Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal X-linked muscle-wasting disorder caused by protein truncating mutations in the dystrophin gene. Antisense oligomer induced removal of an exon carrying a nonsense mutation, or exons flanking frame-shifting deletions, the most common type of DMD mutation, has been shown to generate an in-frame message and an internally deleted, but functional protein. Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is an allelic disorder typically caused by in-frame deletions of one or more exons, most commonly in the first two thirds of the gene. The severity of BMD varies from borderline DMD to asymptomatic, and the dystrophin genes in mildly affected BMD patients provide an indication of functional exon combinations. At least one third of DMD cases result from duplications, micro-insertions/deletions and single base changes that alter splice site recognition or cause premature termination of translation. This project will address the design and application of antisense oligomers for induced exon skipping, for those DMD cases caused by non-deletion mutations. Patient cell lines will be transfected with test compounds and exon skipping assessed. Exon skipping strategies will be modified to maximize induced dystrophin quality and quantity, as permitted by the context of each particular dystrophin gene lesion.
The specific aims are to: 7 Optimise antisense oligomers to remove exons carrying sequence variations (disease-causing or neutral polymorphims) that would otherwise compromise exon skipping. 7 Develop exon skipping strategies appropriate to DMD cases caused by pseudo-exon incorporation or duplications of one or more exons. 7 Develop transient animal models to identify functionally significant dystrophin domains, according to exon boundaries, to facilitate design of optimal exon skipping strategies.

Public Health Relevance

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a relentlessly progressive, fatal disease for which there is no effective treatment. Specific exon removal has the potential to greatly reduce the severity of DMD, and restoration of dystrophin expression, even of partial function in a DMD patient is expected to result in a BMD-like phenotype, and reduce morbidity and extend life expectancy. This application seeks to develop personalised exon skipping therapies for the one third of DMD patients who have non-deletion mutations. Exon skipping should be made available to all patients who could benefit, not only those with the more common exon deletion mutations.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01NS044146-08
Application #
8278448
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1-GTIE-A (01))
Program Officer
Porter, John D
Project Start
2002-07-01
Project End
2013-03-31
Budget Start
2012-04-01
Budget End
2013-03-31
Support Year
8
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$235,110
Indirect Cost
$17,416
Name
University of Western Australia
Department
Type
DUNS #
889328519
City
Crawley
State
Country
Australia
Zip Code
6009
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Moorwood, Catherine; Soni, Neha; Patel, Gopal et al. (2013) A cell-based high-throughput screening assay for posttranscriptional utrophin upregulation. J Biomol Screen 18:400-6
Adkin, Carl F; Meloni, Penelope L; Fletcher, Susan et al. (2012) Multiple exon skipping strategies to by-pass dystrophin mutations. Neuromuscul Disord 22:297-305
Fragall, Clayton T; Adams, Abbie M; Johnsen, Russell D et al. (2011) Mismatched single stranded antisense oligonucleotides can induce efficient dystrophin splice switching. BMC Med Genet 12:141
Forrest, Sarah; Meloni, Penny L; Muntoni, Francesco et al. (2010) Personalized exon skipping strategies to address clustered non-deletion dystrophin mutations. Neuromuscul Disord 20:810-6
Fletcher, Sue; Adams, Abbie M; Johnsen, Russell D et al. (2010) Dystrophin isoform induction in vivo by antisense-mediated alternative splicing. Mol Ther 18:1218-23
Doran, Philip; Wilton, Steve D; Fletcher, Sue et al. (2009) Proteomic profiling of antisense-induced exon skipping reveals reversal of pathobiochemical abnormalities in dystrophic mdx diaphragm. Proteomics 9:671-85
Mitrpant, Chalermchai; Adams, Abbie M; Meloni, Penny L et al. (2009) Rational design of antisense oligomers to induce dystrophin exon skipping. Mol Ther 17:1418-26
Mitrpant, Chalermchai; Fletcher, Sue; Iversen, Patrick L et al. (2009) By-passing the nonsense mutation in the 4 CV mouse model of muscular dystrophy by induced exon skipping. J Gene Med 11:46-56

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