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Liu J, Koay TW, Maiakovska O, Zayas ML, Grimm D. Progress in bioengineering of myotropic Adeno-associated viral (AAV) gene therapy vectors. Hum Gene Ther 2023; 34:350-364. [PMID: 37082964 DOI: 10.1089/hum.2023.057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/22/2023] Open
Abstract
The ability to specifically, safely and efficiently transfer therapeutic payloads to the striated musculature via a minimally invasive delivery route remains one of the most important but also most ambitious aims in human gene therapy. Over the last two decades, a flurry of groups have harnessed recombinant Adeno-associated viruses (AAV) for this purpose, carrying cargoes that were packaged either in one of the various wild-type capsids or in a synthetic protein shell derived by molecular bioengineering. Here, we provide an overview over the most commonly used techniques for the enrichment of muscle-specific (myotropic) AAV capsids, typically starting off with the genetic diversification of one or more extant wild-type sequences, followed by the stratification of the ensuing capsid libraries in different muscle types in small or large animals. These techniques include the shuffling of multiple parental capsid genes, peptide display in exposed capsid loops, mutagenesis of individual capsid residues, creation of chimeras between two viral parents, or combinations thereof. Moreover, we highlight alternative experimental or bioinformatic strategies such as ancestral reconstruction or rational design, all of which have already been employed successfully to derive synthetic AAV capsids or vectors with unprecedented in vivo efficiency and/or specificity in the musculature. Most recently, these efforts have culminated in the isolation of unique clades of myotropic vectors called AAVMYO or MyoAAV that have in common the display of the amino-acid motif RGD (arginine-glycine-aspartate) on the capsid surface, and that exhibit the highest transduction rate in striated muscles of mice or non-human primates reported to date. Finally, we note essential looming improvements that will facilitate and accelerate clinical translation of these latest generations of myotropic AAVs, including the identification and utilization of capsid selection or validation schemes that promise optimal translation in humans, and continued efforts to enhance patient safety by minimizing hepatic off-targeting.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jixin Liu
- Heidelberg University, Infectious Diseases/Virology, Heidelberg, BW, Germany;
| | - Teng Wei Koay
- Heidelberg University, Infectious Diseases/Virology, Heidelberg, BW, Germany;
| | - Olena Maiakovska
- Heidelberg University, Infectious Diseases/Virology, Heidelberg, BW, Germany;
| | | | - Dirk Grimm
- Heidelberg University, Infectious Diseases/Virology, BioQuant BQ0030, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, Heidelberg, BW, Germany, D-69120;
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Koay TW, Schödel J, Hoogewijs D. CRISPR Activator Approaches to Study Endogenous Androglobin Gene Regulation. Methods Mol Biol 2023; 2648:167-185. [PMID: 37039991 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-3080-8_11] [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] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/12/2023]
Abstract
Androglobin (ADGB), the most recently identified member of the mammalian globin family, is a chimeric protein with an unusual, embedded globin domain that is circularly permutated and exhibits hallmarks of a hexacoordinated heme-binding scheme. Whereas abundant expression of ADGB was initially found to be mainly restricted to cells in the postmeiotic stages of spermatogenesis, more recent RNA-Seq-based expression analysis data revealed that ADGB is detectable in cells carrying motile cilia or flagella. This very tight regulation of ADGB gene expression urges the need for alternative techniques to study endogenous expression in classical mammalian cell models, which do not express ADGB. We describe here the use of CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) technology to induce endogenous ADGB gene expression in HEK293T, MCF-7, and HeLa cells from its promoter and illustrate how this method can be employed to validate putative regulatory DNA elements of ADGB in promoter and enhancer regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teng Wei Koay
- Section of Medicine, Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Cardiovascular System, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Johannes Schödel
- Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Universitätsklinikum Erlangen and Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany
| | - David Hoogewijs
- Section of Medicine, Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Cardiovascular System, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland.
