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Mitchell NL, Russell KN, Wellby MP, Wicky HE, Schoderboeck L, Barrell GK, Melzer TR, Gray SJ, Hughes SM, Palmer DN. Longitudinal In Vivo Monitoring of the CNS Demonstrates the Efficacy of Gene Therapy in a Sheep Model of CLN5 Batten Disease. Mol Ther 2018; 26:2366-2378. [PMID: 30078766 PMCID: PMC6171082 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2018.07.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2018] [Revised: 07/08/2018] [Accepted: 07/12/2018] [Indexed: 02/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses (NCLs; Batten disease) are neurodegenerative lysosomal storage diseases predominantly affecting children. Single administration of brain-directed lentiviral or recombinant single-stranded adeno-associated virus 9 (ssAAV9) vectors expressing ovine CLN5 into six pre-clinically affected sheep with a naturally occurring CLN5 NCL resulted in long-term disease attenuation. Treatment efficacy was demonstrated by non-invasive longitudinal in vivo monitoring developed to align with assessments used in human medicine. The treated sheep retained neurological and cognitive function, and one ssAAV9-treated animal has been retained and is now 57 months old, almost triple the lifespan of untreated CLN5-affected sheep. The onset of visual deficits was much delayed. Computed tomography and MRI showed that brain structures and volumes remained stable. Because gene therapy in humans is more likely to begin after clinical diagnosis, self-complementary AAV9-CLN5 was injected into the brain ventricles of four 7-month-old affected sheep already showing early clinical signs in a second trial. This also halted disease progression beyond their natural lifespan. These findings demonstrate the efficacy of CLN5 gene therapy, using three different vector platforms, in a large animal model and, thus, the prognosis for human translation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadia L Mitchell
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand; Department of Radiology, University of Otago, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
| | - Katharina N Russell
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand
| | - Martin P Wellby
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand
| | - Hollie E Wicky
- Department of Biochemistry, Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
| | - Lucia Schoderboeck
- Department of Biochemistry, Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
| | - Graham K Barrell
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand
| | - Tracy R Melzer
- Department of Medicine, University of Otago, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand
| | - Steven J Gray
- Gene Therapy Center and Department of Ophthalmology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599, USA
| | - Stephanie M Hughes
- Department of Biochemistry, Brain Health Research Centre, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
| | - David N Palmer
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, New Zealand; Department of Radiology, University of Otago, Christchurch 8140, New Zealand.
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