Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Selective Elimination of TP53 Mutant Cells by Transcript-Activated Chromatin Shredding
doi: 10.64898/2026.05.08.723607
Figure Lengend Snippet: a, Design of a gRNA (R280K g) targeting the p53 R280K mutant transcript. b, Design of a gRNA (E285K g) targeting the p53 E285K mutant transcript. c, Fold-increase in cell number over 96 h following Cas12a2 targeting of p53 R280K or E285K mutant transcripts. d, Immunoblots showing expression of DNA damage marker phospho-KAP1 in RPE1 p53 R280K, RPE1 p53 E285K and RPE1 WT cells 48 h following Cas12a2 targeting of the mutant transcripts. e, Design of gRNAs (M246I g1-6) targeting the p53 M246I mutant transcript. f, Trans -cleavage of purified genomic DNA by Cas12a2 with M246I gRNAs in the presence of the mutant target RNA or WT target RNA. g , Fold-increase in green intensity over 96 h following Cas12a2 targeting of the p53 M246I mutant transcript in NCI-H23 cells (p53 M246I) and U2OS cells (p53 WT) expressing Cas12a2-2A-EGFP. h, Analysis of mutation types in the TP53 coding sequence (CDS) from 16,708 tumor samples. Although Cas12a2 prefers an A-rich PFS , a consensus PFS sequence could not be built . However, we noticed that a single adenine nucleotide can sometimes serve as a PFS to activate Cas12a2 , and more adenine bases between the -2 to -4 position at the 3’ end of the protospacer can lead to higher Cas12a2 activity ( and ). 25.7% of TP53 mutations in patients are B-to-A substitutions (where B is G, C, or T) , which could serve as new or enhanced PFS for targeting, as demonstrated with the R248Q mutation . 17.1% of TP53 mutations are base insertions or deletions , offering opportunities for targeting similar to our approach with the EGFR in-frame deletion mutation . i, Frequency of the presence of A, AA or ANA within 24 nt at the 3’ end of TP53 mutations from 16, 708 tumor samples. Tumor sample data in c and d are from TCGA Pan-Cancer Atlas studies and MSK-CHORD studies. j, Cas12a2 targeting by transfecting mRNA encoding Cas12a2 and gRNAs into PC9 cells. Growth curves and fold-increase in cell number over 96 h are shown on the right. h, Characterization of LNPs used for the in vivo lung tumor treatment test. Statistics: **p<0.01; ****p<0.0001; ns, non-significant, one-way ANOVA with Dunnett’s test.
Article Snippet: PC9 cells were injected intravenously into the tail vein of NOD.Cg- Prkdc scid Il2rg tm1Wjl /SzJ (NSG) mice (Jackson Laboratory, Strain no. 005557) in 0.1-0.2 mL PBS to generate orthotopic tumors of NSCLC.
Techniques: Mutagenesis, Western Blot, Expressing, Marker, Purification, Sequencing, Activity Assay, In Vivo