Gene transfer into autologous hematopoietic stem cells by γ-retroviral vectors (gRV) is an effective treatment for adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID). However, current gRV have significant potential for insertional mutagenesis as reported in clinical trials for other primary immunodeficiencies. To improve the efficacy and safety of ADA-SCID gene therapy (GT), we generated a self-inactivating lentiviral vector (LV) with a codon-optimized human cADA gene under the control of the short form elongation factor-1α promoter (LV EFS ADA). In ADA(-/-) mice, LV EFS ADA displayed high-efficiency gene transfer and sufficient ADA expression to rescue ADA(-/-) mice from their lethal phenotype with good thymic and peripheral T- and B-cell reconstitution. Human ADA-deficient CD34(+) cells transduced with 1-5 × 10(7) TU/ml had 1-3 vector copies/cell and expressed 1-2x of normal endogenous levels of ADA, as assayed in vitro and by transplantation into immune-deficient mice. Importantly, in vitro immortalization assays demonstrated that LV EFS ADA had significantly less transformation potential compared to gRV vectors, and vector integration-site analysis by nrLAM-PCR of transduced human cells grown in immune-deficient mice showed no evidence of clonal skewing. These data demonstrated that the LV EFS ADA vector can effectively transfer the human ADA cDNA and promote immune and metabolic recovery, while reducing the potential for vector-mediated insertional mutagenesis.
Organ-on-chip devices are thoroughly studied in academia and industry due to their high potential in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. However, most of the existing organ-on-chip models focus on proof of...
BackgroundMutations in the perforin 1 (PRF1) gene account for up to 58% of familial hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis syndromes. The resulting defects in effector cell cytotoxicity lead to hypercytokinemia and hyperactivation with inflammation in various organs.ObjectiveWe sought to determine whether autologous gene-corrected T cells can restore cytotoxic function, reduce disease activity, and prevent hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) symptoms in in vivo models.MethodsWe developed a gammaretroviral vector to transduce murine CD8 T cells in the Prf−/− mouse model. To verify functional correction of Prf−/− CD8 T cells in vivo, we used a lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV) epitope–transfected murine lung carcinoma cell tumor model. Furthermore, we challenged gene-corrected and uncorrected mice with LCMV. One patient sample was transduced with a PRF1-encoding lentiviral vector to study restoration of cytotoxicity in human cells.ResultsWe demonstrated efficient engraftment and functional reconstitution of cytotoxicity after intravenous administration of gene-corrected Prf−/− CD8 T cells into Prf−/− mice. In the tumor model infusion of Prf−/− gene–corrected CD8 T cells eliminated the tumor as efficiently as transplantation of wild-type CD8 T cells. Similarly, mice reconstituted with gene-corrected Prf−/− CD8 T cells displayed complete protection from the HLH phenotype after infection with LCMV. Patients' cells showed correction of cytotoxicity in human CD8 T cells after transduction.ConclusionThese data demonstrate the potential application of T-cell gene therapy in reconstituting cytotoxic function and protection against HLH in the setting of perforin deficiency.
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