CRISPR/Cas9-mediated editing of COQ4 in induced pluripotent stem cells: A model for investigating COQ4-associated human coenzyme Q10 deficiency.

Pathogenic variants in the gene COQ4 cause primary coenzyme Q10 deficiency, which is associated with symptoms ranging from early epileptic encephalopathy up to adult-onset ataxia-spasticity spectrum disease. We genetically modified commercially available wild-type iPS cells by using a CRISPR/Cas9 approach to create heterozygous and homozygous isogenic cell lines carrying the disease-causing COQ4 variants c.458C > T, p.Ala153Val and c.437T > G, p.Phe146Cys, respectively. All iPSCs lines exhibited a normal cell morphology, expression of pluripotency markers, and the ability to differentiate into the three primary germ layers. The COQ4-deficient cell lines will provide a helpful tool to investigate the disease mechanism and to develop therapeutic strategies.