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Klinnert S, Schenkel CD, Freitag PC, Günthard HF, Plückthun A, Metzner KJ. Targeted shock-and-kill HIV-1 gene therapy approach combining CRISPR activation, suicide gene tBid and retargeted adenovirus delivery. Gene Ther 2024; 31:74-84. [PMID: 37558852 PMCID: PMC10940146 DOI: 10.1038/s41434-023-00413-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2023] [Revised: 07/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/11/2023]
Abstract
Infections with the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) are incurable due the long-lasting, latent viral reservoir. The shock-and-kill cure approach aims to activate latent proviruses in HIV-1 infected cells and subsequently kill these cells with strategies such as therapeutic vaccines or immune enhancement. Here, we combined the dCas9-VPR CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) system with gRNA-V, the truncated Bid (tBid)-based suicide gene strategy and CD3-retargeted adenovirus (Ad) delivery vectors, in an all-in-one targeted shock-and-kill gene therapy approach to achieve specific elimination of latently HIV-1 infected cells. Simultaneous transduction of latently HIV-1 infected J-Lat 10.6 cells with a CD3-retargeted Ad-CRISPRa-V and Ad-tBid led to a 57.7 ± 17.0% reduction of productively HIV-1 infected cells and 2.4-fold ± 0.25 increase in cell death. The effective activation of latent HIV-1 provirus by Ad-CRISPRa-V was similar to the activation control TNF-α. The strictly HIV-1 dependent and non-leaky killing by tBid could be demonstrated. Furthermore, the high transduction efficiencies of up to 70.8 ± 0.4% by the CD3-retargeting technology in HIV-1 latently infected cell lines was the basis of successful shock-and-kill. This novel targeted shock-and-kill all-in-one gene therapy approach has the potential to safely and effectively eliminate HIV-1 infected cells in a highly HIV-1 and T cell specific manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Klinnert
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Life Science Zurich Graduate School, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Corinne D Schenkel
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Patrick C Freitag
- Life Science Zurich Graduate School, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Huldrych F Günthard
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Andreas Plückthun
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Karin J Metzner
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
- Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
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Klinnert S, Chemnitzer A, Rusert P, Metzner KJ. Systematic HIV-1 promoter targeting with CRISPR/dCas9-VPR reveals optimal region for activation of the latent provirus. J Gen Virol 2022; 103. [PMID: 35671066 DOI: 10.1099/jgv.0.001754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
CRISPR/dCas9-based activation systems (CRISPRa) enable sequence-specific gene activation and are therefore of particular interest for the 'shock and kill' cure approach against HIV-1 infections. This approach aims to activate the latent HIV-1 proviruses in infected cells and subsequently kill these cells. Several CRISPRa systems have been shown to specifically and effectively activate latent HIV-1 when targeted to the HIV-1 5'LTR promoter, making them a promising 'shock' strategy. Here, we aimed to evaluate the dCas9-VPR system for its applicability in reversing HIV-1 latency and identify the optimal gRNA target site in the HIV-1 5'LTR promoter leading to the strongest activation of the provirus with this system. We systematically screened the HIV-1 promoter by selecting 14 specific gRNAs that cover almost half of the HIV-1 promoter from the 3' half of the U3 until the beginning of the R region. Screening in several latently HIV-1 infected cell lines showed that dCas9-VPR leads to a high activation of HIV-1 and that gRNA-V and -VII induce the strongest activation of replication competent latent provirus. This data indicates that the optimal activation region in the HIV-1 promoter for the dCas9-VPR system is located -165 to -106 bp from the transcription start site and that it is consistent with the optimal activation region reported for other CRISPRa systems. Our data demonstrates that the dCas9-VPR system is a powerful tool for HIV-1 activation and could be harnessed for the 'shock and kill' cure approach.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah Klinnert
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
- Life Sciences Graduate School, University of Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Alex Chemnitzer
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Peter Rusert
- Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Karin J Metzner
- Department of Infectious Diseases and Hospital Epidemiology, University Hospital Zurich, University of Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
- Institute of Medical Virology, University of Zurich, CH-8091 Zurich, Switzerland
