CDP-ribitol prodrug treatment ameliorates ISPD-deficient muscular dystrophy mouse model.

Nature communications 2022 Apr 14

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Ribitol-phosphate modification is crucial for the functional maturation of α-dystroglycan. Its dysfunction is associated with muscular dystrophy, cardiomyopathy, and central nervous system abnormalities; however, no effective treatments are currently available for diseases caused by ribitol-phosphate defects. In this study, we demonstrate that prodrug treatments can ameliorate muscular dystrophy caused by defects in isoprenoid synthase domain containing (ISPD), which encodes an enzyme that synthesizes CDP-ribitol, a donor substrate for ribitol-phosphate modification. We generated skeletal muscle-selective Ispd conditional knockout mice, leading to a pathogenic reduction in CDP-ribitol levels, abnormal glycosylation of α-dystroglycan, and severe muscular dystrophy. Adeno-associated virus-mediated gene replacement experiments suggested that the recovery of CDP-ribitol levels rescues the ISPD-deficient pathology. As a prodrug treatment strategy, we developed a series of membrane-permeable CDP-ribitol derivatives, among which tetraacetylated CDP-ribitol ameliorated the dystrophic pathology. In addition, the prodrug successfully rescued abnormal α-dystroglycan glycosylation in patient fibroblasts. Consequently, our findings provide proof-of-concept for supplementation therapy with CDP-ribitol and could accelerate the development of therapeutic agents for muscular dystrophy and other diseases caused by glycosylation defects. © 2022. The Author(s).

Citation

Hideki Tokuoka, Rieko Imae, Hitomi Nakashima, Hiroshi Manya, Chiaki Masuda, Shunsuke Hoshino, Kazuhiro Kobayashi, Dirk J Lefeber, Riki Matsumoto, Takashi Okada, Tamao Endo, Motoi Kanagawa, Tatsushi Toda. CDP-ribitol prodrug treatment ameliorates ISPD-deficient muscular dystrophy mouse model. Nature communications. 2022 Apr 14;13(1):1847