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Bengtsson NE, Crudele JM, Klaiman JM, Halbert CL, Hauschka SD, Chamberlain JS. Comparison of dystrophin expression following gene editing and gene replacement in an aged preclinical DMD animal model. Mol Ther 2022; 30:2176-2185. [PMID: 35143959 PMCID: PMC9171147 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2022.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2021] [Revised: 01/13/2022] [Accepted: 02/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Gene editing has shown promise for correcting or bypassing dystrophin mutations in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). However, preclinical studies have focused on young animals with limited muscle fibrosis and wasting, thereby favoring muscle transduction, myonuclear editing, and prevention of disease progression. Here, we explore muscle-specific dystrophin gene editing following intramuscular delivery of AAV6:CK8e-CRISPR/SaCas9 in 3- and 8-year-old dystrophic CXMD dogs and provide a qualitative comparison to AAV6:CK8e-micro-dystrophin gene replacement at 6 weeks post-treatment. Gene editing restored the dystrophin reading frame in ∼1.3% of genomes and in up to 4.0% of dystrophin transcripts following excision of a 105-kb mutation containing region spanning exons 6-8. However, resulting dystrophin expression levels and effects on muscle pathology were greater with the use of micro-dystrophin gene transfer. This study demonstrates that our muscle-specific multi-exon deletion strategy can correct a frequently mutated region of the dystrophin gene in an aged large animal DMD model, but underscores that further enhancements are required to reach efficiencies comparable to AAV micro-dystrophin. Our observations also indicate that treatment efficacy and state of muscle pathology at the time of intervention are linked, suggesting the need for additional methodological optimizations related to age and disease progression to achieve relevant clinical translation of CRISPR-based therapies to all DMD patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Niclas E Bengtsson
- Department of Neurology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA; Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA.
| | - Julie M Crudele
- Department of Neurology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA; Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA
| | - Jordan M Klaiman
- Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA; Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA
| | - Christine L Halbert
- Department of Neurology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA; Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA
| | - Stephen D Hauschka
- Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA; Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA
| | - Jeffrey S Chamberlain
- Department of Neurology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA; Senator Paul D. Wellstone Muscular Dystrophy Specialized Research Center, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA; Department of Biochemistry, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA; Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98109-8055, USA
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Orefice NS. Development of New Strategies Using Extracellular Vesicles Loaded with Exogenous Nucleic Acid. Pharmaceutics 2020; 12:E705. [PMID: 32722622 PMCID: PMC7464422 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics12080705] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2020] [Revised: 07/19/2020] [Accepted: 07/24/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Gene therapy is a therapeutic strategy of delivering foreign genetic material (encoding for an important protein) into a patient's target cell to replace a defective gene. Nucleic acids are embedded within the adeno-associated virus (AAVs) vectors; however, preexisting immunity to AAVs remains a significant concern that impairs their clinical application. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) hold great potential for therapeutic applications as vectors of nucleic acids due to their endogenous intercellular communication functions through their cargo delivery, including lipids and proteins. So far, small RNAs (siRNA and micro (mi)RNA) have been mainly loaded into EVs to treat several diseases, but the potential use of EVs to load and deliver exogenous plasmid DNA has not been thoroughly described. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the principal methodologies currently employed to load foreign genetic material into EVs, highlighting the need to find the most effective strategies for their successful clinical translations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicola Salvatore Orefice
- Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA; or ; Tel.: +1-608-262-21-89
- Waisman Center, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53705, USA
