InteRNA and UMC Utrecht Publish Preclinical Evidence for Potential of miRNAs in Treatment of Epilepsy

The paper provides novel insights into the pathological mechanisms of mTLE, which remain poorly understood to-date. In the study, it was shown for the first time that miR-135a is significantly overexpressed in human mTLE hippocampal samples and that the silencing of this specific miRNA in mouse models by an antimir drastically reduces the number, severity and time spent in seizures in the SRS stage, an advanced disease stage where current treatments fail to induce an effect. Furthermore, novel neuronal downstream targets of miR-135a were identified. In particular, the role of Mef2a, an activity-dependent transcription factor regulating synaptic strength, was investigated in closer detail. The data demonstrated that miR-135a and Mef2a show reciprocal expression regulation in TLE and that Mef2a is required for miR135a-induced dendritic spine changes in neurons that might induce synaptic defects involved in the pathomechanisms of TLE. The research paper titled, “Antagonizing increased miR-135a levels at the chronic stage of experimental TLE reduces spontaneous recurrent seizures” was published in Journal of Neuroscience on April 23, 2019.

“TLE accounts for a third of all epilepsies and available treatments lack disease-modifying effects and are ineffective in one third of all mTLE patients,” commented Prof. Jeroen Pasterkamp, PhD, Department of Translational Neuroscience, UMC Utrecht Brain Center. “The data from this study indicate that targeting epilepsy-associated miRNAs has the potential to unlock a novel therapeutic entity and provides key insights into the disease biology of epilepsy.”

Roel Schaapveld, CEO of InteRNA added: “The published data provide evidence that targeting a single miRNA could represent a new modality in the epilepsy field where current treatments are solely based on ion channel blockers that only relieve symptoms rather than provide curative effects. We are encouraged by the results of this study that further validate InteRNA’s proprietary miRNA platform, which has the potential to target cancer, our primary focus, as well as other complex disease states outside of the realm of oncology.”

About InteRNA Technologies
InteRNA is developing a pipeline of proprietary preclinical microRNA drug candidates targeting key processes in initiation and progression of human diseases, with a focus on cancer. Enabled with a 3^rd generation drug delivery formulation, these miRNA compounds can mount a coordinated anti-cancer attack by engaging multiple signal transduction targets simultaneously. With this approach, we address the high need for novel therapeutics with improved efficacy and less drug resistance that benefit cancer patients.

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