Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226.
Clement J. Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Milwaukee, WI 53295.
eNeuro. 2021 Mar 11;8(2). doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0338-20.2021. Print 2021 Mar-Apr.
Secondary damage after spinal cord injury (SCI) occurs because of a sequence of events after the initial injury, including exacerbated inflammation that contributes to increased lesion size and poor locomotor recovery. Thus, mitigating secondary damage is critical to preserve neural tissue and improve neurologic outcome. In this work, we examined the therapeutic potential of a novel antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) with special chemical modifications [2'-deoxy-2-fluoro-D-arabinonucleic acid (FANA) ASO] for specifically inhibiting an inflammatory molecule in the injured spinal cord. The chemokine CCL3 plays a complex role in the activation and attraction of immune cells and is upregulated in the injured tissue after SCI. We used specific FANA ASO to inhibit CCL3 in a contusive mouse model of murine SCI. Our results show that self-delivering FANA ASO molecules targeting the chemokine CCL3 penetrate the spinal cord lesion site and suppress the expression of CCL3 transcripts. Furthermore, they reduce other proinflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin (IL)-1β after SCI. In summary, we demonstrate for the first time the potential of FANA ASO molecules to penetrate the spinal cord lesion site to specifically inhibit CCL3, reducing proinflammatory cytokines and improve functional recovery after SCI. This novel approach may be used in new treatment strategies for SCI and other pathologic conditions of the CNS.
脊髓损伤 (SCI) 后的继发性损伤是由于初始损伤后的一系列事件引起的,包括加剧的炎症,这导致损伤扩大和运动功能恢复不良。因此,减轻继发性损伤对于保护神经组织和改善神经功能预后至关重要。在这项工作中,我们研究了一种新型反义寡核苷酸 (ASO) 的治疗潜力,该 ASO 具有特殊的化学修饰 [2'-脱氧-2-氟-D-阿拉伯核苷酸 (FANA) ASO],可特异性抑制损伤脊髓中的炎症分子。趋化因子 CCL3 在免疫细胞的激活和吸引中发挥复杂作用,在 SCI 后损伤组织中上调。我们使用特异性 FANA ASO 在小鼠 SCI 的挫伤模型中抑制趋化因子 CCL3。我们的结果表明,靶向趋化因子 CCL3 的自递呈 FANA ASO 分子穿透脊髓损伤部位,并抑制 CCL3 转录本的表达。此外,它们还可降低 SCI 后其他促炎细胞因子(如肿瘤坏死因子 (TNF) 和白细胞介素 (IL)-1β)的水平。总之,我们首次证明了 FANA ASO 分子穿透脊髓损伤部位的潜力,可特异性抑制 CCL3,减少促炎细胞因子,并改善 SCI 后的功能恢复。这种新方法可能用于 SCI 和中枢神经系统其他病理状况的新治疗策略。