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Muraine L, Bensalah M, Dhiab J, Cordova G, Arandel L, Marhic A, Chapart M, Vasseur S, Benkhelifa-Ziyyat S, Bigot A, Butler-Browne G, Mouly V, Negroni E, Trollet C. Transduction Efficiency of Adeno-Associated Virus Serotypes After Local Injection in Mouse and Human Skeletal Muscle. Hum Gene Ther 2020; 31:233-240. [PMID: 31880951 DOI: 10.1089/hum.2019.173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector is an efficient tool for gene delivery in skeletal muscle. AAV-based therapies show promising results for treatment of various genetic disorders, including muscular dystrophy. These dystrophies represent a heterogeneous group of diseases affecting muscles and typically characterized by progressive skeletal muscle wasting and weakness and the development of fibrosis. The tropism of each AAV serotype has been extensively studied using systemic delivery routes, but very few studies have compared their transduction efficiency through direct intramuscular injection. Yet, in some muscular dystrophies, where only a few muscles are primarily affected, a local intramuscular injection to target these muscles would be the most appropriate route. A comprehensive comparison between different recombinant AAV (rAAV) serotypes is therefore needed. In this study, we investigated the transduction efficiency of rAAV serotypes 1-10 by local injection in skeletal muscle of control C57BL/6 mice. We used a CMV-nls-LacZ reporter cassette allowing nuclear expression of LacZ to easily localize targeted cells. Detection of β-galactosidase activity on muscle cryosections demonstrated that rAAV serotypes 1, 7, 8, 9, and 10 were more efficient than the others, with rAAV9 being the most efficient in mice. Furthermore, using a model of human muscle xenograft in immunodeficient mice, we observed that in human muscle, rAAV8 and rAAV9 had similar transduction efficiency. These findings demonstrate for the first time that the human muscle xenograft can be used to evaluate AAV-based therapeutical approaches in a human context.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura Muraine
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
| | - Mona Bensalah
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
| | - Jamila Dhiab
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
| | - Gonzalo Cordova
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
| | - Ludovic Arandel
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
| | - Alix Marhic
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
| | | | | | - Sofia Benkhelifa-Ziyyat
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
| | - Anne Bigot
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
| | - Gillian Butler-Browne
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
| | - Vincent Mouly
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
| | - Elisa Negroni
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
| | - Capucine Trollet
- Sorbonne Université, Inserm, Institut de Myologie, U974, Centre de Recherche en Myologie, Paris, France
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Abstract
In recent years, the number of clinical trials in which adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors have been used for in vivo gene transfer has steadily increased. The excellent safety profile, together with the high efficiency of transduction of a broad range of target tissues, has established AAV vectors as the platform of choice for in vivo gene therapy. Successful application of the AAV technology has also been achieved in the clinic for a variety of conditions, including coagulation disorders, inherited blindness, and neurodegenerative diseases, among others. Clinical translation of novel and effective "therapeutic products" is, however, a long process that involves several cycles of iterations from bench to bedside that are required to address issues encountered during drug development. For the AAV vector gene transfer technology, several hurdles have emerged in both preclinical studies and clinical trials; addressing these issues will allow in the future to expand the scope of AAV gene transfer as a therapeutic modality for a variety of human diseases. In this review, we will give an overview on the biology of AAV vector, discuss the design of AAV-based gene therapy strategies for in vivo applications, and present key achievements and emerging issues in the field. We will use the liver as a model target tissue for gene transfer based on the large amount of data available from preclinical and clinical studies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pasqualina Colella
- Genethon, INSERM U951 INTEGRARE, University of Evry, University Paris-Saclay, 91001 Evry, France
| | - Giuseppe Ronzitti
- Genethon, INSERM U951 INTEGRARE, University of Evry, University Paris-Saclay, 91001 Evry, France
| | - Federico Mingozzi
- Genethon, INSERM U951 INTEGRARE, University of Evry, University Paris-Saclay, 91001 Evry, France
- University Pierre and Marie Curie-Paris 6 and INSERM U974, 75651 Paris, France
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Riaz M, Raz Y, Moloney EB, van Putten M, Krom YD, van der Maarel SM, Verhaagen J, Raz V. Differential myofiber-type transduction preference of adeno-associated virus serotypes 6 and 9. Skelet Muscle 2015; 5:37. [PMID: 26561520 PMCID: PMC4641337 DOI: 10.1186/s13395-015-0064-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2015] [Accepted: 10/27/2015] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Gene therapy strategies are promising therapeutic options for monogenic muscular dystrophies, with several currently underways. The adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector is among the most effective gene delivery systems. However, transduction efficiency in skeletal muscles varies between AAV serotypes, with the underlying factors poorly understood. We hypothesized that myofiber-specific tropism differs between AAV serotypes. Methods We developed a quantitative histology procedure and generated myofiber pattern maps for four myosin heavy chain (MyHC) isotypes. We compared myofiber pattern maps between AAV6 or AAV9 injected tibialis anterior muscle in mice. We correlated MyHC expression with AAV-derived green fluorescence protein (GFP) expression using statistical models. Results We found that MyHC-2x expressing myofibers display a significantly higher preference for AAV transduction, whereas MyHC-2b expressing myofibers negatively correlated with AAV transduction. In addition, we show that AAV9-mediated transduction is enriched in myofibers expressing MyHC-1 and MyHC-1/2a. Moreover, AAV9-mediated transduction can predominantly be predicted by the expression of MyHC isotypes. In contrast, AAV6 transduction can be predicted by myofiber size but not by myofiber types. Conclusions Our findings identify differences between AAV6 and AAV9 for myofiber-type preferences, which could be an underlying factor for mosaic transduction of skeletal muscle. Adjusting AAV serotype for specific muscle conditions can therefore improve transduction efficacy in clinical applications. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13395-015-0064-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Muhammad Riaz
