Coordinated mis-splicing of TMEM14C and ABCB7 causes ring sideroblast formation in SF3B1-mutant myelodysplastic syndrome

Abstract

SF3B1 splicing factor mutations are near-universally found in myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) with ring sideroblasts, a clonal hematopoietic disorder characterized by abnormal erythroid cells with iron-loaded mitochondria. Despite this remarkably strong genotype-to-phenotype correlation, the mechanism by which mutant SF3B1 dysregulates iron metabolism to cause ring sideroblasts (RS) remains unclear due to an absence of physiological models of RS formation. Here, we report an induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) model of SF3B1-mutant MDS that for the first time recapitulates robust RS formation during in vitro erythroid differentiation. Mutant SF3B1 induces mis-splicing of ~100 genes throughout erythroid differentiation, including proposed RS driver genes TMEM14C, PPOX, and ABCB7. All three mis-splicing events reduce protein expression, notably occurring via 5' UTR alteration and reduced translation efficiency for TMEM14C. Functional rescue of TMEM14C and ABCB7, but not the non-rate-limiting enzyme PPOX, markedly decreased RS, and their combined rescue nearly abolished RS formation. Our study demonstrates that coordinated mis-splicing of mitochondrial transporters TMEM14C and ABCB7 by mutant SF3B1 sequesters iron in mitochondria, causing ring sideroblast formation.