Deletion of individual exons and induction of soluble murine interleukin-5 receptor-α chain expression through antisense oligonucleotide-mediated redirection of pre-mRNA splicing

Expression of the interleukin-5 receptor-alpha (IL-5R alpha) chain is thought to play an important role in the pathogenesis of asthma and other eosinophilic diseases. With antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) chemically modified to provide increased hybridization affinity for RNA but that do not support RNase H-mediated cleavage (2'-O-methoxyethyl-modified ASOs), we show that constitutive splicing of murine IL-5R alpha mRNA can be modulated in cells such that individual exons may be selectively deleted from mature transcripts. Specific deletion of individual exons and redirection of alternative splicing of the IL-5R alpha mRNA have been achieved with this approach, by targeting 3'-splice sites or exon sequences immediately downstream of an alternative splice site. ASO targeting with these strategies resulted in inhibition of mRNA and protein levels of the membrane IL-5R alpha isoform capable of signaling IL-5-mediated growth and antiapoptotic signals to eosinophils. Membrane isoform IL-5R alpha inhibition was coupled with an increase in expression of mRNA for the alternatively spliced soluble isoform, which binds IL-5 extracellularly and may block its function. These observations suggest the potential general therapeutic use of an antisense approach to increase expression of variant RNA transcripts and to thereby produce proteins devoid of specific functional domains that may impact disease processes, as well as its specific utility for modulating expression of a key cytokine receptor implicated in allergic inflammation.