1
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Huang Q, Chan KY, Wu J, Botticello-Romero NR, Zheng Q, Lou S, Keyes C, Svanbergsson A, Johnston J, Mills A, Lin CY, Brauer PP, Clouse G, Pacouret S, Harvey JW, Beddow T, Hurley JK, Tobey IG, Powell M, Chen AT, Barry AJ, Eid FE, Chan YA, Deverman BE. An AAV capsid reprogrammed to bind human transferrin receptor mediates brain-wide gene delivery. Science 2024:eadm8386. [PMID: 38753766 DOI: 10.1126/science.adm8386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Developing vehicles that efficiently deliver genes throughout the human central nervous system (CNS) will broaden the range of treatable genetic diseases. We engineered an adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid, BI-hTFR1, that binds human transferrin receptor (TfR1), a protein expressed on the blood-brain barrier (BBB). BI-hTFR1 was actively transported across human brain endothelial cells and, relative to AAV9, provided 40-50 times greater reporter expression in the CNS of human TFRC knock-in mice. The enhanced tropism was CNS-specific and absent in wild type mice. When used to deliver GBA1, mutations of which cause Gaucher disease and are linked to Parkinson's disease, BI-hTFR1 substantially increased brain and cerebrospinal fluid glucocerebrosidase activity compared to AAV9. These findings establish BI-hTFR1 as a potential vector for human CNS gene therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Huang
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Ken Y Chan
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Jason Wu
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Nuria R Botticello-Romero
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Qingxia Zheng
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Shan Lou
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Casey Keyes
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Alexander Svanbergsson
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Jencilin Johnston
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Allan Mills
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Chin-Yen Lin
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Pamela P Brauer
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Gabrielle Clouse
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Simon Pacouret
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - John W Harvey
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Thomas Beddow
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Jenna K Hurley
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Isabelle G Tobey
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Megan Powell
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Albert T Chen
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Andrew J Barry
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Fatma-Elzahraa Eid
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
- Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11651, Egypt
| | - Yujia A Chan
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Benjamin E Deverman
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
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2
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Lopez-Gordo E, Chamberlain K, Riyad JM, Kohlbrenner E, Weber T. Natural Adeno-Associated Virus Serotypes and Engineered Adeno-Associated Virus Capsid Variants: Tropism Differences and Mechanistic Insights. Viruses 2024; 16:442. [PMID: 38543807 PMCID: PMC10975205 DOI: 10.3390/v16030442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/11/2023] [Revised: 03/02/2024] [Accepted: 03/06/2024] [Indexed: 05/23/2024] Open
Abstract
Today, adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based vectors are arguably the most promising in vivo gene delivery vehicles for durable therapeutic gene expression. Advances in molecular engineering, high-throughput screening platforms, and computational techniques have resulted in a toolbox of capsid variants with enhanced performance over parental serotypes. Despite their considerable promise and emerging clinical success, there are still obstacles hindering their broader use, including limited transduction capabilities, tissue/cell type-specific tropism and penetration into tissues through anatomical barriers, off-target tissue biodistribution, intracellular degradation, immune recognition, and a lack of translatability from preclinical models to clinical settings. Here, we first describe the transduction mechanisms of natural AAV serotypes and explore the current understanding of the systemic and cellular hurdles to efficient transduction. We then outline progress in developing designer AAV capsid variants, highlighting the seminal discoveries of variants which can transduce the central nervous system upon systemic administration, and, to a lesser extent, discuss the targeting of the peripheral nervous system, eye, ear, lung, liver, heart, and skeletal muscle, emphasizing their tissue and cell specificity and translational promise. In particular, we dive deeper into the molecular mechanisms behind their enhanced properties, with a focus on their engagement with host cell receptors previously inaccessible to natural AAV serotypes. Finally, we summarize the main findings of our review and discuss future directions.
