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Novel Combinatorial MicroRNA-Binding Sites in AAV Vectors Synergistically Diminish Antigen Presentation and Transgene Immunity for Efficient and Stable Transduction.

ABSTRACT: Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) platforms hold promise for in vivo gene therapy but are undermined by the undesirable transduction of antigen presenting cells (APCs), which in turn can trigger host immunity towards rAAV-expressed transgene products. In light of recent adverse events in patients receiving high systemic AAV vector doses that were speculated to be related to host immune responses, development of strategies to mute innate and adaptive immunity is imperative. The use of miRNA binding sites (miR-BSs) to confer endogenous miRNA-mediated regulation to detarget transgene expression from APCs has shown promise for reducing transgene immunity. Studies have shown that designing miR-142BSs into rAAV1 vectors were able to repress costimulatory signals in dendritic cells (DCs), blunt the cytotoxic T cell response, and attenuate clearance of transduced muscle cells in mice to allow sustained transgene expression in myofibers with negligible anti-transgene IgG production. In this study, we screened individual and combinatorial miR-BS designs against 26 miRNAs that are abundantly expressed in APCs, but not in skeletal muscle. The highly immunogenic ovalbumin (OVA) transgene was used as a proxy for foreign antigens. In vitro screening in myoblasts, mouse DCs, and macrophages revealed that the combination of miR-142BS and miR-652-5pBS strongly mutes transgene expression in APCs but maintains high myoblast and myocyte expression. Importantly, rAAV1 vectors carrying this novel miR-142/652-5pBS cassette achieve higher transgene levels following intramuscular injections in mice than previous detargeting designs. The cassette strongly inhibits cytotoxic CTL activation and suppresses the Th17 response in vivo. Our approach, thus, advances the efficiency of miRNA-mediated detargeting to achieve synergistic reduction of transgene-specific immune responses and the development of safe and efficient delivery vehicles for gene therapy.

SUBMITTER: Muhuri M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8113644 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:Gene therapy using neurotropic adeno-associated virus vectors represents an emerging solution for genetic disorders affecting the central nervous system. The first approved central nervous system-targeting adeno-associated virus gene therapy, Zolgensma®, for treating spinal muscular atrophy is administered intravenously at high doses that cause liver-associated adverse events in 20%–30% of patients. Intrathecal routes of vector administration, such as the intra-cisterna magna route, provide efficient gene transduction to central nervous system cells while reducing off-target liver transduction. However, significant levels of liver transduction often occur upon intra-cisterna magna vector delivery in preclinical studies. Using vectors expressing monoclonal antibody transgenes, we examined whether passive transfer of adeno-associated virus-neutralizing antibodies as intravenous immunoglobulin before intrathecal adeno-associated virus delivery improved the safety of viral gene therapy targeting the central nervous system in mice and nonhuman primates. We used intracerebroventricular and intra-cisterna magna routes for vector administration to mice and nonhuman primates, respectively, and evaluated transgene expression and vector genome distribution. Our data indicate that pretreatment with intravenous immunoglobulin significantly reduced gene transduction to the liver and other peripheral organs but not to the central nervous system in both species. With further refinement, this method may improve the safety of adeno-associated virus-based, central nervous system-targeting gene therapies in clinical settings. Graphical abstract Off-target transduction during AAV gene therapy is associated with adverse side effects. Horiuchi et al. examined whether pretreatment with AAV-neutralizing antibodies prevented off-target transduction in mice and nonhuman primates receiving CNS-targeted gene therapy. Intravenous immunoglobulin pretreatment significantly reduced transduction of the liver and other peripheral organs but not the CNS.

Project description:Vectors based on adeno-associated virus (AAV) are effective in gene delivery in vivo. Tissue-specific gene expression is often needed to minimize ectopic expression in unintended cells and undesirable consequences. Here, we investigated whether incorporation of target sequences of tissue-specific microRNA (miRNA) into AAV vectors could inhibit ectopic expression in tissues such as the liver and hematopoietic cells. First we inserted liver-specific miR-122 target sequences (miR-122T) into the 3'-untranslated region (UTR) of a number of AAV vectors. After intravenous delivery in mice, we found that five copies of the 20mer miR-122T reduced liver expression of luciferase by 50-fold and ?-galactosidase (LacZ) by 70-fold. Five copies of miR-122T also reduced mRNA levels of a secretable protein (myostatin propeptide) from the AAV vector plasmid by 23-fold in the liver. However, gene expression in other tissues, including the heart was not inhibited. Similarly, we inserted four copies of miR-142-3pT or miR-142-5pT, both hematopoietic lineage-specific, into the 3'-UTR of the AAV-luciferase vector. We wished to see whether they could prolong transgene expression by inhibiting expression in antigen-presenting cells. However, in vivo luciferase gene expression in major tissues declined with time, regardless of the miR-142 target sequences used. Quantitative analysis of the vector DNA in various tissues revealed that the decline of transgene expression in vivo was mainly because of promoter shut-off other than loss of AAV-transduced cells by immune destruction. Moreover, transgene expression was not detected in circulating mononuclear cells after delivering AAV9 vector with or without miR142T. These results demonstrate that liver-specific miR-122 target sequence in AAV vectors was highly efficient in reducing liver expression, whereas hematopoietic miR-142 target sequences were ineffective in preventing decline of AAV vector gene expression in nonhematopoietic tissues resulted from promoter shut-off.

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Novel Combinatorial MicroRNA-Binding Sites in AAV Vectors Synergistically Diminish Antigen Presentation and Transgene Immunity for Efficient and Stable Transduction.

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