Human Molecular Genetics, Vol 5, 1939-1944, Copyright © 1996 by Oxford University Press
MW Kilpatrick, LA Phylactou, M Godfrey, CH Wu, GY Wu and P Tsipouras
The hammerhead ribozyme is a small catalytic RNA molecule. Potential
hammerhead ribozymes that possess a catalytic domain and flanking sequence
complementary to a target mRNA can cleave in trans at a putative cleavage
site within the target molecule. We have investigated the potential of
hammerhead ribozymes to down-regulate the product of the fibrillin-1 gene
(FBN1). Fibrillin is a 347 kDa glycoprotein that is a major constituent of
the elastin-associated microfibrils. Mutations in the FBN1 gene are
responsible for Marfan syndrome (MFS), a common systemic disorder of the
connective tissue. Many FBN1 mutations responsible for MFS appear to act in
a dominant-negative fashion, raising the possibility that reduction of the
amount of product from the mutant FBN1 allele might be a valid therapeutic
approach for MFS. A trans-acting hammerhead ribozyme (FBN1-RZ1) targeted to
the 5' end of the human FBN1 mRNA has been designed and synthesized, and
shown to cleave its target efficiently in vitro. FBN1-RZ1 cleavage is
magnesium dependent and efficient at both 37 and 50 degrees C. Delivery of
the FBN1-RZ1 ribozyme into cultured dermal fibroblasts, by receptor-
mediated endocytosis of a ribozyme-transferrin-polylysine complex,
specifically reduces both cellular FBN1 mRNA and the deposition of
fibrillin in the extracellular matrix. These results suggest that the use
of hammerhead ribozymes is a valid approach to the study of fibrillin gene
expression and possibly to the development of a therapeutic approach to
MFS.
ARTICLES
Delivery of a hammerhead ribozyme specifically down-regulates the production of fibrillin-1 by cultured dermal fibroblasts
Department of Pediatrics, University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington 06030, USA.
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