Perspective
Spliceosome-Mediated Trans-Splicing: The Therapeutic Cut and Paste

https://doi.org/10.1038/jid.2012.101Get rights and content
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Spliceosome-mediated RNA trans-splicing (SMaRT) is an RNA-based technology to reprogram genes for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. For the correction of genetic diseases, SMaRT offers several advantages over traditional gene-replacement strategies. SMaRT protocols have recently been used for in vitro phenotypic correction of a variety of genetic disorders, ranging from epidermolysis bullosa to neurodegenerative diseases. In vivo studies are currently bringing trans-splicing RNA therapy toward clinical application. In this review, we summarize the progress made toward the medical use of SMaRT and provide an outlook on its upcoming applications.

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A patent on “Improved pre-mRNA trans-splicing molecule (RTM) molecules and their uses” is pending.

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These authors equally contributed to this work.