This invention relates to therapies for diseases involving splicing defects, such as spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and methods to identify compounds for treating this disease. The invention specifically provides for therapies comprised of small molecule compounds identified by cell-based high-throughput screening assays. These assays utilize engineered splicing constructs that fuse pre-mRNA fragments to a reporter gene. The fragments contain exons and at least one intron of a gene mutated in such a way to cause disease. Additionally, the invention provides for methods to monitor the effects of drugs on splicing and gene expression in vivo, in transgenic animals.
本发明涉及脊髓性肌萎缩症(SMA)等涉及剪接缺陷的疾病的治疗方法,以及鉴定治疗该疾病的化合物的方法。 本发明特别提供了由基于细胞的高通量筛选测定法鉴定的
小分子化合物组成的疗法。 这些检测方法利用工程剪接构建体,将前 mRNA 片段与报告
基因融合。 这些片段包含
基因突变导致疾病的外显子和至少一个内含子。 此外,本发明还提供了在转
基因动物体内监测药物对剪接和
基因表达影响的方法。