Modification of alternative splicing by antisense therapeutics

Alternative splicing allows the production of several different proteins from a single pre-mRNA, resulting in an increased diversity of proteins derived from a relatively limited number of transcribed genes. Although it is necessary for normal development, alternative splicing and its aberrations are also implicated in disease states from thalassemia and cancer to neurodegenerative disorders. Techniques that trick the splicing machinery to alter the splicing pathways can be of high therapeutic value. Antisense technology, used mostly for RNA downregulation, recently has been adapted to alter the splicing process. The promise of this approach is now being realized as a result of chemical modification of oligonucleotides and improvements in their delivery in vivo.