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Chen MY, Chen W, Tong J, Ho ML, Suh J. N-terminal serine/threonine motif has diverse and important effects on behavior of multiple AAV serotypes. Virology 2021; 563:107-115. [PMID: 34509702 DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2021.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2021] [Revised: 07/24/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Adeno-associated virus (AAV) is a promising gene therapy vector, but questions remain regarding mechanisms of basic viral functions. We previously showed that a serine/threonine (S/T) triplet motif and its flanking residues, located in the overlapping N-terminus of VP1/VP2 and highly conserved across most AAV serotypes, are critical for viral transcript production in vitro. Here we generate a panel of S/T triplet mutants in AAV serotypes 2, 4, and 9 and characterize their behaviors in vitro and in vivo using next generation sequencing. We show that S/T triplet mutations can significantly hinder some stages of transduction in a serotype-dependent manner in vitro. Interestingly, these defects are largely overcome in C57BL/6 mice, with only one mutant displaying altered behavior in vivo. Taken together, our results identify a short N-terminal capsid motif with diverse roles across several AAV serotypes which better informs engineering efforts to improve AAV as a vector for gene therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Y Chen
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA; Medical Scientist Training Program, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, 77030, USA
| | - Weitong Chen
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA
| | - Jessica Tong
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA
| | - Michelle L Ho
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA
| | - Junghae Suh
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA; Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA; Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology Program, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA.
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Butler SS, Date K, Okumura T, Lueck C, Ghosh B, Maitra A, Suh J. Membrane-bound MMP-14 protease-activatable adeno-associated viral vectors for gene delivery to pancreatic tumors. Gene Ther 2021; 29:138-146. [PMID: 33958732 PMCID: PMC8571120 DOI: 10.1038/s41434-021-00255-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2020] [Revised: 02/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Adeno-associated virus' (AAV) relatively simple structure makes it accommodating for engineering into controllable delivery platforms. Cancer, such as pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), are often characterized by upregulation of membrane-bound proteins, such as MMP-14, that propagate survival integrin signaling. In order to target tumors, we have engineered an MMP-14 protease-activatable AAV vector that responds to both membrane-bound and extracellularly active MMPs. This "provector" was generated by inserting a tetra-aspartic acid inactivating motif flanked by the MMP-14 cleavage sequence IPESLRAG into the capsid subunits. The MMP-14 provector shows lower background transduction than previously developed provectors, leading to a 9.5-fold increase in transduction ability. In a murine model of PDAC, the MMP-14 provector shows increased delivery to an allograft tumor. This proof-of-concept study illustrates the possibilities of membrane-bound protease-activatable gene therapies to target tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Susan S Butler
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Kenjiro Date
- Departments of Translational Molecular Pathology and Pathology, Sheikh Ahmed Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Takashi Okumura
- Departments of Translational Molecular Pathology and Pathology, Sheikh Ahmed Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Cooper Lueck
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Bidyut Ghosh
- Departments of Translational Molecular Pathology and Pathology, Sheikh Ahmed Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Anirban Maitra
- Departments of Translational Molecular Pathology and Pathology, Sheikh Ahmed Center for Pancreatic Cancer Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA
| | - Junghae Suh
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA. .,Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology, Rice University, Houston, TX, USA.
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Brun MJ, Song K, Kang B, Lueck C, Chen W, Thatcher K, Gao E, Koch WJ, Lincoln J, Rajan S, Suh J. Constructing and evaluating caspase-activatable adeno-associated virus vector for gene delivery to the injured heart. J Control Release 2020; 328:834-845. [PMID: 33157191 PMCID: PMC7770761 DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2020.10.058] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2020] [Revised: 10/11/2020] [Accepted: 10/29/2020] [Indexed: 01/16/2023]
Abstract
Adeno-associated virus (AAV) is a promising vector for gene therapy, but its broad tropism can be detrimental if the transgene being delivered is harmful when expressed ubiquitously in the body, i.e. in non-target tissues. Delivering the transgene of interest to target cells at levels high enough to be therapeutically effective while maintaining safety by minimizing delivery to off-target cells is a prevalent challenge in the field of gene therapy. We have developed a protease activatable vector (provector) platform based on AAV9 that can be injected systemically to deliver therapeutic transgenes site-specifically to diseased cells by responding to extracellular proteases present at the disease site. The provector platform consists of a peptide insertion into the virus capsid which disrupts the virus' ability to bind to cell surface receptors. This peptide contains a blocking motif (aspartic acid residues) flanked on either side by cleavage sequences that are recognized by certain proteases. Exposure to proteases cleaves the peptides off the capsid, activating or "switching ON" the provector. In response to the activation, the provectors regain their ability to bind and transduce cells. Here, we have designed a provector that is activated by cysteine aspartic proteases (caspases), which have roles in inflammation and apoptosis and thus are elevated at sites of diseases such as heart failure, neurodegenerative diseases, and ischemic stroke. This provector demonstrates a 200-fold reduction in transduction ability in the OFF state compared to AAV9, reducing the virus' ability to transduce off-target healthy tissue. Following exposure to and proteolysis by caspase-3, the provector shows a 95-fold increase in transduction compared to the OFF state. The switchable transduction behavior was found to be a direct result of the peptide insertion ablating the ability of the virus to bind to cells. In vivo studies were conducted to characterize the biodistribution, blood circulation time, neutralizing antibody formation, and targeted delivery ability of the caspase-activatable provector in a model of heart failure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mitchell J Brun
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005, United States
| | - Kefan Song
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005, United States
| | - Byunguk Kang
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005, United States
| | - Cooper Lueck
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005, United States
| | - Weitong Chen
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005, United States
| | - Kaitlyn Thatcher
- Pediatric Cardiology, Herma Heart Institute, Children's Wisconsin, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States
| | - Erhe Gao
- Center for Translational Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, 3500 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19140, United States
| | - Walter J Koch
- Center for Translational Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, 3500 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19140, United States
| | - Joy Lincoln
- Pediatric Cardiology, Herma Heart Institute, Children's Wisconsin, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Road, Milwaukee, WI 53226, United States
| | - Sudarsan Rajan
- Center for Translational Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, 3500 N Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19140, United States
| | - Junghae Suh
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005, United States; Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005, United States.
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Thadani NN, Yang J, Moyo B, Lee CM, Chen MY, Bao G, Suh J. Site-Specific Post-translational Surface Modification of Adeno-Associated Virus Vectors Using Leucine Zippers. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:461-467. [PMID: 32068391 PMCID: PMC7323921 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00341] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Adeno-associated virus (AAV) is widely favored as a gene therapy vector, tested in over 200 clinical trials internationally. To improve targeted delivery a variety of genetic capsid modifications, such as insertion of targeting proteins/peptides into the capsid shell, have been explored with some success but larger insertions often have unpredictable deleterious impacts on capsid formation and gene delivery. Here, we demonstrate a modular platform for the integration of exogenous peptides and proteins onto the AAV capsid post-translationally while preserving vector functionality. We decorated the AAV capsid with leucine-zipper coiled-coil binding motifs that exhibit specific noncovalent heterodimerization. AAV capsids successfully display hexahistidine tagged-peptides using this approach, as demonstrated through nickel column affinity. This protein display platform may facilitate the incorporation of biological moieties on the AAV surface, expanding possibilities for vector enhancement and engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole N Thadani
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Joanna Yang
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Buhle Moyo
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Ciaran M Lee
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Maria Y Chen
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Gang Bao
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
| | - Junghae Suh
- Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
- Systems, Synthetic and Physical Biology Program, Rice University, Houston, Texas 77030, United States
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