New Reasons to Pursue the Therapeutic Potential of Synthetic Nucleic Acids for Neurological Diseases

Jill Sergesketter Butler, PhD; Marek Napierala, PhD; Editorial. JAMA Neurol. 2016;73(10):1175-1177. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2016.2571

Findings published by Corey’s group demonstrate a novel use for synthetic nucleic acids in restoring frataxin (FXN) levels in cell line models derived from patients with FRDA.The mechanism of increased expression does not rely merely on activating transcription at the FXN locus, nor is the RNA interference pathway required. Instead, data from either approach indicate that the ability of the engineered nucleic acids to specifically bind the mutant FXN pre–messenger RNA and block its interaction with the genomic locus is sufficient to restore FXN messenger RNA and protein levels. Thus, in addition to relieving transcription inhibition, elimination of detrimental R-loops might also result in stabilization of the expanded repeat sequences and prevention of somatic instability. Extensive data related to dosing, toxicity, and biodistribution, to name a few, have already been collected and can be used to pave the way for moving R-loop specific nucleic acids to the clinic much more quickly.