Duchenne UK and the Fibrosis Group announce a new collaboration that aims to develop human cardiac precision cut slices as a novel platform for target identification and validation in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne UK grants £82,405 to investigate the development of a potential new test system for drugs that impact fibrosis in DMD

Fibrosis research in DMD is most commonly focused on skeletal muscle, but this study will focus on cardiac tissue. As DMD progresses and fibrosis of the heart develops, cardiomyopathy, conduction-defects (heart rhythm disturbance) and tachyarrhythmias (faster heart rate) may develop.

At the moment there are no anti-fibrotic therapies approved for the treatment of DMD. There is an urgent unmet need to better understand cardiac fibrosis in DMD, to enable the development of new therapeutic targets and compounds.

The study will specifically look at the possibility of developing Precision Cut Slices (PCS) of human cardiac tissue. Such slices would be structurally and physiologically representative of normal human tissue. Current models have only been developed for ‘soft’ tissues such as liver and lung.

Duchenne UK's Research Director Dr David Bull said: "Drug development is traditionally a long and expensive process. Currently, the probability of a drug progressing from Phase I to approval is less than 10%, despite large investments in drug development. The more effort we put in to improving the quality and depth of pre-clinical research, the greater the chance of accurately predicting the safety and efficacy of new treatments in the clinic. Many such preclinical studies are, necessarily, still carried out in animal models or in human cell cultures. The more representative the test system is of the human disease/condition the greater the probability of a drug progressing successfully through early clinical trials."

Emily Crossley, Co- CEO of Duchenne UK said: “Duchenne UK is funding this study because we need better and more reliable tissue to give more accurate results from preclinical research. We want to support the development of more reliable and reflective tissue test systems. Such systems may improve the quality of data coming from preclinical research. Data on compounds tested in test systems comprised of functional, disease-mimicking tissues are more likely to be effective in early clinic trials.

Professor Derek Mann is Professor of Hepatology and Dean of Research in the Faculty of Medical Sciences at Newcastle University said: “I am honoured and delighted that Duchenne UK have chosen to partner with the Newcastle Fibrosis Research Group to develop pre-clinical models of cardiac fibrosis. I am confident that our expertise with modelling fibrosis in precision cut tissue slices and their application for anti-fibrosis drug discovery will help advance the mission of Duchenne UK towards improving the lives of boys affected by Duchenne muscular dystrophy"

• This study aims to develop a technique using human cardiac tissue which, if successful, could provide us with a better way to test new (or repurposed) drugs which could treat fibrosis in DMD. • If development of such a system in cardiac tissue is successful it could potentially offer us a new, more representative, test bed for new drugs aimed at combatting fibrosis in DMD.
• Current in-vitro cell cultures, or in-vivo rodent models, are less reflective of the human disease state meaning it is less likely the same results in humans.
• This could really enhance our understanding of the processes associated with fibrosis in DMD and improving research capacity nationally and beyond.

We are extremely pleased to be working with world leaders in the fibrosis field. Professor Derek Mann is Professor of Hepatology and Dean of Research in the Faculty of Medical Sciences and founder of the Newcastle Fibrosis Research Group (NFRG). Dr Lee Borthwick is a lecturer with expertise in inflammatory-fibrogenic signaling and has driven the development of the lung and liver PCS test systems.

The aims in this pilot study are to explore the feasibility of developing a human cardiac PCS platform for target identification and validation in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The proposed study has four chronological aims:

1. Determine the best practical aspects of acquiring tissues such that we can produce functional, viable precision cut slices.
2. Establish the optimal extended culture conditions for human cardiac precision cut slices.
3. Investigate human cardiac precision cut slices as a model of inflammation and fibrosis.
4. Test a range of known anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic compounds in the model.