- Huang, Kang-Chieh;
- Wang, Mong-Lien;
- Chen, Shih-Jen;
- Kuo, Jean-Cheng;
- Wang, Won-Jing;
- Nhi Nguyen, Phan;
- Wahlin, Karl;
- Lu, Jyh-Feng;
- Tran, Audrey;
- Shi, Michael;
- Chien, Yueh;
- Yarmishyn, Aliaksandr;
- Tsai, Ping-Hsing;
- Yang, Tien-Chun;
- Jane, Wann-Neng;
- Chang, Chia-Ching;
- Peng, Chi-Hsien;
- Schlaeger, Thorsten;
- Chiou, Shih-Hwa
X-linked juvenile retinoschisis (XLRS), linked to mutations in the RS1 gene, is a degenerative retinopathy with a retinal splitting phenotype. We generated human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) from patients to study XLRS in a 3D retinal organoid in vitro differentiation system. This model recapitulates key features of XLRS including retinal splitting, defective retinoschisin production, outer-segment defects, abnormal paxillin turnover, and impaired ER-Golgi transportation. RS1 mutation also affects the development of photoreceptor sensory cilia and results in altered expression of other retinopathy-associated genes. CRISPR/Cas9 correction of the disease-associated C625T mutation normalizes the splitting phenotype, outer-segment defects, paxillin dynamics, ciliary marker expression, and transcriptome profiles. Likewise, mutating RS1 in control hiPSCs produces the disease-associated phenotypes. Finally, we show that the C625T mutation can be repaired precisely and efficiently using a base-editing approach. Taken together, our data establish 3D organoids as a valid disease model.