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Huang Q, Chan KY, Wu J, Botticello-Romero NR, Zheng Q, Lou S, Keyes C, Svanbergsson A, Johnston J, Mills A, Lin CY, Brauer PP, Clouse G, Pacouret S, Harvey JW, Beddow T, Hurley JK, Tobey IG, Powell M, Chen AT, Barry AJ, Eid FE, Chan YA, Deverman BE. An AAV capsid reprogrammed to bind human transferrin receptor mediates brain-wide gene delivery. Science 2024; 384:1220-1227. [PMID: 38753766 DOI: 10.1126/science.adm8386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 05/08/2024] [Indexed: 05/18/2024]
Abstract
Developing vehicles that efficiently deliver genes throughout the human central nervous system (CNS) will broaden the range of treatable genetic diseases. We engineered an adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid, BI-hTFR1, that binds human transferrin receptor (TfR1), a protein expressed on the blood-brain barrier. BI-hTFR1 was actively transported across human brain endothelial cells and, relative to AAV9, provided 40 to 50 times greater reporter expression in the CNS of human TFRC knockin mice. The enhanced tropism was CNS-specific and absent in wild-type mice. When used to deliver GBA1, mutations of which cause Gaucher disease and are linked to Parkinson's disease, BI-hTFR1 substantially increased brain and cerebrospinal fluid glucocerebrosidase activity compared with AAV9. These findings establish BI-hTFR1 as a potential vector for human CNS gene therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Huang
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Ken Y Chan
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Jason Wu
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Nuria R Botticello-Romero
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Qingxia Zheng
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Shan Lou
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Casey Keyes
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Alexander Svanbergsson
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Jencilin Johnston
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Allan Mills
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Chin-Yen Lin
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Pamela P Brauer
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Gabrielle Clouse
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Simon Pacouret
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - John W Harvey
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Thomas Beddow
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Jenna K Hurley
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Isabelle G Tobey
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Megan Powell
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Albert T Chen
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Andrew J Barry
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Fatma-Elzahraa Eid
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
- Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Al-Azhar University, Cairo 11651, Egypt
| | - Yujia A Chan
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
| | - Benjamin E Deverman
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142 USA
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Huang Q, Chan KY, Lou S, Keyes C, Wu J, Botticello-Romero NR, Zheng Q, Johnston J, Mills A, Brauer PP, Clouse G, Pacouret S, Harvey JW, Beddow T, Hurley JK, Tobey IG, Powell M, Chen AT, Barry AJ, Eid FE, Chan YA, Deverman BE. An AAV capsid reprogrammed to bind human Transferrin Receptor mediates brain-wide gene delivery. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.12.20.572615. [PMID: 38187643 PMCID: PMC10769326 DOI: 10.1101/2023.12.20.572615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
Developing vehicles that efficiently deliver genes throughout the human central nervous system (CNS) will broaden the range of treatable genetic diseases. We engineered an AAV capsid, BI-hTFR1, that binds human Transferrin Receptor (TfR1), a protein expressed on the blood-brain barrier (BBB). BI-hTFR1 was actively transported across a human brain endothelial cell layer and, relative to AAV9, provided 40-50 times greater reporter expression in the CNS of human TFRC knock-in mice. The enhanced tropism was CNS-specific and absent in wild type mice. When used to deliver GBA1, mutations of which cause Gaucher disease and are linked to Parkinson's disease, BI-hTFR1 substantially increased brain and cerebrospinal fluid glucocerebrosidase activity compared to AAV9. These findings establish BI-hTFR1 as a promising vector for human CNS gene therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qin Huang
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Ken Y. Chan
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Shan Lou
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Casey Keyes
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Jason Wu
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | | | - Qingxia Zheng
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Jencilin Johnston
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Allan Mills
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Pamela P. Brauer
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Gabrielle Clouse
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Simon Pacouret
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - John W. Harvey
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Thomas Beddow
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Jenna K. Hurley
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Isabelle G. Tobey
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Megan Powell
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Albert T. Chen
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Andrew J. Barry
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Fatma-Elzahraa Eid
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
- Department of Systems and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Al-Azhar University; Cairo, Egypt
| | - Yujia A. Chan
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
| | - Benjamin E. Deverman
- Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard; Cambridge, USA
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Baghirov H. Receptor-mediated transcytosis of macromolecules across the blood-brain barrier. Expert Opin Drug Deliv 2023; 20:1699-1711. [PMID: 37658673 DOI: 10.1080/17425247.2023.2255138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2023] [Revised: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 08/31/2023] [Indexed: 09/03/2023]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The blood-brain barrier (BBB) restricts brain access of virtually all macromolecules. Receptor-mediated transcytosis (RMT) is one strategy toward their brain delivery. In this strategy, targeting ligands conjugated to therapeutic payload or decorating particles containing the payload interact with targets on brain capillary endothelial cells (BCEC), triggering internalization, trafficking, and release from BCEC. AREAS COVERED RMT at the BBB has leveraged multiple formats of macromolecules and large particles. Interactions between those and BCEC have been studied primarily using antibodies, with findings applicable to the design of larger particles. BBB-penetrant constructs have also been identified in screening campaigns and directed evolution, and subsequently found to interact with RMT targets. In addition, BCEC targeted by constructs incorporating genomic payload can be made to produce therapeutic proteins. EXPERT OPINION While targeting may not be strictly necessary to reach a therapeutic effect for all macromolecules, it can improve a molecule's BBB transport, exposing it to the entire brain parenchyma and enhancing its effect. Constructs with better BCEC transcytosis may be designed rationally, leveraging knowledge about BCEC trafficking, and found in screening campaigns, where this knowledge can reduce the search space and improve iterative refinement. Identification of new targets may also help generate BBB-crossing constructs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Habib Baghirov
- Roche Informatics, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Poznań, Poland
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