Concurrent progress of reprogramming and gene-correction to overcome limitation of gene therapy of ALK2 mutant iPSCs

To ameliorate the cumbersome processes of reprogramming and subsequent gene-editing in vulnerable iPSCs, we have developed a greatly simplified one-step procedure, simultaneously introducing reprogramming and gene-editing components into human fibroblast cells. This not only serves to save time, labor, and costs, but opens up a new arena of research that is beyond the current application of gene-editing methodologies due to restrictive reprogramming concerns, inhibitory pluripotency maintenance requirements, and vulnerability of single-cell dissociated iPSCs. We generated iPSCs (mALK2-iPSCs) derived from Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP)-fibroblast cells carrying the ACVR1 p.R206H mutation and gene-corrected ALK2-iPSCs (cALK2-iPSCs). To identify gene-correction effects on global gene expression, gene expression profiling was measured in cALK2-iPSCs and mALK2-iPSCs, calibrated to WT-iPSCs with duplication.