PUBLICATION

A zebrafish model of Ifih1-driven Aicardi-Goutières syndrome reproduces the interferon signature and the exacerbated inflammation of patients

Authors
Bernal-Bermúdez, B., Martínez-López, A., Martínez-Morcillo, F.J., Tyrkalska, S.D., Martínez-Menchón, T., Mesa-Del-Castillo, P., Cayuela, M.L., Mulero, V., García-Moreno, D.
ID
ZDB-PUB-231212-1
Date
2023
Source
Frontiers in immunology   14: 12947661294766 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Mulero, Victor
Keywords
IFIH1, autoimmunity, drug screening, type I IFN, zebrafish avatar
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Humans
  • Inflammation/genetics
  • Interferon Type I*/genetics
  • Interferon-Induced Helicase, IFIH1
  • Poly I
  • Zebrafish*/genetics
PubMed
38077314 Full text @ Front Immunol
Abstract
Type I interferonopathies are a heterogenic group of rare diseases associated with an increase in type I interferon (IFN). The main challenge for the study of Type I interferonopathies is the lack of a well-founded animal model to better characterize the phenotype as well as to perform fast and large drug screenings to offer the best treatment options. In this study, we report the development of a transgenic zebrafish model of Type I interferonopathy overexpressing ifih1 carrying the mutation p.Arg742His (Tg(ifih1_mut)), corresponding to the human mutation p.Arg779His. RNA sequence analysis from Tg(ifih1_mut) larvae revealed a systemic inflammation and IFN signature upon a suboptimal poly I:C induction compared with wild-type larvae, confirming the phenotype observed in patients suffering from Type I interferonopathies. More interestingly, the phenotype was manifested in the zebrafish inflammation and Type I IFN reporters nfkb:eGFP and isg15:eGFP, respectively, making this zebrafish model suitable for future high-throughput chemical screening (HTS). Using the unique advantages of the zebrafish model for gene editing, we have generated Tg(ifih1_mut) knocked down for mavs and ikbke, which completely abrogated the Poly I:C induction and activation of the GFP of the reporters. Finally, we used an FDA-approved drug, Baricitinib (Jak1/Jak2 inhibitor), which was able to reduce the inflammation and the ISG expression. Our results demonstrate the potential of this model to further understand AGS pathological mechanisms and to identify novel therapeutic drugs by HTS.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping