Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome

This study is a prospective, non-interventional, single-patient observational study following one patient with Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a rare disease that causes rapid, premature aging, over a 3-year period without any therapeutic intervention. The main purpose of this study is to track disease-related biomarkers over time - through physical measurements, cardiac and vascular ultrasound, bone age and bone density scans, cognitive testing, and quality-of-life assessments, along with blood tests (a total of 4 research blood draws, 3ml each) - in order to establish baseline natural history data that will support the future development and evaluation of an RNA-targeting gene therapy (based on AAV-Cas13 technology) for this condition.

This study aims to establish induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from the blood of one pediatric patient with Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS), a rare disease that causes rapid, premature aging, in order to build a laboratory model of the disease. The main purpose of this study is to collect a blood sample (a total of 9cc, drawn once) from the patient, reprogram the patient's blood cells into stem cells, and then differentiate these stem cells into disease-relevant cell types (such as fibroblasts, vascular smooth muscle cells, and neurons) to study how HGPS affects cells at a molecular level. These patient-derived cells will then be used entirely in the laboratory (in-vitro) to test the safety and effectiveness of candidate treatments, including an RNA-targeting gene therapy, before any such therapy would be considered for use in patients.