Journal
SCIENCE TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE
Volume 2, Issue 50, Pages -Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3000951
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Funding
- Association Francaise contre les Myopathies
- Jain Foundation
- Inserm (France)
- Assistance Publique-Hopitaux de Marseille (France)
- Universite de la Mediterranee (France)
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Dysferlinopathies are autosomal recessive, progressive muscle dystrophies caused by mutations in DYSF, leading to a loss or a severe reduction of dysferlin, a key protein in sarcolemmal repair. Currently, no etiological treatment is available for patients affected with dysferlinopathy. As for other muscular dystrophies, gene therapy approaches based on recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors are promising options. However, because dysferlin messenger RNA is far above the natural packaging size of rAAV, full-length dysferlin gene transfer would be problematic. In a patient presenting with a late-onset moderate dysferlinopathy, we identified a large homozygous deletion, leading to the production of a natural minidysferlin protein. Using rAAV-mediated gene transfer into muscle, we demonstrated targeting of the minidysferlin to the muscle membrane and efficient repair of sarcolemmal lesions in a mouse model of dysferlinopathy. Thus, as previously demonstrated in the case of dystrophin, a deletion mutant of the dysferlin gene is also functional, suggesting that dysferlin's structure is modular. This minidysferlin protein could be used as part of a therapeutic strategy for patients affected with dysferlinopathies.
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