The proposed research will develop methods of upregulating X-linked genes through technical innovations applied to the original RNA-activation technology developed in my laboratory (RNA-a; patent pending, PCT- US2011-065939). If successful, this next-generation RNA-a methodology will have the potential to cure dozens of intractable X-linked diseases such as Rett syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. In the pharmaceutical industry, current therapeutic strategies focus almost exclusively on protein and microRNA targets. Yet, lncRNAs confer a temporal and spatial specificity not possible with proteins and small RNAs, and disease-associated mutations occur more often in noncoding than coding space. Therapeutic strategies might be as effectively targeted at long noncoding RNAs (lncRNA). Indeed, designing drugs against site-specific cis-acting lncRNAs would circumvent the pleiotropic effects plaguing modalities that general activities of epigenetic complexes via small molecules. The first-generation RNA-a strategy reawakens epigenetically silenced genes by disrupting binding between Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) and the lncRNA that targets it to the locus of interest. The RNA-a technology achieves the opposite of RNAi and has proven efficacious for various disease genes in preclinical testing. However, X-linked disease genes have not been amenable to RNA-a, likely because of many additional layers of heterochromatin resulting from X- chromosome inactivation (XCI). XCI is the mechanism of dosage compensation in mammals in which one X- chromosome is silenced in female cells to balance gene expression with male cells. My laboratory has specialized in the study of XCI for the past 16 years and recently discovered X-linked elements involved in the spreading of XCI along the inactive X chromosome (Xi). From these discoveries, we hypothesize that it should be possible to selectively reawaken specific Xi loci, without reactivating most or all of the Xi. Indeed, reactivating the entire Xi would be undesirable, as we have shown that global X-reactivation results in cancer. Thus, treating X-linked diseases requires a locus-specific approach to gene activation. With newfound knowledge of how XCI spreads, the envisioned next-generation RNA-a technology has the potential to do this. Because of our expertise in XCI and RNA-a, my lab is in a unique position to further develop the RNA-a technology to unlock expression of Xi genes in a locus-specific manner. Herein we propose to achieve this by leveraging gene-specific control elements along the Xi to reactivate the model disease gene, MECP2.

Public Health Relevance

The proposed research will develop methods of upregulating X-linked genes through technical innovations applied to the original 'RNA-activation' technology (RNA-a; patent pending, PCT-US2011- 065939). If successful, this next-generation RNA-a methodology will have the potential to cure the dozens of intractable X-linked diseases such as Rett syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Therapeutic methods and compositions arising from this research will be of significant interest to various biotech and pharmaceutical companies, including RaNA Therapeutics, Inc.; a company that leverages lncRNAs to treat human disease and that has already licensed the original RNA-a technology.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DA036895-03
Application #
8858613
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-BST-N (50))
Program Officer
Satterlee, John S
Project Start
2013-09-30
Project End
2018-05-31
Budget Start
2015-06-01
Budget End
2016-05-31
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
$305,756
Indirect Cost
$117,454
Name
Massachusetts General Hospital
Department
Type
DUNS #
073130411
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02114
Carrette, Lieselot L G; Blum, Roy; Ma, Weiyuan et al. (2018) Tsix-Mecp2 female mouse model for Rett syndrome reveals that low-level MECP2 expression extends life and improves neuromotor function. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 115:8185-8190
Carrette, Lieselot L G; Wang, Chen-Yu; Wei, Chunyao et al. (2018) A mixed modality approach towards Xi reactivation for Rett syndrome and other X-linked disorders. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 115:E668-E675
Lessing, Derek; Dial, Thomas O; Wei, Chunyao et al. (2016) A high-throughput small molecule screen identifies synergism between DNA methylation and Aurora kinase pathways for X reactivation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 113:14366-14371
Yang, Lin; Kirby, James E; Sunwoo, Hongjae et al. (2016) Female mice lacking Xist RNA show partial dosage compensation and survive to term. Genes Dev 30:1747-60
Minajigi, Anand; Froberg, John; Wei, Chunyao et al. (2015) Chromosomes. A comprehensive Xist interactome reveals cohesin repulsion and an RNA-directed chromosome conformation. Science 349:
Maier, Verena K; Feeney, Caitlin M; Taylor, Jordan E et al. (2015) Functional Proteomic Analysis of Repressive Histone Methyltransferase Complexes Reveals ZNF518B as a G9A Regulator. Mol Cell Proteomics 14:1435-46