A class of deep intronic IGHMBP2 variants activate a shared cryptic splice donor, enabling correction of select variants with a single antisense oligonucleotide

Abstract

Biallelic disease-causing variants in IGHMBP2 cause spinal muscular atrophy with respiratory distress type I (SMARD1) and Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2S (CMT2S). We present 12 unrelated patients with clinically suspected IGHMBP2-related-disease, each carrying a variant deep in intron 8 of IGHMBP2 (c.1235+1076G>A (n=6), c.1235+450G>A (n=5), and c.1235+894C>A (n=1)), along with a known deleterious variant in trans. To assess aberrant pathogenic splicing induced by these deep intronic variants in a relevant model, patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells were differentiated into motor neurons (iMNs). Long-read RNA sequencing revealed introduction of different pseudoexons by each variant: c.1235+450G>A (626bp), c.1235+1076G>A (112bp and 77bp) and c.1235+894C>A (182bp). Although each variant utilizes a unique splice acceptor site, they all activate the same cryptic donor site, enabling a therapeutic approach to redirect aberrant splicing for all the variants using a single shared antisense oligonucleotide (ASO). Treatment of iMNs with this single ASO restored full-length IGHMBP2 protein in c.1235+894G>A and c.1235+1076G>A by decreasing the use of the novel acceptor site. In contrast, ASO treatment did not correct the splicing in c.1235+450G>A, suggesting that additional splice correction will be needed for this specific variant. A CRISPR interference screen of IGHMBP2 loss-of-function in iMNs identified ribonucleoprotein complex biogenesis (RNP), and rRNA and tRNA processing as top pathways implicated in motor neuron vulnerability. Proteomics and transcriptomics analysis of successfully treated patient iMNs revealed correction of RNP biogenesis and rRNA processing defects. This study highlights the importance of characterizing deep intronic variants in disease-relevant cells to assist the diagnostic process and inform therapeutics development. One Sentence SummaryIntron 8 of IGHMBP2 is a hotspot for splice activating pathogenic variants causing SMARD1 and CMT2S, which can be targeted with a single antisense oligonucleotide to correct the aberrant splicing, increase protein and restore cellular function in patient derived motor neurons.