Suppression of CFTR premature termination codons and rescue of CFTR protein and function by the synthetic aminoglycoside NB54.

Certain aminoglycosides are capable of inducing "translational readthrough" of premature termination codons (PTCs). However, toxicity and relative lack of efficacy deter treatment with clinically available aminoglycosides for genetic diseases caused by PTCs, including cystic fibrosis (CF). Using a structure-based approach, the novel aminoglycoside NB54 was developed that exhibits reduced toxicity and enhanced suppression of PTCs in cell-based reporter assays relative to gentamicin. We examined whether NB54 administration rescued CFTR protein and function in clinically relevant CF models. In a fluorescence-based halide efflux assay, NB54 partially restored halide efflux in a CF bronchial epithelial cell line (CFTR genotype W1282X/F508del), but not in a CF epithelial cell line lacking a PTC (F508del/F508del). In polarized airway epithelial cells expressing either a CFTR-W1282X or -G542X cDNA, treatment with NB54 increased stimulated short-circuit current (I (SC)) with greater efficiency than gentamicin. NB54 and gentamicin induced comparable increases in forskolin-stimulated I (SC) in primary airway epithelial cells derived from a G542X/F508del CF donor. Systemic administration of NB54 to Cftr-/- mice expressing a human CFTR-G542X transgene restored 15-17% of the average stimulated transepithelial chloride currents observed in wild-type (Cftr+/+) mice, comparable to gentamicin. NB54 exhibited reduced cellular toxicity in vitro and was tolerated at higher concentrations than gentamicin in vivo. These results provide evidence that synthetic aminoglycosides are capable of PTC suppression in relevant human CF cells and a CF animal model and support further development of these compounds as a treatment modality for genetic diseases caused by PTCs.

Leaky termination at premature stop codons antagonizes nonsense-mediated mRNA decay in S. cerevisiae.

The Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay (NMD) pathway mediates the rapid degradation of mRNAs that contain premature stop mutations in eukaryotic organisms. It was recently shown that mutations in three yeast genes that encode proteins involved in the NMD process, UPF1, UPF2, and UPF3, also reduce the efficiency of translation termination. In the current study, we compared the efficiency of translation termination in a upf1Delta strain and a [PSI(+)] strain using a collection of translation termination reporter constructs. The [PSI(+)] state is caused by a prion form of the polypeptide chain release factor eRF3 that limits its availability to participate in translation termination. In contrast, the mechanism by which Upf1p influences translation termination is poorly understood. The efficiency of translation termination is primarily determined by a tetranucleotide termination signal consisting of the stop codon and the first nucleotide immediately 3' of the stop codon. We found that the upf1Delta mutation, like the [PSI(+)] state, decreases the efficiency of translation termination over a broad range of tetranucleotide termination signals in a unique, context-dependent manner. These results suggest that Upf1p may associate with the termination complex prior to polypeptide chain release. We also found that the increase in readthrough observed in a [PSI(+)]/upf1Delta strain was larger than the readthrough observed in strains carrying either defect alone, indicating that the upf1Delta mutation and the [PSI(+)] state influence the termination process in distinct ways. Finally, our analysis revealed that the mRNA destabilization associated with NMD could be separated into two distinct forms that correlated with the extent the premature stop codon was suppressed. The minor component of NMD was a 25% decrease in mRNA levels observed when readthrough was >/=0.5%, while the major component was represented by a larger decrease in mRNA abundance that was observed only when readthrough was

Aminoglycoside suppression of a premature stop mutation in a Cftr-/- mouse carrying a human CFTR-G542X transgene.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations in the gene encoding the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) protein. Since approximately 5% of all mutant CF alleles are stop mutations, it can be calculated that approximately 10% of CF patients carry a premature stop mutation in at least one copy of the CFTR gene. Certain ethnic groups, such as the Ashkenazi Jewish population, carry a much higher percentage of CF stop mutations. Consequently, a therapeutic strategy aimed at suppressing this class of mutation would be highly desirable for the treatment of this common genetic disease. We have shown previously that aminoglycoside antibiotics can suppress premature stop mutations in the CFTR gene in a bronchial epithelial cell line [Nat Med (1997) 3:1280]. To address whether aminoglycosides can suppress a CFTR premature stop mutation in an animal model, we constructed a transgenic mouse with a null mutation in the endogenous CFTR locus (Cftr-/-) that also expressed a human CFTR-G542X cDNA under control of the intestinal fatty acid binding protein promoter. We then investigated whether the daily administration of the aminoglycoside antibiotics gentamicin or tobramycin could restore the expression of a detectable level of CFTR protein. Immunofluorescence staining of intestinal tissues from Cftr-/- hCFTR-G542X mice revealed that gentamicin treatment resulted in the appearance of hCFTR protein at the apical surface of the glands of treated mice. Weaker staining was also observed in the intestinal glands following tobramycin treatment. Short-circuit current measurements made on intestinal tissues from these mice demonstrated that a significant number of positive cAMP-stimulated transepithelial chloride current measurements could be observed following gentamicin treatment (P=0.008) and a near significant number following tobramycin treatment (P=0.052). When taken together, these results indicate that gentamicin, and to a lesser extent tobramycin, can restore the synthesis of functional hCFTR protein by suppressing the hCFTR-G542X premature stop mutation in vivo.