{"title":"<i>Call for Papers:</i> Special Issue on Toxicity And Safety in Clinical AAV Gene Therapy.","authors":"","doi":"10.1089/hum.2024.85296","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1089/hum.2024.85296","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":13007,"journal":{"name":"Human gene therapy","volume":"35 17-18","pages":"585"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142285995","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human gene therapyPub Date : 2024-09-01Epub Date: 2024-07-01DOI: 10.1089/hum.2024.043
Seyed Younes Hosseini, Rahul Mallick, Petri Mäkinen, Seppo Ylä-Herttuala
{"title":"Insights into Prime Editing Technology: A Deep Dive into Fundamentals, Potentials, and Challenges.","authors":"Seyed Younes Hosseini, Rahul Mallick, Petri Mäkinen, Seppo Ylä-Herttuala","doi":"10.1089/hum.2024.043","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hum.2024.043","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As the most versatile and precise gene editing technology, prime editing (PE) can establish a durable cure for most human genetic disorders. Several generations of PE have been developed based on an editor machine or prime editing guide RNA (pegRNA) to achieve any kind of genetic correction. However, due to the early stage of development, PE complex elements need to be optimized for more efficient editing. Smart optimization of editor proteins as well as pegRNA has been contemplated by many researchers, but the universal PE machine's current shortcomings remain to be solved. The modification of PE elements, fine-tuning of the host genes, manipulation of epigenetics, and blockage of immune responses could be used to reach more efficient PE. Moreover, the host factors involved in the PE process, such as repair and innate immune system genes, have not been determined, and PE cell context dependency is still poorly understood. Regarding the large size of the PE elements, delivery is a significant challenge and the development of a universal viral or nonviral platform is still far from complete. PE versions with shortened variants of reverse transcriptase are still too large to fit in common viral vectors. Overall, PE faces challenges in optimization for efficiency, high context dependency during the cell cycling, and delivery due to the large size of elements. In addition, immune responses, unpredictability of outcomes, and off-target effects further limit its application, making it essential to address these issues for broader use in nonpersonalized gene editing. Besides, due to the limited number of suitable animal models and computational modeling, the prediction of the PE process remains challenging. In this review, the fundamentals of PE, including generations, potential, optimization, delivery, <i>in vivo</i> barriers, and the future landscape of the technology are discussed.</p>","PeriodicalId":13007,"journal":{"name":"Human gene therapy","volume":" ","pages":"649-668"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141237794","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human gene therapyPub Date : 2024-09-01Epub Date: 2024-07-31DOI: 10.1089/hum.2024.059
Laura van Lieshout, Stacy Ota, Annie Adusei, Eli Wiberg, Katrina Costa-Grant, Dimpal Lata, Serena Dollive, Marissa Stanvick, Ifeyinwa Iwuchukwu, Diane Golebiowski, Jin Yin
{"title":"An Improved Helper Plasmid Containing Deletions Within the E4 and E2a Genes Results in Increased Adeno-Associated Virus Productivity.","authors":"Laura van Lieshout, Stacy Ota, Annie Adusei, Eli Wiberg, Katrina Costa-Grant, Dimpal Lata, Serena Dollive, Marissa Stanvick, Ifeyinwa Iwuchukwu, Diane Golebiowski, Jin Yin","doi":"10.1089/hum.2024.059","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hum.2024.059","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The use of a helper plasmid to replace adenovirus infection for adeno-associated virus (AAV) manufacturing has been common practice for decades. Adenovirus E4, E2a, and VA RNA genes are sufficient to support efficient AAV replication. In an effort to ensure that all transfected DNA has a functional role in AAV production, deletions were introduced to the E4 and E2a genes to determine if any portions were dispensable. Although a 900 bp deletion in the E2a intron did not have an impact, the removal of open reading frames (orf) 1-4 from the E4 gene resulted in a doubling of AAV productivity. The E4Δorf1-4 deletion was associated with a reduction in E4orf6 transcripts, along with an increase in Rep and Cap transcripts and protein levels, which corresponded to increased AAV productivity in crude lysate. The final product of these studies was a helper plasmid, termed OXB-Helper_3, that is >3.4 kb smaller than the original control plasmid and resulted in ∼2× improvement in vector genome productivity across multiple capsid serotypes, genome designs, and transfection platforms.</p>","PeriodicalId":13007,"journal":{"name":"Human gene therapy","volume":" ","pages":"767-776"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141603564","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human gene therapyPub Date : 2024-09-01Epub Date: 2024-09-04DOI: 10.1089/hum.2024.064
Katherine J D A Excoffon, Mark D Smith, Lillian Falese, Robert Schulingkamp, Shen Lin, Madhu Mahankali, Poornima K L Narayan, Matthew R Glatfelter, Maria P Limberis, Eric Yuen, Roland Kolbeck
