SLN124, a Galnac-siRNA Conjugate Targeting TMPRSS6, for the Treatment of Iron Overload and Ineffective Erythropoiesis Such As in Beta-Thalassemia

Accumulation of excess iron in tissues causes organ damage and dysfunction and may lead to serious clinical consequences including liver cirrhosis, diabetes, growth retardation and heart failure. Iron overload is a major health threat in iron loading anemias, like beta-thalassemia, myelodysplastic syndrome and in hereditary hemochromatosis. In patients with beta-thalassemia major, iron overload develops due to frequent blood transfusions to control the severe anemia. In addition, iron overload also occurs in patients with beta thalassemia intermedia (non-transfusion dependent beta-thalassemia). In the later cases, iron overload develops through gastrointestinal iron hyperabsorption due to stressed and ineffective erythropoiesis. Importantly, expression of the peptide hormone hepcidin, which is the key modulator in iron homeostasis, is abnormally low and unable to block ferroportin-mediated intestinal iron absorption. In hereditary hemochromatosis, gene defects in the hepcidin-ferroportin axis controlling iron homeostasis, lead to hepatic iron overload. Therefore, in these indications, iron overload is caused by dysregulation or dysfunction of the hepcidin-ferroportin axis. Hepcidin is predominantly produced by the liver and is induced by activation of the BMP/SMAD signaling pathway. Furthermore, hepcidin is under the negative control of the transmembrane protease matriptase-2, encoded by the TMPRSS6 gene.RNA interference is a natural mechanism and a powerful approach for inhi...

Source: Blood - November 21, 2018 Category: Hematology Authors: Altamura, S., Altamura, S., Muckenthaler, M. U., Dames, S., Frauendorf, C., Schubert, S., Aleku, M., Vadolas, J., Grigoriadis, G., Zugel, U. Tags: 102. Regulation of Iron Metabolism: Poster II Source Type: research