Researchers from Chemicare Srl and the University of Piemonte Orientale have presented preclinical results regarding their (SOCE) negative regulator CIC-39. Researchers evaluated the dysregulation of SOCE in both ex vivo and in vivo models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), as well as evaluated the therapeutic potential of CIC-39 in DMD.

GM1 gangliosidosis is a lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the human GLB1 gene, encoding the ubiquitous lysosomal β-galactosidase. GM1 causes a rapidly progressing neurodegeneration, which can be lethal in the first 2 years of life in the most severe cases.

Glucocerebrosidase (GCase), encoded by the gene GBA1, is a ubiquitous lysosomal enzyme that breaks down lipid substrates, glucosylceramide (GL-1) and glucosylsphingosine (Lyso-GL1), into glucose and ceramide. Loss-of-function mutations in GBA1 reduce GCase activity, resulting in lipid accumulation within lysosomes and subsequent lysosomal dysfunction.

A therapeutic strategy based on alternative splicing of the MECP2 gene could restore protein levels in Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder caused by mutations in that gene. Scientists at Baylor College of Medicine have successfully tested this approach both in vitro in neurons from Rett patients that produce some functional protein, correcting the altered gene expression and improving neuronal functions, and in vivo in mice.

Beam Therapeutics Inc. has added a new program to its liver-targeted genetic disease franchise, BEAM-304, for the treatment of phenylketonuria (PKU).

Hunter syndrome, also called mucopolysaccharidosis II, is an X-linked genetic lysosomal disorder caused by loss-of-function mutations in the IDS gene, encoding iduronate-2-sulfatase (I2S). I2S is a lysosomal enzyme responsible for the cleavage of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), and its deficiency results in accumulation of GAGs leading to a multisystemic disorder.