Rescue of Fragile X syndrome by DNA methylation editing of the FMR1 [ChIP-seq II]

Fragile X syndrome (FXS), the most common genetic form of intellectual disability in male, is caused by the silence of FMR1. Hypermethylation of the CGG expansion mutation in the 5’UTR region of FMR1 in FXS patients was thought to epigenetically silence FMR1. Here, we applied our previously developed DNA methylation editing tool to reverse this hypermethylation event. Targeted demethylation of the CGG expansion by dCas9-Tet1/gRNA switched the heterochromatin status of the FMR1 promoter to an active chromatin status and subsequently restored FMR1 expression in FXS iPSCs. Neurons derived from methylation edited FXS iPSCs showed a similar electrophysiological property as wild-type neurons, and maintained FMR1 expression for months after engrafting into the mouse brain. Reactivation of FMR1 can be achieved in FXS neurons with demethylation of the CGG expansion. Lastly, we showed that targeted demethylation of the FMR1 promoter can reactivate FMR1 as well suggesting potential therapeutic approaches for FXS. ChIP-Seq for histone modifications and RNA Polymerase II in human induced pluripotent stem cells