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Grigsby D, Klingeborn M, Kelly U, Chew LA, Asokan A, Devlin G, Smith S, Keyes L, Timmers A, Scaria A, Bowes Rickman C. AAV Gene Augmentation of Truncated Complement Factor H Differentially Rescues Ocular Complement Dysregulation in a Mouse Model. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2023; 64:25. [PMID: 37471073 PMCID: PMC10365136 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.64.10.25] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 06/22/2023] [Indexed: 07/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose Complement dysregulation in the eye has been implicated in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and genetic variants of complement factor H (CFH) are strongly associated with AMD risk. We therefore aimed to untangle the role of CFH and its splice variant, factor H-like 1 (FHL-1), in ocular complement regulation derived from local versus circulating sources. We assessed the therapeutic efficacy of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) expressing human FHL-1 and a truncated version of CFH (tCFH), which retains the functional N- and C-terminal ends of the CFH protein, in restoring the alternative complement pathway in Cfh-/- mouse eyes and plasma. Methods Using Cfh-/- mice as a model of complement dysregulation, AAV vectors expressing tCFH or FHL-1 were injected subretinally or via tail vein, and the efficacy of the constructs was evaluated. Results Following subretinal injections, tCFH expression rescued factor B (FB) retention in the eye, but FHL-1 expression did not. By contrast, both constructs restored FB detection in plasma following tail vein injections. Both tCFH and FHL-1 proteins accumulated in the posterior eyecup from the circulation following liver transduction; however, neither was able to significantly regulate local ocular complement. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that the C-terminus of human CFH is necessary for complement regulation in the murine eye. Furthermore, exogenous CFH must be synthesized locally to maximize complement regulation in the retina. These findings establish a critical foundation for development of CFH augmentation-based gene therapies for the eye.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel Grigsby
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States
| | - Mikael Klingeborn
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States
- McLaughlin Research Institute, Great Falls, Montana, United States
| | - Una Kelly
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States
| | - Lindsey A. Chew
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States
- Department of Cell Biology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States
| | - Aravind Asokan
- Departments of Surgery, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, and Biomedical Engineering, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States
| | - Garth Devlin
- Departments of Surgery, Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, and Biomedical Engineering, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States
| | - Sharon Smith
- Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, Alachua, Florida, United States
| | - Lisa Keyes
- Pfizer, Morrisville, North Carolina, United States
| | - Adrian Timmers
- Editas Medicine, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Abraham Scaria
- Applied Genetic Technologies Corporation, Alachua, Florida, United States
| | - Catherine Bowes Rickman
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States
- Department of Cell Biology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina, United States
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Biggs RM, Makou E, Lauder S, Herbert AP, Barlow PN, Katti SK. An Evaluation of the Complement-Regulating Activities of Human Complement Factor H (FH) Variants Associated With Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2022; 63:30. [DOI: 10.1167/iovs.63.12.30] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Robyn M. Biggs
- Gemini Therapeutics, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Elisavet Makou
- School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Scott Lauder
- Gemini Therapeutics, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
| | - Andrew P. Herbert
- School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Paul N. Barlow
- School of Chemistry, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Suresh K. Katti
- Gemini Therapeutics, Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States
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Gavriilaki E, Tsiftsoglou SA, Touloumenidou T, Farmaki E, Panagopoulou P, Michailidou E, Koravou EE, Mavrikou I, Iosifidis E, Tsiatsiou O, Papadimitriou E, Papadopoulou-Alataki E, Papayanni PG, Varelas C, Kokkoris S, Papalexandri A, Fotoulaki M, Galli-Tsinopoulou A, Zafeiriou D, Roilides E, Sakellari I, Anagnostopoulos A, Tragiannidis A. Targeted Genotyping of MIS-C Patients Reveals a Potential Alternative Pathway Mediated Complement Dysregulation during COVID-19 Infection. Curr Issues Mol Biol 2022; 44:2811-2824. [PMID: 35877417 PMCID: PMC9325260 DOI: 10.3390/cimb44070193] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Complement dysregulation has been documented in adults with COVID-19 and implicated in relevant pediatric inflammatory responses against SARS-CoV-2. We propose that signatures of complement missense coding SNPs associated with dysregulation could also be identified in children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C). We investigated 71 pediatric patients with RT-PCR validated SARS-CoV-2 hospitalized in pediatric COVID-19 care units (November 2020–March 2021) in three major groups. Seven (7) patients suffered from MIS-C (MIS-C group), 32 suffered from COVID-19 and were hospitalized (admitted group), whereas 32 suffered from COVID-19, but were sent home. All patients survived and were genotyped for variations in the C3, C5, CFB, CFD, CFH, CFHR1, CFI, CD46, CD55, MASP1, MASP2, MBL2, COLEC11, FCN1, and FCN3 genes. Upon evaluation of the missense coding SNP distribution patterns along the three study groups, we noticed similarities, but also considerably increased frequencies of the alternative pathway (AP) associated with SNPs rs12614 CFB, rs1061170, and rs1065489 CFH in the MIS-C patients. Our analysis suggests that the corresponding substitutions potentially reduce the C3b-inactivation efficiency and promote slower and weaker AP C3bBb pre-convertase assembly on virions. Under these circumstances, the complement AP opsonization capacity may be impaired, leading to compromised immune clearance and systemic inflammation in the MIS-C syndrome.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eleni Gavriilaki
- Hematology Department & BMT Unit, G Papanicolaou Hospital, 57010 Thessaloniki, Greece; (T.T.); (E.-E.K.); (I.M.); (P.G.P.); (C.V.); (A.P.); (I.S.); (A.A.)
