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Nilson R, Krutzke L, Wienen F, Rojewski M, Zeplin PH, Funk W, Schrezenmeier H, Kochanek S, Kritzinger A. Evaluation of Human Mesenchymal Stromal Cells as Carriers for the Delivery of Oncolytic HAdV-5 to Head and Neck Squamous Cell Carcinomas. Viruses 2023; 15:218. [PMID: 36680258 PMCID: PMC9864513 DOI: 10.3390/v15010218] [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: 12/01/2022] [Revised: 01/09/2023] [Accepted: 01/10/2023] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Human multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs) are of significant therapeutic interest due to their ability to deliver oncolytic adenoviruses to tumors. This approach is also investigated for targeting head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCCs). HAdV-5-HexPos3, a recently reported capsid-modified vector based on human adenovirus type 5 (HAdV-5), showed strongly improved infection of both hMSCs and the HNSCC cell line UM-SCC-11B. Given that, we generated life cycle-unmodified and -modified replication-competent HAdV-5-HexPos3 vector variants and analyzed their replication within bone marrow- and adipose tissue-derived hMSCs. Efficient replication was detected for both life cycle-unmodified and -modified vectors. Moreover, we analyzed the migration of vector-carrying hMSCs toward different HNSCCs. Although migration of hMSCs to HNSCC cell lines was confirmed in vitro, no homing of hMSCs to HNSCC xenografts was observed in vivo in mice and in ovo in a chorioallantoic membrane model. Taken together, our data suggest that HAdV-5-HexPos3 is a potent candidate for hMSC-based oncolytic therapy of HNSCCs. However, it also emphasizes the importance of generating optimized in vivo models for the evaluation of hMSC as carrier cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Nilson
- Department of Gene Therapy, University Medical Center Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Lea Krutzke
- Department of Gene Therapy, University Medical Center Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Frederik Wienen
- Department of Gene Therapy, University Medical Center Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Markus Rojewski
- Institute for Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany
- Institute for Clinical Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics Ulm, German Red Cross Blood Donation Service, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Philip Helge Zeplin
- Schlosspark Klinik Ludwigsburg, Privatklinik für Plastische und Ästhetische Chirurgie, 71638 Ludwigsburg, Germany
| | | | - Hubert Schrezenmeier
- Institute for Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany
- Institute for Clinical Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics Ulm, German Red Cross Blood Donation Service, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Stefan Kochanek
- Department of Gene Therapy, University Medical Center Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Astrid Kritzinger
- Department of Gene Therapy, University Medical Center Ulm, 89081 Ulm, Germany
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Wienen F, Nilson R, Allmendinger E, Graumann D, Fiedler E, Bosse-Doenecke E, Kochanek S, Krutzke L. Affilin-based retargeting of adenoviral vectors to the epidermal growth factor receptor. BIOMATERIALS ADVANCES 2023; 144:213208. [PMID: 36442453 DOI: 10.1016/j.bioadv.2022.213208] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/01/2022] [Revised: 11/16/2022] [Accepted: 11/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinomas (HNSCC) by oncolytic adenoviral vectors holds promise as an efficient anti-cancer therapy. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) represents an attractive target receptor since it is frequently overexpressed in many types of HNSCC. METHODS To achieve EGFR-specific targeting by human adenovirus type 5 (HAdV-5) based vectors, the EGFR affinity ligand Affilin was covalently attached in a position specific manner either to the fiber or the hexon protein of the vector capsid. In vitro and in vivo studies investigated EGFR-specific cancer cell transduction, susceptibility to natural sequestration mechanisms, pharmacokinetics and biodistribution profiles of Affilin-decorated vectors. RESULTS Affilin-decorated vectors showed strongly enhanced and EGFR-specific cancer cell transduction in vitro and less susceptibility to known sequestration mechanisms of HAdV-5 particles. However, in vivo neither systemic nor intratumoral vector administration resulted in an improved transduction of EGFR-positive tumors. Comprehensive analyses indicated hampered EGFR-targeting by Affilin-decorated vectors was caused by rapid vector particle consumption due to binding to the murine EGFR, insufficient tumor vascularization and poor target accessibility for Affilin in the solid tumor caused by a pronounced tumor stroma. CONCLUSION In vitro studies yielded proof-of-concept results demonstrating that covalent attachment of a receptor-specific Affilin to the adenoviral capsid provides an effective and versatile tool to address cancer-specific target receptors by adenoviral vectors. Regarding EGFR as the vector target, off-target tissue transduction and low receptor accessibility within the tumor tissue prevented efficient tumor transduction by Affilin-decorated vectors, rendering EGFR a difficult-to-target receptor for adenoviral vectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederik Wienen
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Robin Nilson
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Ellen Allmendinger
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - David Graumann
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Erik Fiedler
- Navigo Proteins GmbH, Heinrich-Damerow-Str. 1, 06120 Halle, Germany
| | | | - Stefan Kochanek
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Germany
| | - Lea Krutzke
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Germany.
