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2019

Cep55 overexpression promotes genomic instability and tumorigenesis in mice

High expression of centrosomal protein CEP55 has been correlated with clinico-pathological parameters across multiple human cancers. Despite significant in vitro studies and association of aberrantly overexpressed CEP55 with worse prognosis, its causal role in vivo tumorigenesis remains elusive. Here, using a ubiquitously overexpressing transgenic mouse model, we show that Cep55 overexpression causes spontaneous tumorigenesis and accelerates Trp53+/- induced tumours in vivo. At the cellular level, using mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), we demonstrate that Cep55 overexpression induces proliferation advantage by modulating multiple cellular signalling networks including the PI3K/AKT pathway. Notably, the Cep55 overexpressing MEFs demonstrate high level of mitotic chromosomal instability (CIN) due to stabilized microtubules. Interestingly, Cep55 overexpressing MEFs have a compromised Chk1-dependent S-phase checkpoint, causing increased replication speed and DNA damage, resulting in a prolonged aberrant mitotic division. Importantly, this phenotype was rescued by pharmacological inhibition of Pi3k/Akt or expression of mutant Chk1 (S280A), that is insensitive to regulation by active AKT, in Cep55 overexpressing cell. Collectively, our data demonstrates causative effects of deregulated Cep55 on genome stability and tumorigenesis which have potential implications for tumour initiation and therapy.

cancer biology↗

bioRxiv2019

dropClust2: An R package for resource efficient analysis of large scale single cell RNA-Seq data

DropClust leverages Locality Sensitive Hashing (LSH) to speed up clustering of large scale single cell expression data. It makes ingenious use of structure persevering sampling and modality based principal component selection to rescue minor cell types. Existing implementation of dropClust involves interfacing with multiple programming languages viz. R, python and C, hindering seamless installation and portability. Here we present dropClust2, a complete R package thats not only fast but also minimally resource intensive. DropClust2 features a novel batch effect removal algorithm that allows integrative analysis of single cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) datasets.\n\nAvailability and implementationdropClust2 is freely available at https://debsinha.shinyapps.io/dropClust/ as an online web service and at https://github.com/debsin/dropClust as an R package.

bioinformatics↗

bioRxiv2019

Francisella novicida Cas9 interrogates genomic DNA with very high specificity and can be used for mammalian genome editing

Genome editing using the CRISPR Cas9 system has been used to manipulate eukaryotic DNA and make precise heritable changes. Although the widely used Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9 (SpCas9) and its engineered variants have been efficiently harnessed for numerous gene-editing applications across different platforms, concerns remain, regarding their putative off targeting at multiple loci across the genome. Here we report that Francisella novicida Cas9 (FnCas9) shows a very high specificity of binding to its intended targets and negligible binding to off-target loci. The specificity is determined by its minimal binding affinity with DNA when mismatches to the target sgRNA are present in the sgRNA:DNA heteroduplex. FnCas9 produces staggered cleavage, higher HDR rates and very low non-specific genome editing compared to SpCas9. We demonstrate FnCas9 mediated correction of the sickle cell mutation in patient derived iPSCs and propose that it can be used for precise therapeutic genome editing for a wide variety of genetic disorders.\n\nSIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTTherapeutic genome editing has been significantly accentuated by the advent of CRISPR based gene correction. However, genomic off-targeting has been a major setback for clinical translation. Although high fidelity versions of Cas9 have been rationally designed, they recognize and bind to off-targets. In this study, we characterize a naturally occurring Cas9 from Francisella novicida (FnCas9) that shows negligible binding affinity to off targets differing by one or more mismatches, rendering it highly specific in target recognition and editing. We show that FnCas9 can direct both HDR and NHEJ mediated DNA repair, generates higher rate of HDR and negligible off-target editing. Finally we show its potential in therapeutic genome editing by correcting the sickle cell anemia mutation in patient derived iPSCs.

molecular biology↗

bioRxiv2018

Gene augmentation and read-through rescue channelopathy in an iPSC-RPE model of congenital blindness

PurposeMutations in the KCNJ13 gene are known to cause Lebers Congenital Amaurosis (LCA16), an inherited pediatric blindness. KCNJ13 gene encodes the Kir7.1 subunit protein which acts as a tetrameric inwardly rectifying potassium ion channel in the retinal pigment epithelium to maintain ionic homeostasis thereby allowing photoreceptors to encode visual information. We sought to determine if genetic approaches might be effective in treating blindness due to mutations in KCNJ13.\n\nMethodsWe developed patient-derived hiPSC-RPE carrying an autosomal recessive nonsense mutation in the KCNJ13 gene (c.158G>A, p.Trp53*). We performed biochemical and electrophysiology assays of Kir7.1 function. Both small molecule read-through drug and gene-therapy approaches were tested using this disease-in-a-dish approach.\n\nResultsWe found that the LCA16 hiPSC-RPE had normal morphology but did not express a functional Kir7.1 channel and was unable to demonstrate normal physiology. Following read-through drug treatment, the LCA16 hiPSC cells were hyperpolarized by 30 mV and Kir7.1 current was restored. Similarly, loss-of-function of Kir7.1 channel was circumvented by lentiviral gene delivery to the hiPSC-RPE cells. In either approach, Kir7.1 protein was expressing normally with restoration of membrane potential and Kir7.1 current.\n\nConclusionLoss-of-function mutation in Kir7.1 is a cause of LCA. Using either read-through therapy or gene augmentation, we rescued Kir7.1 channel function in patient-derived iPSC-RPE cells via a precision medicine approach.

genetics↗

bioRxiv2018

A widespread decrease of chromatin accessibility in age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness in the elderly. The extent to which epigenetic changes regulate AMD progression is unclear. Here we globally profiled chromatin accessibility in the retina and retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) from AMD patients and controls. Global decreases in chromatin accessibility occurr in RPE in early AMD, and in the retina with advanced disease, suggesting that dysfunction in RPE cells drives disease progression. Footprints of photoreceptor and RPE-specific transcription factors are enriched in differentially accessible regions (DARs). Genes associated with DARs show altered expression in AMD. Cigarette smoke treatment of RPE cells recapitulates epigenomic changes seen in AMD, providing an epigenetic link between the known risk factors for AMD and AMD pathology. Finally, overexpression of HDAC11 is partially responsible for the reduction in chromatin accessibility, identifying potential new targets for treatment of AMD.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2017

dropClust: Efficient clustering of ultra-large scRNA-seq data

Droplet based single cell transcriptomics has recently enabled parallel screening of tens of thousands of single cells. Clustering methods that scale for such high dimensional data without compromising accuracy are scarce. We exploit Locality Sensitive Hashing, an approximate nearest neighbor search technique to develop a de novo clustering algorithm for large-scale single cell data. On a number of real datasets, dropClust outperformed the existing best practice methods in terms of execution time, clustering accuracy and detectability of minor cell sub-types.

genomics↗