- Correspondence: (E.G.); (S.A.T.); Tel.: +30-697-3841-671 (E.G.); +30-697-9568-269 (S.A.T.)
| | - Stefanos A. Tsiftsoglou
- Laboratory of Pharmacology, Department of Pharmacy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
- Correspondence: (E.G.); (S.A.T.); Tel.: +30-697-3841-671 (E.G.); +30-697-9568-269 (S.A.T.)
| | - Tasoula Touloumenidou
- Hematology Department & BMT Unit, G Papanicolaou Hospital, 57010 Thessaloniki, Greece; (T.T.); (E.-E.K.); (I.M.); (P.G.P.); (C.V.); (A.P.); (I.S.); (A.A.)
| | - Evangelia Farmaki
- 1st Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hipporkation Hospital, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece; (E.F.); (E.P.); (D.Z.)
| | - Paraskevi Panagopoulou
- 4th Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, 56429 Thessaloniki, Greece; (P.P.); (E.P.-A.); (M.F.)
| | - Elissavet Michailidou
- 3rd Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration Hospital, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece; (E.M.); (E.I.); (O.T.); (E.R.)
| | - Evaggelia-Evdoxia Koravou
- Hematology Department & BMT Unit, G Papanicolaou Hospital, 57010 Thessaloniki, Greece; (T.T.); (E.-E.K.); (I.M.); (P.G.P.); (C.V.); (A.P.); (I.S.); (A.A.)
| | - Ioulia Mavrikou
- Hematology Department & BMT Unit, G Papanicolaou Hospital, 57010 Thessaloniki, Greece; (T.T.); (E.-E.K.); (I.M.); (P.G.P.); (C.V.); (A.P.); (I.S.); (A.A.)
| | - Elias Iosifidis
- 3rd Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration Hospital, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece; (E.M.); (E.I.); (O.T.); (E.R.)
| | - Olga Tsiatsiou
- 3rd Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration Hospital, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece; (E.M.); (E.I.); (O.T.); (E.R.)
| | - Eleni Papadimitriou
- 1st Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hipporkation Hospital, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece; (E.F.); (E.P.); (D.Z.)
| | - Efimia Papadopoulou-Alataki
- 4th Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, 56429 Thessaloniki, Greece; (P.P.); (E.P.-A.); (M.F.)
| | - Penelope Georgia Papayanni
- Hematology Department & BMT Unit, G Papanicolaou Hospital, 57010 Thessaloniki, Greece; (T.T.); (E.-E.K.); (I.M.); (P.G.P.); (C.V.); (A.P.); (I.S.); (A.A.)
| | - Christos Varelas
- Hematology Department & BMT Unit, G Papanicolaou Hospital, 57010 Thessaloniki, Greece; (T.T.); (E.-E.K.); (I.M.); (P.G.P.); (C.V.); (A.P.); (I.S.); (A.A.)
| | - Styliani Kokkoris
- Laboratory of Hematology and Hospital—Blood Transfusion Unit, Medical School, University General Hospital “Attikon”, NKUA, 12462 Athens, Greece;
| | - Apostolia Papalexandri
- Hematology Department & BMT Unit, G Papanicolaou Hospital, 57010 Thessaloniki, Greece; (T.T.); (E.-E.K.); (I.M.); (P.G.P.); (C.V.); (A.P.); (I.S.); (A.A.)
| | - Maria Fotoulaki
- 4th Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Papageorgiou Hospital, 56429 Thessaloniki, Greece; (P.P.); (E.P.-A.); (M.F.)
| | - Assimina Galli-Tsinopoulou
- 2nd Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, AHEPA Hospital, 54621 Thessaloniki, Greece; (A.G.-T.); (A.T.)
| | - Dimitrios Zafeiriou
- 1st Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hipporkation Hospital, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece; (E.F.); (E.P.); (D.Z.)
| | - Emmanuel Roilides
- 3rd Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hippokration Hospital, 54642 Thessaloniki, Greece; (E.M.); (E.I.); (O.T.); (E.R.)
| | - Ioanna Sakellari
- Hematology Department & BMT Unit, G Papanicolaou Hospital, 57010 Thessaloniki, Greece; (T.T.); (E.-E.K.); (I.M.); (P.G.P.); (C.V.); (A.P.); (I.S.); (A.A.)
| | - Achilles Anagnostopoulos
- Hematology Department & BMT Unit, G Papanicolaou Hospital, 57010 Thessaloniki, Greece; (T.T.); (E.-E.K.); (I.M.); (P.G.P.); (C.V.); (A.P.); (I.S.); (A.A.)
| | - Athanasios Tragiannidis
- 2nd Pediatric Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, AHEPA Hospital, 54621 Thessaloniki, Greece; (A.G.-T.); (A.T.)
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