Developing antisense oligonucleotides for a TECPR2 mutation-induced, ultra-rare neurological disorder using patient-derived cellular models

Luis A. Williams, David J. Gerber, Amy Elder, Wei Chou Tseng, Valeriya Baru, Nathaniel Delaney-Busch, Christina Ambrosi, Gauri Mahimkar, Vaibhav Joshi, Himali Shah, Karthiayani Harikrishnan, Hansini Upadhyay, Sakthi H. Rajendran, Aishwarya Dhandapani, Joshua Meier, Steven J. Ryan, Caitlin Lewarch, Lauren Black, Julie Douville, Stefania CinquinoHelen Legakis, Karsten Nalbach, Christian Behrends, Ai Sato, Lorenzo Galluzzi, Timothy W. Yu, Duncan Brown, Sudhir Agrawal, David Margulies, Alan Kopin, Graham T. Dempsey

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

4 Scopus citations

Abstract

Mutations in the TECPR2 gene are the cause of an ultra-rare neurological disorder characterized by intellectual disability, impaired speech, motor delay, and hypotonia evolving to spasticity, central sleep apnea, and premature death (SPG49 or HSAN9; OMIM: 615031). Little is known about the biological function of TECPR2, and there are currently no available disease-modifying therapies for this disease. Here we describe implementation of an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) exon-skipping strategy targeting TECPR2 c.1319delT (p.Leu440Argfs∗19), a pathogenic variant that results in a premature stop codon within TECPR2 exon 8. We used patient-derived fibroblasts and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neurons homozygous for the p.Leu440Argfs∗19 mutation to model the disease in vitro. Both patient-derived fibroblasts and neurons showed lack of TECPR2 protein expression. We designed and screened ASOs targeting sequences across the TECPR2 exon 8 region to identify molecules that induce exon 8 skipping and thereby remove the premature stop signal. TECPR2 exon 8 skipping restored in-frame expression of a TECPR2 protein variant (TECPR2ΔEx8) containing 1,300 of 1,411 amino acids. Optimization of ASO sequences generated a lead candidate (ASO-005-02) with ∼27 nM potency in patient-derived fibroblasts. To examine potential functional rescue induced by ASO-005-02, we used iPSC-derived neurons to analyze the neuronal localization of TECPR2ΔEx8 and showed that this form of TECPR2 retains the distinct, punctate neuronal expression pattern of full-length TECPR2. Finally, ASO-005-02 had an acceptable tolerability profile in vivo following a single 20-mg intrathecal dose in cynomolgus monkeys, showing some transient non-adverse behavioral effects with no correlating histopathology. Broad distribution of ASO-005-02 and induction of TECPR2 exon 8 skipping was detected in multiple central nervous system (CNS) tissues, supporting the potential utility of this therapeutic strategy for a subset of patients suffering from this rare disease.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)189-203
Number of pages15
JournalMolecular Therapy Nucleic Acids
Volume29
DOIs
StatePublished - Sep 13 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • antisense oligonucleotide
  • CNS disorder
  • HSAN9
  • human induced pluripotent stem cells
  • Oligonucleotides: Therapies and Applications
  • SPG49
  • TECPR2

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