中国神经再生研究(英文版) ›› 2022, Vol. 17 ›› Issue (10): 2225-2227.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.335798

• 观点:脊髓损伤修复保护与再生 • 上一篇    下一篇

锌指蛋白ZPR1:拯救脊髓性肌萎缩症的运动神经元存活依赖调节剂

  

  • 出版日期:2022-10-15 发布日期:2022-03-16

Zinc finger protein ZPR1: promising survival motor neuron protein-dependent modifier for the rescue of spinal muscular atrophy

Juliana Cuartas, Laxman Gangwani   

  1. Center of Emphasis in Neurosciences, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center El Paso, El Paso, TX, USA
  • Online:2022-10-15 Published:2022-03-16
  • Contact: Laxman Gangwani, PhD, Laxman.Gangwani@ttuhsc.edu.
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant (R01 NS115834) awarded to LG. JC is a Research Mentee supported by NIH Diversity Supplement (3R01NS115834-01A1S1).

摘要: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8575-9937 (Laxman Gangwani)

Abstract: Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is a neuromuscular disease caused by the homozygous mutation or deletion of the survival motor neuron 1 (SMN1) gene. A second copy, SMN2, is similar to SMN1, but produces only ~10% SMN protein because of a single-point mutation (C > T) in coding exon 7 causing a splicing defect which leads to the exclusion of exon 7, resulting in a majority (~90%) of transcripts lacking exon 7 that translate into mutant SMN (SMNΔ7) protein. SMA is caused by chronic low levels of SMN and is characterized by the degeneration of the spinal cord motor neurons leading to symmetrical skeletal muscle atrophy, respiratory failure, and death (Ahmad et al., 2012). Chronic low levels of SMN cause the accumulation of pathogenic R-loops and double-stranded breaks (DSBs) in DNA, leading to genomic instability and neurodegeneration in SMA (Kannan et al., 2018). The severity of SMA disease correlates inversely with SMN levels. The SMN2 gene is a promising target to produce higher levels of SMN by enhancing its expression. Cellular and molecular factors that may regulate the expression of SMN genes are slowly emerging, but precise molecular mechanisms which directly influence SMN expression are unclear. This perspective is focused on the potential role of the zinc finger protein ZPR1 as a molecular factor that may regulate the levels of mammalian SMN genes expression in vivo under the normal and disease conditions through a novel mechanism involving the resolution of R-loops that are formed during transcription (Kannan et al., 2020). The potential of ZPR1 as a therapeutic target for developing a new treatment is discussed in the context of currently available treatments for SMA.