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Berckmueller K, Thomas J, Taha EA, Choo S, Madhu R, Kanestrom G, Rupert PB, Strong R, Kiem HP, Radtke S. CD90-targeted lentiviral vectors for HSC gene therapy. Mol Ther 2023; 31:2901-2913. [PMID: 37550965 PMCID: PMC10556220 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2023.08.003] [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] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Revised: 06/12/2023] [Accepted: 08/03/2023] [Indexed: 08/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene therapy is currently performed on CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells containing less than 1% true HSCs and requiring a highly specialized infrastructure for cell manufacturing and transplantation. We have previously identified the CD34+CD90+ subset to be exclusively responsible for short- and long-term engraftment. However, purification and enrichment of this subset is laborious and expensive. HSC-specific delivery agents for the direct modification of rare HSCs are currently lacking. Here, we developed novel targeted viral vectors to specifically transduce CD90-expressing HSCs. Anti-CD90 single chain variable fragments (scFvs) were engineered onto measles- and VSV-G-pseudotyped lentiviral vectors that were knocked out for native targeting. We further developed a custom hydrodynamic titration methodology to assess the loading of surface-engineered capsids, measure antigen recognition of the scFv, and predict the performance on cells. Engineered vectors formed with minimal impairment in the functional titer, maintained their ability to fuse with the target cells, and showed highly specific recognition of CD90 on cells ex vivo. Most important, targeted vectors selectively transduced human HSCs with secondary colony-forming potential. Our novel HSC-targeted viral vectors have the potential to significantly enhance the feasibility of ex vivo gene therapy and pave the way for future in vivo applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kurt Berckmueller
- Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Justin Thomas
- Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Eman A Taha
- Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Department of Biochemistry, Ain Shams University Faculty of Science, Cairo 11566, Egypt
| | - Seunga Choo
- Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Ravishankar Madhu
- Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Greta Kanestrom
- Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Peter B Rupert
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Roland Strong
- Basic Sciences Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA
| | - Hans-Peter Kiem
- Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA; Department of Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; Department of Pathology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
| | - Stefan Radtke
- Stem Cell and Gene Therapy Program, Translational Science and Therapeutics Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
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