Immune and Mutational Profile of Gene-Edited Low-Immunogenic Human Primary Cholangiocyte Organoids

Primary human cells cultured in organoid format have great promise as potential regenerative cellular therapies. However, their immunogenicity and mutational profile remain unresolved, impeding effective long-term translation to the clinic. In this study we report, for the first time, the generation of human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-I and HLA-II knock-out expandable human primary cholangiocyte organoids (PCOs) using CRISPR-Cas9 as a potential universal low-immunogenic therapy for bile duct disorders. HLA-edited PCOs (ePCOs) displayed the same phenotypical and functional characteristics as parental un-edited PCOs. Despite minimal off-target edits, single-molecule DNA-sequencing demonstrated that ePCOs and PCOs acquire substantial mutations in culture at similar rates but without evident selection for cancer-driver mutations. ePCOs induced reduced T cell-mediated immunity and a donor-dependent NK cell cytotoxicity in vitro and evaded cytotoxic responses with increased graft survival in humanized mice in vivo. Our findings have important implications for assessment of safety and immunogenicity of organoid cellular therapies.