Splicing mutations impairing CDKL5 expression and activity can be efficiently rescued by U1snRNA-based therapy
Articolo
Data di Pubblicazione:
2019
Citazione:
Splicing mutations impairing CDKL5 expression and activity can be efficiently rescued by U1snRNA-based therapy / D. Balestra, D. Giorgio, M. Bizzotto, M. Fazzari, B.B. Zeev, M. Pinotti, N. Landsberger, A. Frasca. - In: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES. - ISSN 1661-6596. - 20:17(2019 Aug), pp. 4130.1-4130.16. [10.3390/ijms20174130]
Abstract:
Mutations in the CDKL5 gene lead to an incurable rare neurological condition characterized by the onset of seizures in the first weeks of life and severe intellectual disability. Replacement gene or protein therapies could represent intriguing options, however, their application may be inhibited by the recent demonstration that CDKL5 is dosage sensitive. Conversely, correction approaches acting on pre-mRNA splicing would preserve CDKL5 physiological regulation. Since ~15% of CDKL5 pathogenic mutations are candidates to affect splicing, we evaluated the capability of variants of the spliceosomal U1 small nuclear RNA (U1snRNA) to correct mutations affecting +1 and +5 nucleotides at the 5′ donor splice site and predicted to cause exon skipping. Our results show that CDKL5 minigene variants expressed in mammalian cells are a valid approach to assess CDKL5 splicing pattern. The expression of engineered U1snRNA effectively rescued mutations at +5 but not at the +1 nucleotides. Importantly, we proved that U1snRNA-mediated splicing correction fully restores CDKL5 protein synthesis, subcellular distribution and kinase activity. Eventually, by correcting aberrant splicing of an exogenously expressed splicing-competent CDKL5 transgene, we provided insights on the morphological rescue of CDKL5 null neurons, reporting the first proof-of-concept of the therapeutic value of U1snRNA-mediated CDKL5 splicing correction.
Tipologia IRIS:
01 - Articolo su periodico
Keywords:
CDKL5; Mutations; Splicing; U1snRNA; Alleles; Alternative Splicing; Cell Line; Epileptic Syndromes; Exons; Gene Expression; Genetic Loci; Genetic Therapy; Genotype; Humans; Neurons; Nonsense Mediated mRNA Decay; Protein-Serine-Threonine Kinases; RNA, Small Nuclear; Spasms, Infantile; Mutation; RNA Splicing; Targeted Gene Repair
Elenco autori:
D. Balestra, D. Giorgio, M. Bizzotto, M. Fazzari, B.B. Zeev, M. Pinotti, N. Landsberger, A. Frasca
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