Combined Treatment with Peptide-Conjugated Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligomer-PPMO and AAV-U7 Rescues the Severe DMD Phenotype in Mice

Autor: Anne Forand, Antoine Muchir, Nathalie Mougenot, Caroline Sevoz-Couche, Cécile Peccate, Mégane Lemaitre, Charlotte Izabelle, Matthew Wood, Stéphanie Lorain, France Piétri-Rouxel
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2020
Předmět:
Zdroj: Molecular Therapy: Methods & Clinical Development, Vol 17, Iss , Pp 695-708 (2020)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 2329-0501
DOI: 10.1016/j.omtm.2020.03.011
Popis: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a devastating neuromuscular disease caused by an absence of the dystrophin protein, which is essential for muscle fiber integrity. Among the developed therapeutic strategies for DMD, the exon-skipping approach corrects the frameshift and partially restores dystrophin expression. It could be achieved through the use of antisense sequences, such as peptide-conjugated phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligomer (PPMO) or the small nuclear RNA-U7 carried by an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector. AAV-based gene therapy approaches have potential for use in DMD treatment but are subject to a major limitation: loss of the AAV genome, necessitating readministration of the vector, which is not currently possible, due to the immunogenicity of the capsid. The PPMO approach requires repeated administrations and results in only weak cardiac dystrophin expression. Here, we evaluated a combination of PPMO- and AAV-based therapy in a mouse model of severe DMD. Striking benefits of this combined therapy were observed in striated muscles, with marked improvements in heart and diaphragm structure and function, with unrivalled extent of survival, opening novel therapeutic perspectives for patients.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals