Antisense oligonucleotides increase Scn1a expression and reduce seizures and SUDEP incidence in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome

Abstract

Dravet syndrome (DS) is an intractable developmental and epileptic encephalopathy caused largely by de novo variants in the SCN1A gene, resulting in haploinsufficiency of the voltage-gated sodium channel α subunit Na_V1.1. Here, we used Targeted Augmentation of Nuclear Gene Output (TANGO) technology, which modulates naturally occurring, nonproductive splicing events to increase target gene and protein expression and ameliorate disease phenotype in a mouse model. We identified antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) that specifically increase the expression of productive Scn1a transcript in human cell lines, as well as in mouse brain. We show that a single intracerebroventricular dose of a lead ASO at postnatal day 2 or 14 reduced the incidence of electrographic seizures and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP) in the F1:129S-Scn1a ^+/- × C57BL/6J mouse model of DS. Increased expression of productive Scn1a transcript and Na_V1.1 protein was confirmed in brains of treated mice. Our results suggest that TANGO may provide a unique, gene-specific approach for the treatment of DS.