Antisense Therapy for a Common Corneal Dystrophy Ameliorates TCF4 Repeat Expansion-Mediated Toxicity

Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) is a common disease for which corneal transplantation is the only treatment option in advanced stages, and alternative treatment strategies are urgently required. Expansion ( ≥50 copies) of a non-coding trinucleotide repeat in TCF4 confers>76-fold risk for FECD in our large cohort of affected individuals. An FECD subject-derived corneal endothelial cell (CEC) model was developed to probe disease mechanism and investigate therapeutic approaches. The CEC model demonstrated that the repeat expansion leads to nuclear RNA foci, with the sequestration of splicing factor proteins (MBNL1 and MBNL2) to the foci and altered mRNA processing.

Source: The American Journal of Human Genetics - March 8, 2018 Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Authors: Christina Zarouchlioti, Beatriz Sanchez-Pintado, Nathaniel J. Hafford Tear, Pontus Klein, Petra Liskova, Kalyan Dulla, Ma ’ayan Semo, Anthony A. Vugler, Kirithika Muthusamy, Lubica Dudakova, Hannah J. Levis, Pavlina Skalicka, Pirro Hysi, Michael E. Chee Tags: Article Source Type: research