CEP290-deficiency disrupts ciliary axonemal architecture in human iPSC-derived cerebral organoids

Primary cilia are ubiquitous sensory organelles mediating various signaling modalities essential for development and cell homeostasis. Their dysfunction leads to ciliopathies, human disorders often affecting the central nervous system. CEP290 is a major ciliopathy-associated gene that encodes a centrosomal and ciliary transition zone protein. CEP290 has been implicated in different cellular functions, including cell cycle control, ciliogenesis, and control of ciliary membrane protein content. To investigate CEP290 dysfunction in human neurons, we generated human iPSC-derived cerebral organoids harboring CEP290 mutations. To quantitatively investigate the impact of CEP290 loss on cerebral organoid differentiation, we conducted single-cell RNA-sequencing. We found that CEP290 deficiency does not affect cell cycle progression or organoid formation, despite a tendency for less mature neuronal populations and formation of choroid plexus in mutant organoids. Overall design: CEP290 CRISPR edited and WT cerebral organoids were harvested and dissociated with three organoids per sample. Samples were analysed using scRNA-seq.