Neonatal neuronal WWOX gene therapy rescues Wwox null phenotypes

EMBO Molecular Medicine

Irina Kustanovich¹  Shani Stern¹  Srinivasarao Repudi²  Sara Abu‐Swai²  Rami I Aqeilan² 

[1] Sagol Department of Neurobiology University of Haifa Haifa Israel;The Concern Foundation Laboratories, The Lautenberg Center for Immunology and Cancer Research, Immunology and Cancer Research‐IMRIC Hebrew University‐Hadassah Medical School Jerusalem Israel;

关键词: AAV9;    DEE28;    hypomyelination;    seizures;    WOREE syndrome;   

DOI  :  10.15252/emmm.202114599

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Abstract WW domain‐containing oxidoreductase (WWOX) is an emerging neural gene‐regulating homeostasis of the central nervous system. Germline biallelic mutations in WWOX cause WWOX‐related epileptic encephalopathy (WOREE) syndrome and spinocerebellar ataxia and autosomal recessive 12 (SCAR12), two devastating neurodevelopmental disorders with highly heterogenous clinical outcomes, the most common being severe epileptic encephalopathy and profound global developmental delay. We recently demonstrated that neuronal ablation of murine Wwox recapitulates phenotypes of Wwox‐null mice leading to intractable epilepsy, hypomyelination, and postnatal lethality. Here, we designed and produced an adeno‐associated viral vector (AAV9) harboring murine Wwox or human WWOX cDNA and driven by the human neuronal Synapsin I promoter (AAV‐SynI‐WWOX). Testing the efficacy of AAV‐SynI‐WWOX delivery in Wwox‐null mice demonstrated that specific neuronal restoration of WWOX expression rescued brain hyperexcitability and seizures, hypoglycemia, myelination deficits, and the premature lethality and behavioral deficits of Wwox‐null mice. These findings provide a proof‐of‐concept for WWOX gene therapy as a promising approach to curing children with WOREE and SCAR12.

【 授权许可】

Unknown