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Wichmann M, Maire CL, Nuppenau N, Habiballa M, Uhde A, Kolbe K, Schröder T, Lamszus K, Fehse B, Głów D. Deep Characterization and Comparison of Different Retrovirus-like Particles Preloaded with CRISPR/Cas9 RNPs. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:11399. [PMID: 37511168 PMCID: PMC10380221 DOI: 10.3390/ijms241411399] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/19/2023] [Revised: 07/07/2023] [Accepted: 07/10/2023] [Indexed: 07/30/2023] Open
Abstract
The CRISPR/Cas system has a broad range of possible medical applications, but its clinical translation has been hampered, particularly by the lack of safe and efficient vector systems mediating the short-term expression of its components. Recently, different virus-like particles (VLPs) have been introduced as promising vectors for the delivery of CRISPR/Cas genome editing components. Here, we characterized and directly compared three different types of retrovirus-based (R) VLPs, two derived from the γ-retrovirus murine leukemia virus (gRVLPs and "enhanced" egRVLPs) and one from the lentivirus human immunodeficiency virus, HIV (LVLPs). First, we unified and optimized the production of the different RVLPs. To ensure maximal comparability of the produced RVLPs, we adapted several assays, including nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA), multi-parametric imaging flow cytometry (IFC), and Cas9-ELISA, to analyze their morphology, surface composition, size, and concentration. Next, we comparatively tested the three RVLPs targeting different genes in 293T model cells. Using identical gRNAs, we found egRVLPs to mediate the most efficient editing. Functional analyses indicated better cargo (i.e., Cas9) transfer and/or release as the underlying reason for their superior performance. Finally, we compared on- and off-target activities of the three RVLPs in human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) exploiting the clinically relevant C-C motif chemokine receptor 5 (CCR5) as the target. Again, egRVLPs facilitated the highest, almost 100% knockout rates, importantly with minimal off-target activity. In conclusion, in direct comparison, egRVLPs were the most efficient RVLPs. Moreover, we established methods for in-depth characterization of VLPs, facilitating their validation and thus more predictable and safe application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Max Wichmann
- Research Department Cell and Gene Therapy, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Cecile L Maire
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Niklas Nuppenau
- Research Department Cell and Gene Therapy, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Moataz Habiballa
- Institute of Neuroanatomy, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Almut Uhde
- Research Department Cell and Gene Therapy, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Katharina Kolbe
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Tanja Schröder
- Research Department Cell and Gene Therapy, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Katrin Lamszus
- Department of Neurosurgery, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Boris Fehse
- Research Department Cell and Gene Therapy, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
- German Center for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Hamburg-Lübeck-Borstel-Riems, 20246 Hamburg, Germany
| | - Dawid Głów
- Research Department Cell and Gene Therapy, Department of Stem Cell Transplantation, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), 20246 Hamburg, Germany
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Prengel TM, Brunne B, Habiballa M, Rune GM. Sexually differentiated microglia and CA1 hippocampal synaptic connectivity. J Neuroendocrinol 2023; 35:e13276. [PMID: 37170708 DOI: 10.1111/jne.13276] [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] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 03/14/2023] [Accepted: 03/31/2023] [Indexed: 05/13/2023]
Abstract
Microglia have been shown to sculpt postnatal circuitry from birth up to adulthood due to their role in both synapse formation, synaptic pruning, and the elimination of weak, redundant synapses. Microglia are differentiated in a sex-dependent manner. In this study, we tested whether sexual differentiation of microglia results in sex-dependent postnatal reorganization of CA1 synaptic connectivity in the hippocampus. The stereological counting of synapses in mice using electron microscopy showed a continuous rise in synapse density until the fourth week, followed by a plateau phase and loss of synapses from the eighth week onwards, with no difference between sexes. This course of alteration in synapse numbers did not differ between sexes. However, selectively, on postnatal day (P) 14 the density of synapses was significantly higher in the female than in the male hippocampus. Higher synapse density in females was paralleled by higher activity of microglia, as indicated by morphological changes, CD68 expression, and proximity of microglia to synaptic sites. In Thy1-GFP mice, consistent with increased synapse numbers, bouton density was also clearly increased in females at P14. At this time point, CD47 expression, the "don't eat me" signal of neurons, was similar in males and females. The decrease in bouton density thereafter in conjunction with increased synapse numbers argues for a role of microglia in the formation of multispine boutons (MSB). Our data in females at P14 support the regulatory role of microglia in synapse density. Sexual differentiation of microglia, however, does not substantially affect long-term synaptic reorganization in the hippocampus.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tim M Prengel
- Institute of Neuroanatomy, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Bianka Brunne
- Institute of Neuroanatomy, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Moataz Habiballa
- Institute of Neuroanatomy, University Medical Center Hamburg Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany
| | - Gabriele M Rune
- Institute of Cell Biology and Neurobiology, Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
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