Correction of dystrophia myotonica type 1 pre-mRNA transcripts by artificial trans-splicing.

Abstract

Dystrophia myotonica type 1 (DM1), the most common muscular dystrophy in adults, results from expansion of a CTG repeat in the 3'-untranslated region of the dystrophia myotonica protein kinase gene (DMPK). Correction of the mutant DMPK transcript is a potential therapeutic strategy in DM1. We investigated the efficacy of artificial trans-splicing molecules (ATMs) to target and correct DMPK transcripts. ATMs designed to target intron 14 of DMPK pre-mRNA transcripts were tested for their ability to trans-splice the transcripts of a DMPK mini-gene construct and the endogenous DMPK transcripts of human myosarcoma cells (CCL-136). On agarose gel electrophoresis analysis, six of eight ATMs showed trans-splicing efficacy when applied to DMPK mini-gene construct transcripts, of which three were able to trans-splice endogenous DMPK pre-mRNA transcripts in myosarcoma cells, with trans-splicing efficiency ranging from 1.81 to 7.41%. These findings confirm that artificial trans-splicing can repair DMPK pre-mRNA and provide proof-of-principle evidence for this approach as potential therapeutic strategy for DM1.

• Authors: H Y Chen, P Kathirvel, W C Yee, P S Lai
• Journal: Gene therapy (Gene Ther) Vol. 16 Issue 2 Pg. 211-7 (Feb 2009) ISSN: 1476-5462 [Electronic] England
• PMID: 18923454 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)

Chemical References

• DMPK protein, human
• RNA Precursors
• Myotonin-Protein Kinase
• Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases

Topics

• Base Sequence
• Gene Targeting (methods)
• Humans
• Molecular Sequence Data
• Myosarcoma (enzymology, genetics)
• Myotonic Dystrophy (enzymology, genetics)
• Myotonin-Protein Kinase
• Protein Serine-Threonine Kinases (genetics)
• RNA Precursors (genetics)
• Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction (methods)
• Trans-Splicing (genetics)
• Transfection
• Tumor Cells, Cultured