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Kiy Z, Chaud J, Xu L, Brandhorst E, Kamali T, Vargas C, Keller S, Hong H, Specht A, Cambridge S. Towards a Light-mediated Gene Therapy for the Eye using Caged Ethinylestradiol and the Inducible Cre/lox System. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2024; 63:e202317675. [PMID: 38127455 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202317675] [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: 11/20/2023] [Revised: 12/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/15/2023] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
Increasingly, retinal pathologies are being treated with virus-mediated gene therapies. To be able to target viral transgene expression specifically to the pathological regions of the retina with light, we established an in vivo photoactivated gene expression paradigm for retinal tissue. Based on the inducible Cre/lox system, we discovered that ethinylestradiol is a suitable alternative to Tamoxifen as ethinylestradiol is more amenable to modification with photosensitive protecting compounds, i.e., "caging." Identification of ethinylestradiol as a ligand for the mutated human estradiol receptor was supported by in silico binding studies showing the reduced binding of caged ethinylestradiol. Caged ethinylestradiol was injected into the eyes of double transgenic GFAP-CreERT2 mice with a Cre-dependent tdTomato reporter transgene followed by irradiation with light of 450 nm. Photoactivation significantly increased retinal tdTomato expression compared to controls. We thus demonstrated a first step towards the development of a targeted, light-mediated gene therapy for the eyes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zoe Kiy
- Heidelberg University, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Juliane Chaud
- Laboratoire de Conception et Application de Molécules Bioactives, Equipe de Chimie et Neurobiologie Moléculaire, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, CAMB UMR 7199, 67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Liang Xu
- Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 3900 NCTR Road, Jefferson, AR, 72079, USA
| | - Eric Brandhorst
- Sektion Endokrinologie, Medizinische Fakultät Mannheim, 68167, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Tschackad Kamali
- Heidelberg Engineering GmbH, Max-Jarecki-Straße 8, 69115, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Carolyn Vargas
- Biophysics, Institute of Molecular Biosciences (IMB), NAWI Graz, University of Graz, Humboldtstr. 50/III, 8010, Graz, Austria
- BioTechMed-Graz, Graz, Austria
- Field of Excellence BioHealth, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Sandro Keller
- Biophysics, Institute of Molecular Biosciences (IMB), NAWI Graz, University of Graz, Humboldtstr. 50/III, 8010, Graz, Austria
- BioTechMed-Graz, Graz, Austria
- Field of Excellence BioHealth, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
| | - Huixiao Hong
- Division of Bioinformatics and Biostatistics, National Center for Toxicological Research, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 3900 NCTR Road, Jefferson, AR, 72079, USA
| | - Alexandre Specht
- Laboratoire de Conception et Application de Molécules Bioactives, Equipe de Chimie et Neurobiologie Moléculaire, Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, CAMB UMR 7199, 67000, Strasbourg, France
| | - Sidney Cambridge
- Heidelberg University, 69120, Heidelberg, Germany
- Institute for Anatomy II, Dr. Senckenberg Anatomy, Goethe-University Frankfurt am Main, 60590, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
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