Translational read-through of the RP2 Arg120stop mutation in patient iPSC-derived retinal pigment epithelium cells.

Mutations in the RP2 gene lead to a severe form of X-linked retinitis pigmentosa. RP2 patients frequently present with nonsense mutations and no treatments are currently available to restore RP2 function. In this study, we reprogrammed fibroblasts from an RP2 patient carrying the nonsense mutation c.519C>T (p.R120X) into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), and differentiated these cells into retinal pigment epithelial cells (RPE) to study the mechanisms of disease and test potential therapies. RP2 protein was undetectable in the RP2 R120X patient cells, suggesting a disease mechanism caused by complete lack of RP2 protein. The RP2 patient fibroblasts and iPSC-derived RPE cells showed phe…