Correction of a Splicing Mutation Affecting an Unverricht-Lundborg Disease Patient by Antisense Therapy

Autor: Olga Amaral, Diogo Ribeiro, Liliana Matos, Ana Joana Duarte, Sandra Alves, João Chaves
Rok vydání: 2018
Předmět:
Zdroj: Genes
Genes, Vol 9, Iss 9, p 455 (2018)
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC)-FCT-Sociedade da Informação
instacron:RCAAP
ISSN: 2073-4425
Popis: Brief Report Unverricht-Lundborg disease (ULD) is a common form of progressive myoclonic epilepsy caused by mutations in the cystatin B gene (CSTB) that encodes an inhibitor of several lysosomal cathepsins. Presently, only pharmacological treatment and psychosocial support are available for ULD patients. To overcome the pathogenic effect of the ULD splicing mutation c.66G>A (exon 1), we investigated whether an antisense oligonucleotide therapeutic strategy could correct the defect in patient cells. A specific locked nucleic acid (LNA) antisense oligonucleotide was designed to block a cryptic 5′ss in intron 1. Overall, this approach allowed the restoration of the normal splicing pattern. Furthermore, the recovery was both sequence and dose-specific. In general, this work provides a proof of principle on the correction of a CSTB gene defect causing ULD through a mutation-specific antisense therapy. It adds evidence to the feasibility of this approach, joining the many studies that are paving the way for translating antisense technology into the clinical practice. The insights detailed herein make mutation-based therapy a clear candidate for personalized treatment of ULD patients, encouraging similar investigations into other genetic diseases. This work was funded by FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia—MCTES, Portugal) project PTDC/BBB-BMD/6301/2014. Liliana Matos was grant recipient from FCT under the same project info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
Databáze: OpenAIRE