RNA sequencing of dystrophin- and utrophin-deficient HeLa cells reveals overlapping transcriptomic alterations

CRISPR/Cas9 and iRNA approaches were used to knock-out and knock-down expression of the dystrophin (DMD) and utrophin (UTRN) genes. RNA-sequencing analyses revealed overlapping transcriptomic alterations in HeLa cell lines relating to the observed phenotypic abnormalities, including increased membrane permeability and intracellular calcium levels, aggregation of mitochondria, elevated reactive oxygen species, increased cyto- and genotoxicity, and apoptosis. Overall design: RNA-seq profiling of wild-type HeLa cells after control siRNA (siCtrl) delivery, DMD knock-out HeLa cells after siUTRN delivery.