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Keppner A, Correia M, Santambrogio S, Koay TW, Maric D, Osterhof C, Winter DV, Clerc A, Stumpe M, Chalmel F, Dewilde S, Odermatt A, Kressler D, Hankeln T, Wenger RH, Hoogewijs D. Androglobin, a chimeric mammalian globin, is required for male fertility. eLife 2022; 11:72374. [PMID: 35700329 PMCID: PMC9249397 DOI: 10.7554/elife.72374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2021] [Accepted: 06/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Spermatogenesis is a highly specialized differentiation process driven by a dynamic gene expression program and ending with the production of mature spermatozoa. Whereas hundreds of genes are known to be essential for male germline proliferation and differentiation, the contribution of several genes remains uncharacterized. The predominant expression of the latest globin family member, androglobin (Adgb), in mammalian testis tissue prompted us to assess its physiological function in spermatogenesis. Adgb knockout mice display male infertility, reduced testis weight, impaired maturation of elongating spermatids, abnormal sperm shape, and ultrastructural defects in microtubule and mitochondrial organization. Epididymal sperm from Adgb knockout animals display multiple flagellar malformations including coiled, bifid or shortened flagella, and erratic acrosomal development. Following immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry, we could identify septin 10 (Sept10) as interactor of Adgb. The Sept10-Adgb interaction was confirmed both in vivo using testis lysates and in vitro by reciprocal co-immunoprecipitation experiments. Furthermore, the absence of Adgb leads to mislocalization of Sept10 in sperm, indicating defective manchette and sperm annulus formation. Finally, in vitro data suggest that Adgb contributes to Sept10 proteolysis in a calmodulin-dependent manner. Collectively, our results provide evidence that Adgb is essential for murine spermatogenesis and further suggest that Adgb is required for sperm head shaping via the manchette and proper flagellum formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna Keppner
- Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Cardiovascular system, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Miguel Correia
- Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Cardiovascular system, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | | | - Teng Wei Koay
- Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Cardiovascular system, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Darko Maric
- Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Cardiovascular system, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Carina Osterhof
- Institute for Organismic and Molecular Evolutionary Biology, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Denise V Winter
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Angèle Clerc
- Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Cardiovascular system, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Michael Stumpe
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | | | - Sylvia Dewilde
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium
| | - Alex Odermatt
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
| | - Dieter Kressler
- Department of Biology, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
| | - Thomas Hankeln
- Institute for Organismic and Molecular Evolutionary Biology, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
| | - Roland H Wenger
- Institute of Physiology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - David Hoogewijs
- Department of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Cardiovascular system, University of Fribourg, Fribourg, Switzerland
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Yeap YH, Koay TW, Wong HL, Lim BH. Dissection of Synechococcus Rubisco Large Subunit Sections Involved in Holoenzyme Formation in Escherichia coli by Combinatorial Section Swapping and Sequence Analyses. SAINS MALAYS 2018. [DOI: 10.17576/jsm-2018-4710-04] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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Abstract
Ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (Rubisco) is a rate-limiting photosynthetic enzyme that catalyzes carbon fixation in the Calvin cycle. Much interest has been devoted to engineering this ubiquitous enzyme with the goal of increasing plant growth. However, experiments that have successfully produced improved Rubisco variants, via directed evolution in Escherichia coli, are limited to bacterial Rubisco because the eukaryotic holoenzyme cannot be produced in E. coli. The present study attempts to determine the specific differences between bacterial and eukaryotic Rubisco large subunit primary structure that are responsible for preventing heterologous eukaryotic holoenzyme formation in E. coli. A series of chimeric Synechococcus Rubiscos were created in which different sections of the large subunit were swapped with those of the homologous Chlamydomonas Rubisco. Chimeric holoenzymes that can form in vivo would indicate that differences within the swapped sections do not disrupt holoenzyme formation. Large subunit residues 1-97, 198-247 and 448-472 were successfully swapped without inhibiting holoenzyme formation. In all ten chimeras, protein expression was observed for the separate subunits at a detectable level. As a first approximation, the regions that can tolerate swapping may be targets for future engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Teng Wei Koay
- Department of Chemical Science, Faculty of Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
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