Minggang Fang,Shahid Banday,Sara K Deibler,Tessa M Simone,Madison Coleman,Emerald O'Connor,Rui Li,Lihua Julie Zhu,Michael R Green
{"title":"抑制rho相关激酶ROCK1和ROCK2作为重新激活弗里德赖希共济失调中被抑制的FXN基因的治疗策略。","authors":"Minggang Fang,Shahid Banday,Sara K Deibler,Tessa M Simone,Madison Coleman,Emerald O'Connor,Rui Li,Lihua Julie Zhu,Michael R Green","doi":"10.1523/jneurosci.2307-24.2025","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Friedreich ataxia (FA) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by progressive damage to the nervous system and severe cardiac abnormalities. The disease is caused by a GAA•TTC triplet repeat expansion in the first intron of the FXN gene, which results in epigenetic repression of FXN transcription and reduction in FXN (frataxin) protein which results in mitochondrial dysfunction. Factors and pathways that promote FXN repression represent potential therapeutic targets whose inhibition would restore FXN transcription and frataxin protein levels. Here, we performed a candidate-based RNAi screen to identify kinases, a highly druggable class of proteins, that when knocked down upregulate FXN expression. Using this approach, we identified Rho kinase ROCK1 as a critical factor required for FXN repression. ShRNA-mediated knockdown of ROCK1, or the related kinase ROCK2, increases FXN mRNA and frataxin protein levels in FA patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and differentiated neurons and cardiomyocytes to levels observed in normal cells. We demonstrate that small molecule ROCK inhibitors, including the FDA-approved drug belumosudil and fasudil, reactivate FXN expression in cultured FA iPSCs, neurons, cardiomyocytes, and FA patient primary fibroblasts, and ameliorate the characteristic mitochondrial defects in these cell types. Remarkably, treatment of transgenic FA mice of both sexes with belumosudil or fasudil upregulates FXN expression, ameliorates the mitochondrial defects in the brain and heart tissues, and improves motor coordination and muscle strength. Collectively, our study identifies ROCK kinases as critical repressors of FXN expression and provides preclinical evidence that FDA approved ROCK inhibitors may be repurposed for treatment of FA.Significance Statement Friedreich ataxia is a debilitating disorder caused by epigenetic repression of the frataxin (FXN) gene, leading to neurodegeneration and cardiomyopathy. Through an RNA interference screen, we identified ROCK1 and ROCK2 kinases as critical repressors of FXN expression, making them promising therapeutic targets for upregulating FXN in patient-derived cells. Treatment with small-molecule ROCK inhibitors, including the FDA-approved drug belumosudil and clinically advanced fasudil, restores frataxin levels, alleviates mitochondrial defects, and improves disease phenotypes in cells and animal models. These findings establish ROCK kinases as targets for Friedreich ataxia therapy and open new avenues for repurposing existing ROCK inhibitors, warranting clinical exploration.","PeriodicalId":50114,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Neuroscience","volume":"33 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.0000,"publicationDate":"2025-05-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Inhibition of Rho-associated kinases ROCK1 and ROCK2 as a Therapeutic Strategy to Reactivate the Repressed FXN Gene in Friedreich Ataxia.\",\"authors\":\"Minggang Fang,Shahid Banday,Sara K Deibler,Tessa M Simone,Madison Coleman,Emerald O'Connor,Rui Li,Lihua Julie Zhu,Michael R Green\",\"doi\":\"10.1523/jneurosci.2307-24.2025\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"Friedreich ataxia (FA) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by progressive damage to the nervous system and severe cardiac abnormalities. The disease is caused by a GAA•TTC triplet repeat expansion in the first intron of the FXN gene, which results in epigenetic repression of FXN transcription and reduction in FXN (frataxin) protein which results in mitochondrial dysfunction. Factors and pathways that promote FXN repression represent potential therapeutic targets whose inhibition would restore FXN transcription and frataxin protein levels. Here, we performed a candidate-based RNAi screen to identify kinases, a highly druggable class of proteins, that when knocked down upregulate FXN expression. Using this approach, we identified Rho kinase ROCK1 as a critical factor required for FXN repression. ShRNA-mediated knockdown of ROCK1, or the related kinase ROCK2, increases FXN mRNA and frataxin protein levels in FA patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and differentiated neurons and cardiomyocytes to levels observed in normal cells. We demonstrate that small molecule ROCK inhibitors, including the FDA-approved drug belumosudil and fasudil, reactivate FXN expression in cultured FA iPSCs, neurons, cardiomyocytes, and FA patient primary fibroblasts, and ameliorate the characteristic mitochondrial defects in these cell types. Remarkably, treatment of transgenic FA mice of both sexes with