Crispr-Cas9 engineered osteogenesis imperfecta type V leads to severe skeletal deformities and perinatal lethality in mice

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) type V is caused by an autosomal dominant mutation in the IFITM5 gene, also known as BRIL. The c.-14C > T mutation in the 5'UTR of BRIL creates a novel translational start site adding 5 residues (MALEP) in frame with the natural coding of BRIL. A neomorphic function has been proposed for the MALEP-BRIL but the mechanisms at play are still unknown. In order to further understand the effects of MALEP-BRIL in vivo, we generated a knockin (KI) mouse model having the exact genetic -14C > T replica of patients with OI type V. Live KI descendants were never obtained from 2 male mosaic founders. Skeletal staining with alizarin red/alcian blue and μCT imaging of KI embryos revealed striking skeletal anomalies such as hypomineralized skull, short and bent long bones, and frail and wavy ribs. Histology and histochemical labeling revealed that midshaft of long bones was filled with hypertrophic chondrocytes, lacked a defined primary ossification center with the absence of defined cortices. Gene expression monitoring at E15.5 and E17.5 showed no change in Osx but decreased Bril itself as well as other differentiated osteoblast markers (Ibsp, Bglap, Sost). However, upregulation of Ptgs2 and Nr4a3 suggested that a pro-inflammatory reaction was activated. Primary osteoblasts from KI calvaria showed delayed differentiation and mineralization, with decreased abundance of BRIL. However, the upregulation AdipoQ and Fabp4 in young cultures indicated a possible switch in fate towards adipogenesis. Altogether our data suggest that the low level expression of MALEP-BRIL in Osx + mesenchymal progenitors blunted their further differentiation into mature osteoblasts, which may have resulted in part from an inflammatory response.