In vitro and in vivo rescue of aberrant splicing in CEP290-associated LCA by antisense oligonucleotide delivery

Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a severe disorder resulting in visual impairment usually starting in the first year of life. The most frequent genetic cause of LCA is an intronic mutation in CEP290 (c.2991+1655A>G) that creates a cryptic splice donor site resulting in the insertion of a pseudoexon (exon X) into CEP290 mRNA. Previously, we showed that naked antisense oligonucleotides (AONs) effectively restored normal CEP290 splicing in patient-derived lymphoblastoid cells. We here explore the therapeutic potential of naked and adeno-associated virus (AAV)-packaged AONs in vitro and in vivo. In both cases, AON delivery fully restored CEP290 pre-mRNA splicing, significantly increased CEP290 protein levels and rescued a ciliary phenotype present in patient-derived fibroblast cells. Moreover, administration of naked and AAV-packaged AONs to the retina of a humanized mutant Cep290 mouse model, carrying the intronic mutation, showed a statistically significant reduction of exon X-containing Cep290 transcripts, without compromising the retinal structure. Together, our data highlight the tremendous therapeutic prospective of AONs for the treatment of not only CEP290-associated LCA but potentially many other subtypes of retinal dystrophy caused by splicing mutations.