Selection of well-tolerated GalNAc-conjugated siRNAs by screening for RNAi-mediated off-target effects in rodent toxicity studies
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ABSTRACT: Small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) conjugated to a trivalent N-acetylgalactosamine (GalNAc) ligand are being evaluated in investigational clinical studies for a variety of indications. The typical development candidate selection process includes evaluation of the most active compounds for toxicity in rats at pharmacologically-exaggerated doses. The subset of GalNAc-siRNAs that show rat hepatotoxicity is not advanced to clinical development. Potential mechanisms of hepatotoxicity include toxicities associated with the intracellular accumulation of oligonucleotides and their metabolites, RNA interference (RNAi)-mediated hybridization-based off-target effects, and/or perturbation of endogenous RNAi pathways. Here we show that rodent hepatotoxicity observed at supratherapeutic exposures can be largely attributed to RNAi-mediated off-target effects, but not chemical modifications or the perturbation of RNAi pathways. Furthermore, these off-target effects can be mitigated by modulating seed-pairing using a thermally destabilizing chemical modification, which significantly improves the safety profile of a GalNAc-siRNA in rat and may minimize the occurrence of hepatotoxic siRNAs across species.
ORGANISM(S): Rattus norvegicus
PROVIDER: GSE108823 | GEO | 2018/01/11
SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA428745
REPOSITORIES: GEO
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