Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33993268›Full record

ArticleBrain : a journal of neurology2021

Gys1 antisense therapy rescues neuropathological bases of murine Lafora disease.

Saija Ahonen, Silvia Nitschke, Tamar R Grossman, Holly Kordasiewicz, Peixiang Wang, Xiaochu Zhao, Dikran R Guisso, Sahba Kasiri, Felix Nitschke, Berge A Minassian

Open access · bronzeAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Brain : a journal of neurology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
42citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
6.3field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

42 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 49 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Review
  3. Review
  4. Article
  5. Lafora disease gene therapy: EPM2A but not EPM2B overexpression results in Lafora body formation.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2026
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Adeno-Associated Virus-Based Gene Therapy for Lafora Disease inInternational journal of molecular sciences · 2025
    Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Review
  15. Neurological glycogen storage diseases and emerging therapeutics.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2024
    Review
  16. Gene therapy for Lafora disease in the Epm2aMolecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy · 2024
    Article
  17. Article
  18. Implications of aCurrent issues in molecular biology · 2024
    Article
  19. Article
  20. The multifaceted roles of the brain glycogen.Journal of neurochemistry · 2024
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Saija AhonenProgram in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON M5G 0A4, Canada.
Silvia NitschkeProgram in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON M5G 0A4, Canada.ORCID 0000-0002-6129-6103
Tamar R GrossmanDepartment of Antisense Drug Discovery, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA, USA.
Holly KordasiewiczDepartment of Antisense Drug Discovery, Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Carlsbad, CA, USA.
Peixiang WangProgram in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON M5G 0A4, Canada.
Xiaochu ZhaoProgram in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON M5G 0A4, Canada.
Dikran R GuissoDivision of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
Sahba KasiriDivision of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
Felix NitschkeDivision of Neurology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390, USA.
Berge A MinassianProgram in Genetics and Genome Biology, The Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute, Toronto, ON M5G 0A4, Canada.
Hospital for Sick Children · CAThe University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center · USIonis Pharmaceuticals (United States) · US

Funding

Suppressing glycogen storage with small molecule inhibitors as a therapeutic approach to Lafora DiseaseP01NS097197 · NINDS · UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY · PI GAO, TIANYAN · 2016 to 2021
$9.0M
NINDS NIH HHS P01 NS097197
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Lafora disease is a fatal progressive myoclonus epilepsy. At root, it is due to constant acquisition of branches that are too long in a subgroup of glycogen molecules, leading them to precipitate and accumulate into Lafora bodies, which drive a neuroinflammatory response and neurodegeneration. As a potential therapy, we aimed to downregulate glycogen synthase, the enzyme responsible for glycogen branch elongation, in mouse models of the disease. We synthesized an antisense oligonucleotide (Gys1-ASO) that targets the mRNA of the brain-expressed glycogen synthase 1 gene (Gys1). We administered Gys1-ASO by intracerebroventricular injection and analysed the pathological hallmarks of Lafora disease, namely glycogen accumulation, Lafora body formation, and neuroinflammation. Gys1-ASO prevented Lafora body formation in young mice that had not yet formed them. In older mice that already exhibited Lafora bodies, Gys1-ASO inhibited further accumulation, markedly preventing large Lafora bodies characteristic of advanced disease. Inhibition of Lafora body formation was associated with prevention of astrogliosis and strong trends towards correction of dysregulated expression of disease immune and neuroinflammatory markers. Lafora disease manifests gradually in previously healthy teenagers. Our work provides proof of principle that an antisense oligonucleotide targeting the GYS1 mRNA could prevent, and halt progression of, this catastrophic epilepsy.

Indexed as

AnimalsFemaleGlycogen SynthaseInjections, IntraventricularLafora DiseaseMaleMiceMice, KnockoutOligoribonucleotides, AntisenseRNA, MessengerGlycogen SynthaseOligoribonucleotides, AntisenseRNA, Messengerantisense oligonucleotidesglycogen synthaseLafora diseaseneuroinflammationtherapy

Identifiers

PMID33993268
PMCPMC8634080
OpenAlexW3162405639

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.