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Kosti A, de Araujo PR, Li WQ, Guardia GDA, Chiou J, Yi C, Ray D, Meliso F, Li YM, Delambre T, Qiao M, Burns SS, Lorbeer FK, Georgi F, Flosbach M, Klinnert S, Jenseit A, Lei X, Sandoval CR, Ha K, Zheng H, Pandey R, Gruslova A, Gupta YK, Brenner A, Kokovay E, Hughes TR, Morris QD, Galante PAF, Tiziani S, Penalva LOF. The RNA-binding protein SERBP1 functions as a novel oncogenic factor in glioblastoma by bridging cancer metabolism and epigenetic regulation. Genome Biol 2020; 21:195. [PMID: 32762776 PMCID: PMC7412812 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-020-02115-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2020] [Accepted: 07/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) function as master regulators of gene expression. Alterations in RBP expression and function are often observed in cancer and influence critical pathways implicated in tumor initiation and growth. Identification and characterization of oncogenic RBPs and their regulatory networks provide new opportunities for targeted therapy. RESULTS We identify the RNA-binding protein SERBP1 as a novel regulator of glioblastoma (GBM) development. High SERBP1 expression is prevalent in GBMs and correlates with poor patient survival and poor response to chemo- and radiotherapy. SERBP1 knockdown causes delay in tumor growth and impacts cancer-relevant phenotypes in GBM and glioma stem cell lines. RNAcompete identifies a GC-rich region as SERBP1-binding motif; subsequent genomic and functional analyses establish SERBP1 regulation role in metabolic routes preferentially used by cancer cells. An important consequence of these functions is SERBP1 impact on methionine production. SERBP1 knockdown decreases methionine levels causing a subsequent reduction in histone methylation as shown for H3K27me3 and upregulation of genes associated with neurogenesis, neuronal differentiation, and function. Further analysis demonstrates that several of these genes are downregulated in GBM, potentially through epigenetic silencing as indicated by the presence of H3K27me3 sites. CONCLUSIONS SERBP1 is the first example of an RNA-binding protein functioning as a central regulator of cancer metabolism and indirect modulator of epigenetic regulation in GBM. By bridging these two processes, SERBP1 enhances glioma stem cell phenotypes and contributes to GBM poorly differentiated state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam Kosti
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
- Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Patricia Rosa de Araujo
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
- Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Wei-Qing Li
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
- Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Gabriela D. A. Guardia
- Centro de Oncologia Molecular, Hospital Sírio-Libanês, São Paulo, São Paulo 01309-060 Brazil
| | - Jennifer Chiou
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Dell Pediatric Research Institute, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 USA
| | - Caihong Yi
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Debashish Ray
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1 Canada
| | - Fabiana Meliso
- Centro de Oncologia Molecular, Hospital Sírio-Libanês, São Paulo, São Paulo 01309-060 Brazil
| | - Yi-Ming Li
- Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Talia Delambre
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Mei Qiao
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Suzanne S. Burns
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Franziska K. Lorbeer
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Fanny Georgi
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Markus Flosbach
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Sarah Klinnert
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Anne Jenseit
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Xiufen Lei
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | | | - Kevin Ha
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1 Canada
| | - Hong Zheng
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1 Canada
| | - Renu Pandey
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | | | - Yogesh K. Gupta
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Andrew Brenner
- Mays Cancer Center, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Erzsebet Kokovay
- Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
| | - Timothy R. Hughes
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1 Canada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8 Canada
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, MaRS Centre, West Tower, 661 University Avenue, Suite 505, Toronto, ON M5G 1M1 Canada
| | - Quaid D. Morris
- Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 3E1 Canada
- Department of Molecular Genetics, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8 Canada
- Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5T 3A1 Canada
| | - Pedro A. F. Galante
- Centro de Oncologia Molecular, Hospital Sírio-Libanês, São Paulo, São Paulo 01309-060 Brazil
| | - Stefano Tiziani
- Department of Nutritional Sciences, Dell Pediatric Research Institute, Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 USA
| | - Luiz O. F. Penalva
- Children’s Cancer Research Institute, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
- Department of Cell Systems and Anatomy, UT Health San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78229 USA
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