| First Author | Tortelli B | Year | 2014 |
| Journal | Hum Mol Genet | Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 22 | Pages | 6022-33 |
| PubMed ID | 24964810 | Mgi Jnum | J:214969 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:5604307 | Doi | 10.1093/hmg/ddu331 |
| Citation | Tortelli B, et al. (2014) Cholesterol homeostatic responses provide biomarkers for monitoring treatment for the neurodegenerative disease Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1). Hum Mol Genet 23(22):6022-33 |
| abstractText | Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1) disease is a rare, neurodegenerative lysosomal cholesterol storage disorder, typified by progressive cognitive and motor function impairment. Affected individuals usually succumb to the disease in adolescence. 2-Hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (HP-beta-CD) has emerged as a promising intervention that reduces lipid storage and prolongs survival in NPC1 disease animal models. A barrier to the development of HP-beta-CD and other treatments for NPC disease has been the lack of validated biochemical measures to evaluate efficacy. Here we explored whether cholesterol homeostatic responses resulting from HP-beta-CD-mediated redistribution of sequestered lysosomal cholesterol could provide biomarkers to monitor treatment. Upon direct CNS delivery of HP-beta-CD, we found increases in plasma 24(S)-HC in two independent NPC1 disease animal models, findings that were confirmed in human NPC1 subjects receiving HP-beta-CD. Since circulating 24(S)-HC is almost exclusively CNS-derived, the increase in plasma 24(S)-HC provides a peripheral, non-invasive measure of the CNS effect of HP-beta-CD. Our findings suggest that plasma 24(S)-HC, along with the other cholesterol-derived markers examined in this study, can serve as biomarkers that will accelerate development of therapeutics for NPC1 disease. |