belumosudil or fasudil upregulates FXN expression, ameliorates the mitochondrial defects in the brain and heart tissues, and improves motor coordination and muscle strength. Collectively, our study identifies ROCK kinases as critical repressors of FXN expression and provides preclinical evidence that FDA approved ROCK inhibitors may be repurposed for treatment of FA.Significance Statement Friedreich ataxia is a debilitating disorder caused by epigenetic repression of the frataxin (FXN) gene, leading to neurodegeneration and cardiomyopathy. Through an RNA interference screen, we identified ROCK1 and ROCK2 kinases as critical repressors of FXN expression, making them promising therapeutic targets for upregulating FXN in patient-derived cells. Treatment with small-molecule ROCK inhibitors, including the FDA-approved drug belumosudil and clinically advanced fasudil, restores frataxin levels, alleviates mitochondrial defects, and improves disease phenotypes in cells and animal models. These findings establish ROCK kinases as targets for Friedreich ataxia therapy and open new avenues for repurposing existing ROCK inhibitors, warranting clinical exploration.\",\"PeriodicalId\":50114,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Journal of Neuroscience\",\"volume\":\"33 1\",\"pages\":\"\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":4.0000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-05-22\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Journal of Neuroscience\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"3\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2307-24.2025\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"医学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"NEUROSCIENCES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Journal of Neuroscience","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2307-24.2025","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NEUROSCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Inhibition of Rho-associated kinases ROCK1 and ROCK2 as a Therapeutic Strategy to Reactivate the Repressed FXN Gene in Friedreich Ataxia.
Friedreich ataxia (FA) is an autosomal recessive disease characterized by progressive damage to the nervous system and severe cardiac abnormalities. The disease is caused by a GAA•TTC triplet repeat expansion in the first intron of the FXN gene, which results in epigenetic repression of FXN transcription and reduction in FXN (frataxin) protein which results in mitochondrial dysfunction. Factors and pathways that promote FXN repression represent potential therapeutic targets whose inhibition would restore FXN transcription and frataxin protein levels. Here, we performed a candidate-based RNAi screen to identify kinases, a highly druggable class of proteins, that when knocked down upregulate FXN expression. Using this approach, we identified Rho kinase ROCK1 as a critical factor required for FXN repression. ShRNA-mediated knockdown of ROCK1, or the related kinase ROCK2, increases FXN mRNA and frataxin protein levels in FA patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and differentiated neurons and cardiomyocytes to levels observed in normal cells. We demonstrate that small molecule ROCK inhibitors, including the FDA-approved drug belumosudil and fasudil, reactivate FXN expression in cultured FA iPSCs, neurons, cardiomyocytes, and FA patient primary fibroblasts, and ameliorate the characteristic mitochondrial defects in these cell types. Remarkably, treatment of transgenic FA mice of both sexes with belumosudil or fasudil upregulates FXN expression, ameliorates the mitochondrial defects in the brain and heart tissues, and improves motor coordination and muscle strength. Collectively, our study identifies ROCK kinases as critical repressors of FXN expression and provides preclinical evidence that FDA approved ROCK inhibitors may be repurposed for treatment of FA.Significance Statement Friedreich ataxia is a debilitating disorder caused by epigenetic repression of the frataxin (FXN) gene, leading to neurodegeneration and cardiomyopathy. Through an RNA interference screen, we identified ROCK1 and ROCK2 kinases as critical repressors of FXN expression, making them promising therapeutic targets for upregulating FXN in patient-derived cells. Treatment with small-molecule ROCK inhibitors, including the FDA-approved drug belumosudil and clinically advanced fasudil, restores frataxin levels, alleviates mitochondrial defects, and improves disease phenotypes in cells and animal models. These findings establish ROCK kinases as targets for Friedreich ataxia therapy and open new avenues for repurposing existing ROCK inhibitors, warranting clinical exploration.
期刊介绍:
JNeurosci (ISSN 0270-6474) is an official journal of the Society for Neuroscience. It is published weekly by the Society, fifty weeks a year, one volume a year. JNeurosci publishes papers on a broad range of topics of general interest to those working on the nervous system. Authors now have an Open Choice option for their published articles