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Building 2, Room R3-17, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Yotam Raz
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Building 2, Room R3-17, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Elizabeth B Moloney
- Department of Regeneration of Sensorimotor Systems, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Maaike van Putten
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Building 2, Room R3-17, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Yvonne D Krom
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Building 2, Room R3-17, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Silvere M van der Maarel
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Building 2, Room R3-17, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Joost Verhaagen
- Department of Regeneration of Sensorimotor Systems, Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience, Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences, Amsterdam, The Netherlands ; Department of Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognition Research, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Vered Raz
- Department of Human Genetics, Leiden University Medical Center, Building 2, Room R3-17, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC Leiden, The Netherlands
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Nichols TC, Whitford MH, Arruda VR, Stedman HH, Kay MA, High KA. Translational data from adeno-associated virus-mediated gene therapy of hemophilia B in dogs. HUM GENE THER CL DEV 2015; 26:5-14. [PMID: 25675273 DOI: 10.1089/humc.2014.153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Preclinical testing of new therapeutic strategies in relevant animal models is an essential part of drug development. The choice of animal models of disease that are used in these studies is driven by the strength of the translational data for informing about safety, efficacy, and success or failure of human clinical trials. Hemophilia B is a monogenic, X-linked, inherited bleeding disorder that results from absent or dysfunctional coagulation factor IX (FIX). Regarding preclinical studies of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated gene therapy for hemophilia B, dogs with severe hemophilia B (<1% FIX) provide well-characterized phenotypes and genotypes in which a species-specific transgene can be expressed in a mixed genetic background. Correction of the hemophilic coagulopathy by sustained expression of FIX, reduction of bleeding events, and a comprehensive assessment of the humoral and cell-mediated immune responses to the expressed transgene and recombinant AAV vector are all feasible end points in these dogs. This review compares the preclinical studies of AAV vectors used to treat dogs with hemophilia B with the results obtained in subsequent human clinical trials using muscle- and liver-based approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy C Nichols
- 1 Francis Owen Blood Research Laboratory, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill , Chapel Hill, NC 27516
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Nichols T, Whitford MH, Arruda VR, Stedman HH, Kay MA, High KA. Translational Data from AAV-Mediated Gene Therapy of Hemophilia B in Dogs. HUM GENE THER CL DEV 2014. [DOI: 10.1089/hum.2014.153] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
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Systemic gene transfer reveals distinctive muscle transduction profile of tyrosine mutant AAV-1, -6, and -9 in neonatal dogs. MOLECULAR THERAPY-METHODS & CLINICAL DEVELOPMENT 2014; 1:14002. [PMID: 25105153 PMCID: PMC4121663 DOI: 10.1038/mtm.2014.2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
The muscular dystrophies are a group of devastating genetic disorders that affect both skeletal and cardiac muscle. An effective gene therapy for these diseases requires bodywide muscle delivery. Tyrosine mutant adeno-associated virus (AAV) has been considered as a class of highly potent gene transfer vectors. Here, we tested the hypothesis that systemic delivery of tyrosine mutant AAV can result in bodywide muscle transduction in newborn dogs. Three tyrosine mutant AAV vectors (Y445F/Y731F AAV-1, Y445F AAV-6, and Y731F AAV-9) were evaluated. These vectors expressed the alkaline phosphatase reporter gene under transcriptional regulation of either the muscle-specific Spc5-12 promoter or the ubiquitous Rous sarcoma virus promoter. Robust skeletal and cardiac muscle transduction was achieved with Y445F/Y731F AAV-1. However, Y731F AAV-9 only transduced skeletal muscle. Surprisingly, Y445F AAV-6 resulted in minimal muscle transduction. Serological study suggests that the preexisting neutralization antibody may underlie the limited transduction of Y445F AAV-6. In summary, we have identified Y445F/Y731F AAV-1 as a potentially excellent systemic gene transfer vehicle to target both skeletal muscle and the heart in neonatal puppies. Our findings have important implications in exploring systemic neonatal gene therapy in canine models of muscular dystrophy.
