Transcription-wide impact by RESCUE-induced off-target single-nucleotide variants in mammalian cells

Abstract

RNA base editing is a promising tool in precise molecular therapy. Currently, there are two widely used RNA base editors, REPAIR and RESCUE. REPAIR only facilitates A-to-I conversions, while RESCUE performs both A-to-I and C-to-U conversions. Thus, RESCUE can generate twice the number of mutations compared to REPAIR. However, transcription-wide impact due to RESCUE-induced off-target single nucleotide variants is not fully appreciated. Therefore, to determine the off-target effects of RESCUE-mediated editing, we employed transcription-wide sequencing on cells edited by RESCUE. The single nucleotide variants showed different off-target effects on mRNA, circRNA, lncRNA, and miRNA expression patterns and their interacting networks. Our results illustrate the transcription-wide impact of RESCUE induced off-target single nucleotide variants and highlight the need for careful characterization of the off-target impact by this editing platform.