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3
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Drouyer M, Merjane J, Nazareth D, Knight M, Scott S, Liao SHY, Ginn SL, Zhu E, Alexander IE, Lisowski L. Development of CNS tropic AAV1-like variants with reduced liver-targeting following systemic administration in mice. Mol Ther 2024; 32:818-836. [PMID: 38297833 PMCID: PMC10928139 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2024.01.024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Revised: 11/27/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Directed evolution of natural AAV9 using peptide display libraries have been widely used in the search for an optimal recombinant AAV (rAAV) for transgene delivery across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) to the CNS following intravenous ( IV) injection. In this study, we used a different approach by creating a shuffled rAAV capsid library based on parental AAV serotypes 1 through 12. Following selection in mice, 3 novel variants closely related to AAV1, AAV-BBB6, AAV-BBB28, and AAV-BBB31, emerged as top candidates. In direct comparisons with AAV9, our novel variants demonstrated an over 270-fold improvement in CNS transduction and exhibited a clear bias toward neuronal cells. Intriguingly, our AAV-BBB variants relied on the LY6A cellular receptor for CNS entry, similar to AAV9 peptide variants AAV-PHP.eB and AAV.CAP-B10, despite the different bioengineering methods used and parental backgrounds. The variants also showed reduced transduction of both mouse liver and human primary hepatocytes in vivo. To increase clinical translatability, we enhanced the immune escape properties of our new variants by introducing additional modifications based on rational design. Overall, our study highlights the potential of AAV1-like vectors for efficient CNS transduction with reduced liver tropism, offering promising prospects for CNS gene therapies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthieu Drouyer
- Translational Vectorology Research Unit, Children's Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
| | - Jessica Merjane
- Translational Vectorology Research Unit, Children's Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
| | - Deborah Nazareth
- Translational Vectorology Research Unit, Children's Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
| | - Maddison Knight
- Translational Vectorology Research Unit, Children's Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
| | - Suzanne Scott
- Translational Vectorology Research Unit, Children's Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
| | - Sophia H Y Liao
- Gene Therapy Research Unit, Children's Medical Research Institute and Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
| | - Samantha L Ginn
- Gene Therapy Research Unit, Children's Medical Research Institute and Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
| | - Erhua Zhu
- Gene Therapy Research Unit, Children's Medical Research Institute and Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia
| | - Ian E Alexander
- Gene Therapy Research Unit, Children's Medical Research Institute and Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia; Discipline of Child and Adolescent Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
| | - Leszek Lisowski
- Translational Vectorology Research Unit, Children's Medical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Westmead, NSW, Australia; Australian Genome Therapeutics Centre, Children's Medical Research Institute and Sydney Children's Hospitals Network, Westmead, NSW, Australia; Laboratory of Molecular Oncology and Innovative Therapies, Military Institute of Medicine - National Research Institute, Warsaw, Poland.
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4
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Zhang R, Liu Y, Yu F, Xu G, Li L, Li B, Lou Z. Structural basis of the recognition of adeno-associated virus by the neurological system-related receptor carbonic anhydrase IV. PLoS Pathog 2024; 20:e1011953. [PMID: 38315719 PMCID: PMC10868842 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1011953] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2023] [Revised: 02/15/2024] [Accepted: 01/07/2024] [Indexed: 02/07/2024] Open
Abstract
Carbonic anhydrase IV (Car4) is a newly identified receptor that allows adeno-associated virus (AAV) 9P31 to cross the blood-brain barrier and achieve efficient infection in the central nervous system (CNS) in mouse models. However, the molecular mechanism by which engineered AAV capsids with 7-mer insertion in the variable region (VR) VIII recognize these novel cellular receptors is unknown. Here we report the cryo-EM structures of AAV9P31 and its complex with Mus musculus Car4 at atomic resolution by utilizing the block-based reconstruction (BBR) method. The structures demonstrated that Car4 binds to the protrusions at 3-fold axes of the capsid. The inserted 7-mer extends into a hydrophobic region near the catalytic center of Car4 to form stable interactions. Mutagenesis studies also identified the key residues in Car4 responsible for the AAV9P31 interaction. These findings provide new insights into the novel receptor recognition mechanism of AAV generated by directed evolution and highlight the application of the BBR method to studying the virus-receptor molecular mechanism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ran Zhang
- Jinshan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Science, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Yixiao Liu
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Science, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Fengxi Yu
- School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Guangxue Xu
- Department of Pathology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California, United States of America
| | - Lili Li
- Beijing Institute of Biological Products Company Limited, Beijing, China
| | - Baobin Li
- Department of Anesthesiology, Zhongshan Hospital, Institute for Translational Brain Research, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, MOE Frontiers Center for Brain Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
| | - Zhiyong Lou
- MOE Key Laboratory of Protein Science, School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
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5
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Huang Q, Chan KY, Lou S, Keyes C, Wu J, Botticello-Romero NR, Zheng Q, Johnston J, Mills A, Brauer PP, Clouse G, Pacouret S, Harvey JW, Beddow T, Hurley JK, Tobey IG, Powell M, Chen AT, Barry AJ, Eid FE, Chan YA, Deverman BE. An AAV capsid reprogrammed to bind human Transferrin Receptor mediates brain-wide gene delivery. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.20.572615. [PMID: 38187643 PMCID: PMC10769326 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.20.572615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