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Seto JT, Ramos JN, Muir L, Chamberlain JS, Odom GL. Gene replacement therapies for duchenne muscular dystrophy using adeno-associated viral vectors. Curr Gene Ther 2012; 12:139-51. [PMID: 22533379 DOI: 10.2174/156652312800840603] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2012] [Revised: 04/16/2012] [Accepted: 04/17/2012] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
The muscular dystrophies collectively represent a major health challenge, as few significant treatment options currently exist for any of these disorders. Recent years have witnessed a proliferation of novel approaches to therapy, spanning increased testing of existing and new pharmaceuticals, DNA delivery (both anti-sense oligonucleotides and plasmid DNA), gene therapies and stem cell technologies. While none of these has reached the point of being used in clinical practice, all show promise for being able to impact different types of muscular dystrophies. Our group has focused on developing direct gene replacement strategies to treat recessively inherited forms of muscular dystrophy, particularly Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD). Both forms of dystrophy are caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene and all cases can in theory be treated by gene replacement using synthetic forms of the dystrophin gene. The major challenges for success of this approach are the development of a suitable gene delivery shuttle, generating a suitable gene expression cassette able to be carried by such a shuttle, and achieving safe and effective delivery without elicitation of a destructive immune response. This review summarizes the current state of the art in terms of using adeno-associated viral vectors to deliver synthetic dystrophin genes for the purpose of developing gene therapy for DMD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jane T Seto
- Department of Neurology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-7720, USA.
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Successful regional delivery and long-term expression of a dystrophin gene in canine muscular dystrophy: a preclinical model for human therapies. Mol Ther 2012; 20:1501-7. [PMID: 22692496 DOI: 10.1038/mt.2012.111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023] Open
Abstract
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a fatal, X-linked muscle disease caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. Adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector-mediated gene replacement strategies hold promise as a treatment. Studies in animal models and human trials suggested that immune responses to AAV capsid proteins and transgene products prevented efficient gene therapy. In this study, we used widespread intramuscular (i.m.) injection to deliver AAV6-canine micro-dystrophin (c-µdys) throughout a group of skeletal muscles in dystrophic dogs given a brief course of commonly used immunosuppressants. Robust c-µdys expression was obtained for at least two years and was associated with molecular reconstitution of the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) at the muscle membrane. Importantly, c-µdys expression was maintained for at least 18 months after discontinuing immunosuppression. The results obtained in a relevant preclinical model of DMD demonstrate feasibility of widespread AAV-mediated muscle transduction and transgene expression in the presence of transient immunosuppression to achieve molecular reconstitution that can be directly translated to human trials.
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Hoffman BE, Ertl HCJ, Terhorst C, High KA, Herzog RW. Gene therapy research at the frontiers of viral immunology. Front Microbiol 2012; 3:182. [PMID: 22783235 PMCID: PMC3390768 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2012.00182] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2012] [Accepted: 05/01/2012] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Brad E Hoffman
- Division of Cellular and Molecular Therapy, Department of Pediatrics, University of Florida College of Medicine Gainesville, FL, USA
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