The development of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) modulators has significantly improved the therapeutic scenario for CF patients in the past decade. However, around 10% of patients harboring nonsense and splice-site mutations are nonresponsive to CFTR modulators.

Scientists from 4D Molecular Therapeutics Inc. disclosed the preclinical evaluation of 4D-710, an aerosolized gene therapy that consists of a lung-specific evolved A101 capsid vector, the promoter CMV173 and the transgene codon-optimized human CFTRΔR.

How do exercise and insulin collaborate in metabolism? The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and the Novo Nordisk Foundation recognized the work of Juleen Zierath in this topic with the Diabetes Prize for Excellence at their recent annual meeting.

CTNNB1 syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by intellectual disability, global developmental delay, microcephaly and motor disabilities, among others, caused by pathogenic loss-of-function variants in the CTNNB1 gene, which encodes β-catenin. This syndrome has no treatment option, with only supportive care available. To address this unmet medical need, researchers from the Broad Institute and Tufts University School of Biomedical Sciences have developed a Ctnnb1 germline heterozygote murine model that mimics the human CTNNB1 syndrome.

Shwachman-Diamond syndrome is an inherited bone marrow failure syndrome characterized by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, cytopenia, growth restriction and skeletal abnormalities, and for which primary treatment is allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation, which is associated with significant toxicity.

Mutations in the GNAO1 gene are tied to neurological disorders characterized by movement abnormalities and developmental delay. GNAO1 encodes the protein guanine nucleotide-binding protein G(o) subunit α, which is highly expressed in the brain. Among the mutations, R209H results in dystonia, choreoathetosis and developmental delay without seizures.

People with the rare inherited metabolic disorder Gaucher disease have a deficiency in the lipid-digesting glucocerebrosidase enzyme, which causes the accumulation of harmful levels of glucolipids in various organs. The enzyme has a very short half-life, which rules out enzyme replacement as an effective therapy, and as things stand, there are few treatments for this and other lysosomal storage diseases (LSDs). Now, researchers have discovered two small molecules that enhance the activity of glucocerebrosidase in cellular models of LSD, pointing to a potential new approach to treating these diseases.

A new study has shown that when a gene is mutated and its copy number is altered, the risk of that gene contributing to the development of cancer increases. Although it was already known that both variations together promoted cancer, it had not been described how the link between the two leads to the progression of tumors and what implications it had on the genetics of cancer.

Kano Therapeutics Inc. announced it has secured $5 million in seed funding, bringing its total funding to date to $7.1 million. The company plans to use the funding to begin internal pipeline development of ex vivo genetic medicines based on kilobase gene insertion, expand its existing therapeutic collaborations to initiate externally driven preclinical programs, and scale its production capacity.