Short Antisense-locked Nucleic Acids (all-LNAs) Correct Alternative Splicing Abnormalities in Myotonic Dystrophy

Overview

Journal Nucleic Acids Res

Publisher Oxford University Press

Specialty Biochemistry

Date 2015 Mar 11

PMID 25753670

Citations 51

Authors

Agnieszka Wojtkowiak-Szlachcic

Katarzyna Taylor

Ewa Stepniak-Konieczna

Lukasz J Sznajder

Agnieszka Mykowska

Joanna Sroka

Charles A Thornton

Krzysztof Sobczak

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is an autosomal dominant multisystemic disorder caused by expansion of CTG triplet repeats in 3'-untranslated region of DMPK gene. The pathomechanism of DM1 is driven by accumulation of toxic transcripts containing expanded CUG repeats (CUG(exp)) in nuclear foci which sequester several factors regulating RNA metabolism, such as Muscleblind-like proteins (MBNLs). In this work, we utilized very short chemically modified antisense oligonucleotides composed exclusively of locked nucleic acids (all-LNAs) complementary to CUG repeats, as potential therapeutic agents against DM1. Our in vitro data demonstrated that very short, 8- or 10-unit all-LNAs effectively bound the CUG repeat RNA and prevented the formation of CUG(exp)/MBNL complexes. In proliferating DM1 cells as well as in skeletal muscles of DM1 mouse model the all-LNAs induced the reduction of the number and size of CUG(exp) foci and corrected MBNL-sensitive alternative splicing defects with high efficacy and specificity. The all-LNAs had low impact on the cellular level of CUG(exp)-containing transcripts and did not affect the expression of other transcripts with short CUG repeats. Our data strongly indicate that short all-LNAs complementary to CUG repeats are a promising therapeutic tool against DM1.

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