Saturday, December 15, 2018

Correction of half the cardiomyocytes fully rescue Friedreich Ataxia mitochondrial cardiomyopathy through cell-autonomous mechanisms

Brahim Belbellaa, Laurence Reutenauer, Laurent Monassier, Hélène Puccio; Human Molecular Genetics, , ddy427, doi:10.1093/hmg/ddy427

Correlative analysis of vector cardiac biodistribution, survival, cardiac function and biochemical hallmarks of the disease revealed that full rescue of the cardiac function was achieved when only half of the cardiomyocytes were transduced. In addition, meaningful therapeutic effect was achieved with as little as 30% transduction coverage. This therapeutic effect was mediated through cell-autonomous mechanisms for mitochondria homeostasis, although a significant increase in survival of uncorrected neighboring cells was observed.