Rescue of the Friedreich Ataxia Knockout Mutation in Transgenic Mice Containing an FXN-EGFP Genomic Reporter

Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by neurodegeneration and cardiomyopathy. The presence of a GAA trinucleotide repeat expansion in the first intron of the FXN gene results in the inhibition of gene expression and an insufficiency of the mitochondrial protein frataxin. We previously generated BAC-based transgenic mice containing an FXN-EGFP genomic reporter construct in which the EGFP gene is fused in-frame immediately following the final codon of exon 5a of the human FXN gene. These transgenic mice were mated with mice heterozygous for a knockout mutation of the murine Fxn gene, to generate mice homozygous for the Fxn knockout mutation and hemizygous or homozygous for the human transgene. Rescue of the embryonic lethality that is associated with homozygosity for the Fxn knockout mutation was observed. Rescue mice displayed normal behavioral and histological parameters with normal viability, fertility and life span and without any signs of aberrant phenotype. Immunoblotting demonstrated the production of full-length frataxin-EGFP fusion protein that appears to act as a bifunctional hybrid protein. This study shows frataxin replacement may be a viable therapeutic option. Further, these mice should provide a useful resource for the study of human FXN gene expression, frataxin function, the evaluation of pharmacologic inducers of FXN expression in a whole-animal model and provide a useful source of cells for stem cell transplantation studies.