Developing vehicles that efficiently deliver genes throughout the human central nervous system (CNS) will broaden the range of treatable genetic diseases. We engineered an AAV capsid, BI-hTFR1, that binds human Transferrin Receptor (TfR1), a protein expressed on the blood-brain barrier (BBB). BI-hTFR1 was actively transported across a human brain endothelial cell layer and, relative to AAV9, provided 40-50 times greater reporter expression in the CNS of human TFRC knock-in mice. The enhanced tropism was CNS-specific and absent in wild type mice. When used to deliver GBA1, mutations of which cause Gaucher disease and are linked to Parkinson's disease, BI-hTFR1 substantially increased brain and cerebrospinal fluid glucocerebrosidase activity compared to AAV9. These findings establish BI-hTFR1 as a promising vector for human CNS gene therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Huang
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Ken Y. Chan
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Shan Lou
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Casey Keyes
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Jason Wu
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | | | - Qingxia Zheng
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Jencilin Johnston
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Allan Mills
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Pamela P. Brauer
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Gabrielle Clouse
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Simon Pacouret
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - John W. Harvey
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Thomas Beddow
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Jenna K. Hurley
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Isabelle G. Tobey
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Megan Powell
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Albert T. Chen
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Andrew J. Barry
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Fatma-Elzahraa Eid
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
- Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Al-Azhar University; Cairo, Egypt
| | - Yujia A. Chan
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Benjamin E. Deverman
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
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6
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Chang H, Du A, Jiang J, Ren L, Liu N, Zhou X, Liang J, Gao G, Wang D. Non-canonical amino acid incorporation into AAV5 capsid enhances lung transduction in mice. Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev 2023; 31:101129. [PMID: 37886602 PMCID: PMC10597788 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtm.2023.101129] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/04/2023] [Indexed: 10/28/2023]
Abstract
Gene therapy using recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) relies on safe, efficient, and precise in vivo gene delivery that is largely dependent on the AAV capsid. The proteinaceous capsid is highly amenable to engineering using a variety of approaches, and most resulting capsids carry substitutions or insertions comprised of natural amino acids. Here, we incorporated a non-canonical amino acid (ncAA), Nε-2-azideoethyloxycarbonyl-L-lysine (also known as NAEK), into the AAV5 capsid using genetic code expansion, and serendipitously found that several NAEK-AAV5 vectors transduced various cell lines more efficiently than the parental rAAV5. Furthermore, one NAEK-AAV5 vector showed lung-specific transduction enhancement following systemic or intranasal delivery in mice. Structural modeling suggests that the long side chain of NAEK may impact on the 3-fold protrusion on the capsid surface that plays a key role in tropism, thereby modulating vector transduction. Recent advances in genetic code expansion have generated synthetic proteins carrying an increasing number of ncAAs that possess diverse biological properties. Our study suggests that ncAA incorporation into the AAV capsid may confer novel vector properties, opening a new and complementary avenue to gene therapy vector discovery.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Chang
- Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Ailing Du
- Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Jun Jiang
- GeneLeap Bio, Luye Life Sciences, Woburn, MA 01801, USA
| | - Lingzhi Ren
- Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Nan Liu
- Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Xuntao Zhou
- Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Jialing Liang
- Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Guangping Gao
- Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
- Department of Microbiology and Physiological Systems, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
| | - Dan Wang
- Horae Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
- RNA Therapeutics Institute, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA 01605, USA
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7
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Huang Q, Chen AT, Chan KY, Sorensen H, Barry AJ, Azari B, Zheng Q, Beddow T, Zhao B, Tobey IG, Moncada-Reid C, Eid FE, Walkey CJ, Ljungberg MC, Lagor WR, Heaney JD, Chan YA, Deverman BE. Targeting AAV vectors to the central nervous system by engineering capsid-receptor interactions that enable crossing of the blood-brain barrier. PLoS Biol 2023; 21:e3002112. [PMID: 37467291 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Viruses have evolved the ability to bind and enter cells through interactions with a wide variety of cell macromolecules. We engineered peptide-modified adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsids that transduce the brain through the introduction of de novo interactions with 2 proteins expressed on the mouse blood-brain barrier (BBB), LY6A or LY6C1. The in vivo tropisms of these capsids are predictable as they are dependent on the cell- and strain-specific expression of their target protein. This approach generated hundreds of capsids with dramatically enhanced central nervous system (CNS) tropisms within a single round of screening in vitro and secondary validation in vivo thereby reducing the use of animals in comparison to conventional multi-round in vivo selections. The reproducible and quantitative data derived via this method enabled both saturation mutagenesis and machine learning (ML)-guided exploration of the capsid sequence space. Notably, during our validation process, we determined that nearly all published AAV capsids that were selected for their ability to cross the BBB in mice leverage either the LY6A or LY6C1 protein, which are not present in primates. This work demonstrates that AAV capsids can be directly targeted to specific proteins to generate potent gene delivery vectors with known mechanisms of action and predictable tropisms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Huang
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Albert T Chen
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Ken Y Chan
