Gata Zinc Finger Domain-Containing Protein 2a (Gatad2a) Deficiency Reactivates Fetal Haemoglobin In Patients With Beta-Thalassaemia Through Impaired Formation Of Methyl-Binding Domain Protein 2 (Mbd2)-Containing Nucleosome Remodelling And Deacetylation (Nurd) Complex

Reactivation of fetal haemoglobin (HbF) expression is an effective way to treat beta-thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia. In the present study, we identified a novel GATA zinc finger domain-containing protein 2A (GATAD2A) mutation, which contributed to the elevation of HbF and ameliorated clinical severity in a patient with beta-thalassaemia, by targeted next-generation sequencing. Knockout of GATAD2A led to a significant induction of HbF in both human umbilical cord blood-derived erythroid progenitor-2 (HUDEP-2) and human cluster of differentiation (CD)34(+) cells with a detectable impact on erythroid differentiation. Furthermore, heterozygous knockout of GATAD2A impaired recruitment of chromodomain helicase DNA-binding protein 4 (CHD4) to the methyl-binding domain protein 2 (MBD2)-containing nucleosome remodelling and deacetylation (NuRD) complex. Our present data suggest that mutations causing the haploinsufficiency of GATAD2A might contribute to amelioration of clinical severity in patients with beta-thalassaemia.