Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a progressive muscle wasting disorder caused by absence of functional dystrophin protein. This thesis describes investigations into the role of small non-coding RNAs in both DMD pathology, and as potential therapeutic molecules. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of small RNAs that regulate gene expression and are implicated in wide-ranging cellular processes and pathological conditions. This study has compared differential miRNA expression in proximal and distal limb muscles, diaphragm, heart and serum in the mdx dystrophic mouse model relative to wild-type controls. Global transcriptome analysis revealed muscle-specific patterns of differential miRNA expression as well as commonalities between tissues, including previously identified dystromirs. miR-1, miR-133a and miR-206 were found to be highly abundant in mdx serum, suggesting that these miRNAs are promising disease biomarkers. Indeed, the relative serum levels of these miRNAs were normalised in response to peptide-PMO mediated dystrophin restoration therapy. This study has revealed further complexity in the miRNA transcriptome of the mdx mouse, an understanding of which will be valuable for the development of novel DMD therapeutics and for monitoring their efficacy. Myostatin is a secreted growth factor that negatively regulates muscle mass and is therefore a potential pharmacological target for the treatment of muscle wasting disorders such as DMD. This study describes a novel myostatin inhibition approach in which small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) complementary to a promoter-associated transcript induce transcriptional gene silencing (TGS) in cultured myotubes. Silencing was sensitive to treatment with the histone deacetylase inhibitor Trichostatin A, and the silent state chromatin mark H3K9me2 was enriched at the myostatin promoter following siRNA transfection, suggesting epigenetic remodelling underlies the silencing effect. These observations suggest that long-term epigenetic silencing may be feasible for myostatin and that TGS is a promising novel therapeutic strategy for the treatment of muscle wasting disorders. The work in this thesis therefore demonstrates the potential of small RNAs as therapeutic agents and as disease biomarkers in the context of DMD.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:572842 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Roberts, Thomas C. |
| Contributors | Wood, Matthew J. A. |
| Publisher | University of Oxford |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:f53ea1f3-92db-4f90-ba95-01f2a56eae8f |
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