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Hikari Sorensen
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Andrew J Barry
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Bahar Azari
- Electrical & Computer Engineering Department, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Qingxia Zheng
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Thomas Beddow
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Binhui Zhao
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Isabelle G Tobey
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Cynthia Moncada-Reid
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Fatma-Elzahraa Eid
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
- Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Christopher J Walkey
- Department of Integrative Physiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - M Cecilia Ljungberg
- Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children's Hospital, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - William R Lagor
- Department of Integrative Physiology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Jason D Heaney
- Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Yujia A Chan
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
| | - Benjamin E Deverman
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America
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8
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Baghirov H. Receptor-mediated transcytosis of macromolecules across the blood-brain barrier. Expert Opin Drug Deliv 2023; 20:1699-1711. [PMID: 37658673 DOI: 10.1080/17425247.2023.2255138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The blood-brain barrier (BBB) restricts brain access of virtually all macromolecules. Receptor-mediated transcytosis (RMT) is one strategy toward their brain delivery. In this strategy, targeting ligands conjugated to therapeutic payload or decorating particles containing the payload interact with targets on brain capillary endothelial cells (BCEC), triggering internalization, trafficking, and release from BCEC. AREAS COVERED RMT at the BBB has leveraged multiple formats of macromolecules and large particles. Interactions between those and BCEC have been studied primarily using antibodies, with findings applicable to the design of larger particles. BBB-penetrant constructs have also been identified in screening campaigns and directed evolution, and subsequently found to interact with RMT targets. In addition, BCEC targeted by constructs incorporating genomic payload can be made to produce therapeutic proteins. EXPERT OPINION While targeting may not be strictly necessary to reach a therapeutic effect for all macromolecules, it can improve a molecule's BBB transport, exposing it to the entire brain parenchyma and enhancing its effect. Constructs with better BCEC transcytosis may be designed rationally, leveraging knowledge about BCEC trafficking, and found in screening campaigns, where this knowledge can reduce the search space and improve iterative refinement. Identification of new targets may also help generate BBB-crossing constructs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Habib Baghirov
- Roche Informatics, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Poznań, Poland
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9
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Martino RA, Wang Q, Xu H, Hu G, Bell P, Arroyo EJ, Sims JJ, Wilson JM. Vector Affinity and Receptor Distribution Define Tissue-Specific Targeting in an Engineered AAV Capsid. J Virol 2023; 97:e0017423. [PMID: 37199615 PMCID: PMC10308920 DOI: 10.1128/jvi.00174-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 05/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Unbiased in vivo selections of diverse capsid libraries can yield engineered capsids that overcome gene therapy delivery challenges like traversing the blood-brain barrier (BBB), but little is known about the parameters of capsid-receptor interactions that govern their improved activity. This hampers broader efforts in precision capsid engineering and is a practical impediment to ensuring the translatability of capsid properties between preclinical animal models and human clinical trials. In this work, we utilize the adeno-associated virus (AAV)-PHP.B-Ly6a model system to better understand the targeted delivery and BBB penetration properties of AAV vectors. This model offers a defined capsid-receptor pair that can be used to systematically define relationships between target receptor affinity and in vivo activity of engineered AAV vectors. Here, we report a high-throughput method for quantifying capsid-receptor affinity and demonstrate that direct binding assays can be used to organize a vector library into families with varied affinity for their target receptor. Our data indicate that efficient central nervous system transduction requires high levels of target receptor expression at the BBB, but it is not a requirement for receptor expression to be limited to the target tissue. We observed that enhanced receptor affinity leads to reduced transduction of off-target tissues but can negatively impact on-target cellular transduction and penetration of endothelial barriers. Together, this work provides a set of tools for defining vector-receptor affinities and demonstrates how receptor expression and affinity interact to impact the performance of engineered AAV vectors in targeting the central nervous system. IMPORTANCE Novel methods for measuring adeno-associated virus (AAV)-receptor affinities, especially in relation to vector performance in vivo, would be useful to capsid engineers as they develop AAV vectors for gene therapy applications and characterize their interactions with native or engineered receptors. Here, we use the AAV-PHP.B-Ly6a model system to assess the impact of receptor affinity on the systemic delivery and endothelial penetration properties of AAV-PHP.B vectors. We discuss how receptor affinity analysis can be used to isolate vectors with optimized properties, improve the interpretation of library selections, and ultimately translate vector activities between preclinical animal models and humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- R. Alexander Martino
- Gene Therapy Program, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Qiang Wang
- Gene Therapy Program, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Hao Xu
- Gene Therapy Program, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Gui Hu
- Gene Therapy Program, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Peter Bell
- Gene Therapy Program, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Edgardo J. Arroyo
- Gene Therapy Program, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - Joshua J. Sims
- Gene Therapy Program, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
| | - James M. Wilson
- Gene Therapy Program, Department of Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
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