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Krutzke L, Rösler R, Allmendinger E, Engler T, Wiese S, Kochanek S. Process- and product-related impurities in the ChAdOx1 nCov-19 vaccine. eLife 2022; 11:78513. [PMID: 35781137 PMCID: PMC9313527 DOI: 10.7554/elife.78513] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2022] [Accepted: 07/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
ChAdOx1 nCov-19 and Ad26.COV2.S are approved vaccines inducing protective immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection in humans by expressing the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. We analyzed protein content and protein composition of ChAdOx1 nCov-19 and Ad26.COV2.S by biochemical methods and by mass spectrometry. Four out of four tested lots of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 contained significantly higher than expected levels of host cell proteins (HCPs) and of free viral proteins. The most abundant contaminating HCPs belonged to the heat-shock protein and cytoskeletal protein families. The HCP content exceeded the 400 ng specification limit per vaccine dose, as set by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for this vaccine, by at least 25-fold and the manufacturer’s batch-release data in some of the lots by several hundred-fold. In contrast, three tested lots of the Ad26.COV2.S vaccine contained only very low amounts of HCPs. As shown for Ad26.COV2.S production of clinical grade adenovirus vaccines of high purity is feasible at an industrial scale. Correspondingly, purification procedures of the ChAdOx1 nCov-19 vaccine should be modified to remove protein impurities as good as possible. Our data also indicate that standard quality assays, as they are used in the manufacturing of proteins, have to be adapted for vectored vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lea Krutzke
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Reinhild Rösler
- Core Unit Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | | | - Tatjana Engler
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Sebastian Wiese
- Core Unit Mass Spectrometry and Proteomics, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany
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Nilson R, Lübbers O, Schmidt CQ, Rojewski M, Zeplin PH, Funk W, Schrezenmeier H, Kritzinger A, Kochanek S, Krutzke L. Hexon modification of human adenovirus type 5 vectors enables efficient transduction of human multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells. Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev 2022; 25:96-110. [PMID: 35402633 PMCID: PMC8956844 DOI: 10.1016/j.omtm.2022.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 03/04/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
In adenovirus type 5 (HAdV-5)-derived viral vectors, the fiber protein has been the preferred locale for modifications to alter the natural viral tropism. Hexon, the most abundant capsid protein, has rarely been used for retargeting purposes, likely because the insertion of larger targeting peptides into Hexon often interferes with the assembly of the viral capsid. We previously observed that positively charged molecules enhance the transduction of human multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells (hMSCs)—a cell type of significant interest for clinical development but inefficiently transduced by unmodified HAdV-5-based vectors. As efficient HAdV-5-mediated gene transfer would greatly increase the therapeutic potential of hMSCs, we tested the hypothesis that introducing positively charged amino acids into Hexon might enhance the transduction of hMSCs, enabling efficient expression of selected transgenes. From the constructs that could be rescued as functional virions, one (HAdV-5-HexPos3) showed striking transduction of hMSCs with up to 500-fold increased efficiency. Evaluation of the underlying mechanism identified heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs) to be essential for virus uptake by the cells. The ease and efficiency of transduction of hMSCs with this vector will facilitate the development of genetically modified hMSCs as therapeutic vehicles in different disciplines, including oncology or regenerative medicine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robin Nilson
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Olivia Lübbers
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Christoph Q Schmidt
- Department of Applied Immunology and Immunopharmacology, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany
| | - Markus Rojewski
- Institute for Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.,Institute for Clinical Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics Ulm, German Red Cross Blood Donation Service, Ulm, Germany
| | - Philip Helge Zeplin
- Schlosspark Klinik Ludwigsburg, Privatklinik für Plastische und Ästhetische Chirurgie, Ludwigsburg, Germany
| | | | - Hubert Schrezenmeier
- Institute for Transfusion Medicine, University Medical Center Ulm, Ulm, Germany.,Institute for Clinical Transfusion Medicine and Immunogenetics Ulm, German Red Cross Blood Donation Service, Ulm, Germany
| | - Astrid Kritzinger
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Stefan Kochanek
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
| | - Lea Krutzke
- Department of Gene Therapy, University of Ulm, Helmholtzstraße 8/1, 89081 Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany
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