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Researchers have found a method to repair the gene mutation causing agammaglobulinemia, an immunodeficiency disease that almost exclusively affects boys and in which the body lacks the ability to produce immunoglobulins (gamma globulin). The disease is characterized by recurring bacterial infections, mainly in the respiratory system, and persons who suffer from the illness currently need life-long gamma globulin treatment. 
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Scoop.it!
San Francisco Chronicle
Alfredo Corell's insight:
Eight of the nine boys registered to date in the new trial are alive and well, with functioning immune systems and free of infections associated with SCID-X1, between nine and 36 months following treatment, according to Sung-Yun Pai, MD, a pediatric hematologist-oncologist from Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. She presented the findings at the 55th annual meeting of the American Society of Hematology on behalf of the Transatlantic Gene Therapy Consortium (TAGTC). The investigators continue to monitor the children for signs of treatment-associated leukemia, which developed three to five years post-treatment in the prior trial. They point to surrogate biological markers that give them hope the viral vector used to deliver the new treatment is safe.
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X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) is an inherited immunodeficiency that results from mutations within the gene encoding Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK). Many XLA-associated mutations affect splicing of BTK pre-mRNA and severely impair B cell development. Here, we assessed the potential of antisense, splice-correcting oligonucleotides (SCOs) targeting mutated BTK transcripts for treating XLA. Both the SCO structural design and chemical properties were optimized using 2′-O-methyl, locked nucleic acid, or phosphorodiamidate morpholino backbones. In order to have access to an animal model of XLA, we engineered a transgenic mouse that harbors a BAC with an authentic, mutated, splice-defective human BTK gene. BTK transgenic mice were bred onto a Btk knockout background to avoid interference of the orthologous mouse protein. Using this model, we determined that BTK-specific SCOs are able to correct aberrantly spliced BTK in B lymphocytes, including pro–B cells. Correction of BTK mRNA restored expression of functional protein, as shown both by enhanced lymphocyte survival and reestablished BTK activation upon B cell receptor stimulation. Furthermore, SCO treatment corrected splicing and restored BTK expression in primary cells from patients with XLA. Together, our data demonstrate that SCOs can restore BTK function and that BTK-targeting SCOs have potential as personalized medicine in patients with XLA.
GO TO THE JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION MANUSCRIPT:
http://www.jci.org/articles/view/76175