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Percutaneous gene therapy heals cranial defects

Gene Therapy volume 20, pages 922–929 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

Nonhealing bone defects are difficult to treat. As the bone morphogenic protein and transforming growth factor beta pathways have been implicated in bone healing, we hypothesized that percutaneous Smad7 silencing would enhance signaling through both pathways and improve bone formation. Critical sized parietal trephine defects were created and animals received percutaneous injection of: agarose alone or agarose containing nonsense or Smad7 small interfering RNA (siRNA). At 12 weeks, SMADs1, 2, 3, 5, 7 and 8 levels were assessed. Smad1/5/8 osteogenic target, Dlx5, and SMAD2/3 angiogenic target, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (Pai1), transcription levels were measured. Noncanonical signaling through TGFβ activated kinase-1 (Tak1) and target, runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) and collagen1α1 (Col1α1), transcription were also measured. Micro-computed tomography and Gomori trichome staining were used to assess healing. Percutaneous injection of Smad7 siRNA significantly knocked down Smad7 mRNA (86.3±2.5%) and protein levels (46.3±3.1%). The SMAD7 knockdown resulted in a significant increase in receptor-regulated SMADs (R-SMAD) (Smad 1/5/8 and Smad2/3) nuclear translocation. R-SMAD nuclear translocation increased Dlx5 and Pai1 transcription. Additionally, noncanonical signaling through Tak1 increased Runx2 and Col1α1 target transcription. Compared with animals treated with agarose alone (33.9±2.8% healing) and nonsense siRNA (31.5±11.8% healing), animals treated Smad7 siRNA had significantly great (91.2±3.8%) healing. Percutaneous Smad7 silencing increases signal transduction through canonical and noncanonical pathways resulting in significant bone formation. Minimally invasive gene therapies may prove effective in the treatment of nonhealing bone defects.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Department of Plastic Surgery, Institute of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery Laboratories, New York University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA

    J Layliev, F Sagebin, A Weinstein, A Marchac, C Szpalski, P B Saadeh & S M Warren

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  1. J Layliev
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  2. F Sagebin
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  3. A Weinstein
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Correspondence to S M Warren.

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Presented at the Northeastern Society of Plastic Surgeons 28th Annual Meeting, October 2011, Amelia Island, FL, USA. American Society of Plastic Surgery Annual Meeting September 2011, Denver, CO, USA. Awards: Outstanding Paper Presentation Award at the American Society of Plastic Surgery Annual Meeting, 2011 (awarded to JL)

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JL and FS: conception and design, collection and/or assembly of data, data analysis and interpretation, manuscript writing and final approval of manuscript; AW: collection and/or assembly of data, data analysis and interpretation and manuscript writing; AM, CS: collection and/or assembly of data and data analysis and interpretation; PBS, SMW: conception and design and final approval of manuscript.

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Layliev, J., Sagebin, F., Weinstein, A. et al. Percutaneous gene therapy heals cranial defects. Gene Ther 20, 922–929 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/gt.2013.15

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