RNA Therapeutics Institute Publications
UMMS Affiliation
RNA Therapeutics Institute; Program in Molecular Medicine; Department of Medicine
Publication Date
2016-08-09
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology | Cell and Developmental Biology | Genetics and Genomics | Molecular Biology | Neuroscience and Neurobiology | Therapeutics
Abstract
The use of siRNA-based therapies for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease requires efficient, nontoxic distribution to the affected brain parenchyma, notably the striatum and cortex. Here, we describe the synthesis and activity of a fully chemically modified siRNA that is directly conjugated to docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), the most abundant polyunsaturated fatty acid in the mammalian brain. DHA conjugation enables enhanced siRNA retention throughout both the ipsilateral striatum and cortex following a single, intrastriatal injection (ranging from 6-60 mug). Within these tissues, DHA conjugation promotes internalization by both neurons and astrocytes. We demonstrate efficient and specific silencing of Huntingtin mRNA expression in both the ipsilateral striatum (up to 73%) and cortex (up to 51%) after 1 week. Moreover, following a bilateral intrastriatal injection (60 mug), we achieve up to 80% silencing of a secondary target, Cyclophilin B, at both the mRNA and protein level. Importantly, DHA-hsiRNAs do not induce neural cell death or measurable innate immune activation following administration of concentrations over 20 times above the efficacious dose. Thus, DHA conjugation is a novel strategy for improving siRNA activity in mouse brain, with potential to act as a new therapeutic platform for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.
Keywords
drug delivery, neurodegenerative disease, siRNA
Rights and Permissions
Copyright © 2016 Official journal of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
DOI of Published Version
10.1038/mtna.2016.50
Source
Mol Ther Nucleic Acids. 2016 Aug 9;5(8):e344. doi: 10.1038/mtna.2016.50. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Molecular therapy. Nucleic acids
Related Resources
PubMed ID
27504598
Repository Citation
Nikan, Mehran; Osborn, Maire F.; Coles, Andrew H.; Godinho, Bruno M. D. C.; Hall, Lauren M.; Haraszti, Reka A.; Echeverria, Dimas; Aronin, Neil; Hassler, Matthew R.; and Khvorova, Anastasia, "Docosahexaenoic Acid Conjugation Enhances Distribution and Safety of siRNA upon Local Administration in Mouse Brain" (2016). RNA Therapeutics Institute Publications. 13.
https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/rti_pubs/13
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
Cell and Developmental Biology Commons, Genetics and Genomics Commons, Molecular Biology Commons, Neuroscience and Neurobiology Commons, Therapeutics Commons