Adenine base editing in an adult mouse model of tyrosinemia

Abstract

Unlike traditional CRISPR-Cas9 homology-directed repair, base editing can correct point mutations without supplying a DNA-repair template. Here, we show in a mouse model of tyrosinemia that hydrodynamic tail-vein injection of plasmid DNA encoding the adenine base editor (ABE) and a single guide RNA can correct an A>G splice-site mutation. ABE treatment partially restored splicing, generated fumarylacetoacetate hydrolase (Fah)-positive hepatocytes in the liver, and rescued weight loss in the animals. We also generated Fah+ hepatocytes in the liver via lipid-nanoparticle-mediated delivery of chemically modified sgRNA and an mRNA of a codon-optimized base editor that displayed higher base-editing efficiency than the standard ABE. Our findings suggest that adenosine base editing can be used for the correction of genetic disease in adult animals.