UMMS Affiliation
Viral Vector Core; Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems; Horae Gene Therapy Center
Publication Date
2016-12-20
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Genetics and Genomics | Nervous System Diseases | Neuroscience and Neurobiology | Therapeutics
Abstract
More than one hundred distinct gene hemizygosities are specifically linked to epilepsy, mental retardation, autism, schizophrenia and neuro-degeneration. Radical repair of these gene deficits via genome engineering is hardly feasible. The same applies to therapeutic stimulation of the spared allele by artificial transactivators. Small activating RNAs (saRNAs) offer an alternative, appealing approach. As a proof-of-principle, here we tested this approach on the Rett syndrome-linked, haploinsufficient, Foxg1 brain patterning gene. We selected a set of artificial small activating RNAs (saRNAs) upregulating it in neocortical precursors and their derivatives. Expression of these effectors achieved a robust biological outcome. saRNA-driven activation (RNAa) was limited to neural cells which normally express Foxg1 and did not hide endogenous gene tuning. saRNAs recognized target chromatin through a ncRNA stemming from it. Gene upregulation required Ago1 and was associated to RNApolII enrichment throughout the Foxg1 locus. Finally, saRNA delivery to murine neonatal brain replicated Foxg1-RNAa in vivo.
Keywords
Epilepsy, Gene therapy, Molecular medicine, Small RNAs
Rights and Permissions
Copyright © 2016, The Author(s).
DOI of Published Version
10.1038/srep39311
Source
Sci Rep. 2016 Dec 20;6:39311. doi: 10.1038/srep39311. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Scientific reports
Related Resources
PubMed ID
27995975
Repository Citation
Fimiani, Cristina; Goina, Elisa; Su, Qin; Gao, Guangping; and Mallamaci, Antonello, "RNA activation of haploinsufficient Foxg1 gene in murine neocortex" (2016). Open Access Articles. 3018.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/3018
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Genetics and Genomics Commons, Nervous System Diseases Commons, Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons, Therapeutics Commons