NR2E3 loss disrupts photoreceptor cell maturation and fate in human organoid models of retinal development

While dysfunction and/or death of light-detecting photoreceptor cells underlies most inherited retinal dystrophies, knowledge of the species-specific details of human rod and cone photoreceptor cell development remains limited. Here, we generate retinal organoids using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) derived from a patient with genetic photoreceptor disease, an isogenic control, and an unrelated control. Organoids were sampled using single-cell RNA sequencing across the developmental window encompassing photoreceptor specification, emergence, and maturation; up to 260 days of in vitro differentiation. Using single-cell transcriptomics data, we reconstruct the rod photoreceptor developmental lineage and identify a branchpoint in development unique to the disease state that gives rise to a divergent rod photoreceptor cell population. We show that the rod-specific transcription factor NR2E3 is required for the proper expression of genes involved in phototransduction, including expression of the light-sensitive protein rhodopsin, which is absent in divergent rods. NR2E3-null rods additionally misexpress several cone-specific phototransduction genes at both the transcript and protein level. Using joint multimodal single-cell sequencing on late-stage retinal organoids, we further identify the specific putative regulatory sites where rod-specific factors act to steer rod and cone photoreceptor cell development. Importantly, these findings are strikingly different than that observed in rodent models of disease. Together, these data provide a roadmap of human photoreceptor development and leverage patient iPSCs to define the specific roles of rod transcription factors in photoreceptor cell emergence and maturation.