{"title":"Inhalation of SP-101 Followed by Inhaled Doxorubicin Results in Robust and Durable <i>hCFTRΔR</i> Transgene Expression in the Airways of Wild-Type and Cystic Fibrosis Ferrets.","authors":"Katherine J D A Excoffon, Mark D Smith, Lillian Falese, Robert Schulingkamp, Shen Lin, Madhu Mahankali, Poornima K L Narayan, Matthew R Glatfelter, Maria P Limberis, Eric Yuen, Roland Kolbeck","doi":"10.1089/hum.2024.064","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hum.2024.064","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a serious genetic disease caused by mutations in the CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene. Approved small molecule therapies benefit the majority of people with CF (pwCF), but unfortunately not all. Gene addition offers a mutation agnostic treatment option for all pwCF. SP-101 is an adeno-associated virus gene therapy vector (AAV2.5T) that has been optimized for efficient human airway cell transduction, and that contains a functional and regulated shortened human CFTR minigene (<i>hCFTRΔR</i>) with a small synthetic promoter/enhancer. To understand SP-101 airway distribution, activity, and the associated immune response, <i>in vivo</i> studies were performed in wild-type and CF ferrets. After single dose inhaled delivery of SP-101, followed by single dose inhaled doxorubicin (an AAV transduction augmenter) or saline, SP-101 vector genomes were detected throughout the respiratory tract. <i>hCFTRΔR</i> mRNA expression was highest in ferrets also receiving doxorubicin and persisted for the duration of the study (13 weeks). Pre-existing mucus in the CF ferrets did not present a barrier to effective transduction. Binding and neutralizing antibodies to the AAV2.5T capsid were observed regardless of doxorubicin exposure. Only a portion of ferrets exhibited a weak T-cell response to AAV2.5T and no T-cell response was seen against hCFTRΔR. These data strongly support the continued development of inhaled SP-101, followed by inhaled doxorubicin, for the treatment of CF.</p>","PeriodicalId":13007,"journal":{"name":"Human gene therapy","volume":" ","pages":"710-725"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2024-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141999776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human gene therapyPub Date : 2024-08-01Epub Date: 2024-07-31DOI: 10.1089/hum.2024.097
Jiajv Chen, Wei Li
{"title":"The Legal Status and Improvement Path of Human Genetic Data in Gene Therapy in China.","authors":"Jiajv Chen, Wei Li","doi":"10.1089/hum.2024.097","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hum.2024.097","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the legal context of Chinese law, genetic data are an object of complex rights. At the level of private law, genetic data contain personal information, thus being protected by the Civil Code and the Personal Information Protection Law. At the level of public law, genetic data are important genetic resource that embody both public and national interests, which should also be regulated by public laws such as the Biosecurity Law and the Data Security Law. The recently issued <i>Regulation on the Administration of Human Genetic Resources</i> have refined the approval and record procedure, in order to promote the utilization of genetic data in China. At present, China still lacks sufficient protection for genetic data privacy, and the \"informed consent\" and \"anonymization\" system cannot work effectively. On the path of improvement, we should break constraints of individualism and start from the following three levels to strengthen genetic data privacy protection: formulating specialized legislation and leveraging the functions of group organizations and public interest litigation systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":13007,"journal":{"name":"Human gene therapy","volume":" ","pages":"520-526"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141603568","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Jan C Klapwijk, Alberto Del Rio Espinola, Silvana Libertini, Philippe Collin, Mick D Fellows, Susan Jobling, Anthony M Lynch, HansJoerg Martus, Catherine Vickers, Andreas Zeller, Luca Biasco, Martijn H Brugman, Frederic D Bushmann, Toni Cathomen, Hildegrund C J Ertl, Richard Gabriel, Guangping Gao, Julie K Jadlowsky, Ian Kimber, Thomas A Lanz, Bruce L Levine, Kenneth P Micklethwaite, Masafumi Onodera, Daniella M Pizzurro, Simon Reed, Michael Rothe, Denise E Sabatino, Jesse J Salk, Axel Schambach, Michael Themis, Jing Yuan
{"title":"Improving the Assessment of Risk Factors Relevant to Potential Carcinogenicity of Gene Therapies: A Consensus Article.","authors":"Jan C Klapwijk, Alberto Del Rio Espinola, Silvana Libertini, Philippe Collin, Mick D Fellows, Susan Jobling, Anthony M Lynch, HansJoerg Martus, Catherine Vickers, Andreas Zeller, Luca Biasco, Martijn H Brugman, Frederic D Bushmann, Toni Cathomen, Hildegrund C J Ertl, Richard Gabriel, Guangping Gao, Julie K Jadlowsky, Ian Kimber, Thomas A Lanz, Bruce L Levine, Kenneth P Micklethwaite, Masafumi Onodera, Daniella M Pizzurro, Simon Reed, Michael Rothe, Denise E Sabatino, Jesse J Salk, Axel Schambach, Michael Themis, Jing Yuan","doi":"10.1089/hum.2024.033","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hum.2024.033","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Regulators and industry are actively seeking improvements and alternatives to current models and approaches to evaluate potential carcinogenicity of gene therapies (GTs). A meeting of invited experts was organized by NC3Rs/UKEMS (London, March 2023) to discuss this topic. This article describes the consensus reached among delegates on the definition of vector genotoxicity, sources of uncertainty, suitable toxicological endpoints for genotoxic assessment of GTs, and future research needs. The collected recommendations should inform the further development of regulatory guidelines for the nonclinical toxicological assessment of GT products.</p>","PeriodicalId":13007,"journal":{"name":"Human gene therapy","volume":" ","pages":"527-542"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141758407","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human gene therapyPub Date : 2024-08-01Epub Date: 2024-07-27DOI: 10.1089/hum.2024.017
Robert E MacLaren, Isabelle Audo, M Dominik Fischer, Rachel M Huckfeldt, Byron L Lam, Mark E Pennesi, Robert Sisk, James A Gow, Jiang Li, Kan Zhu, So-Fai Tsang
{"title":"An Open-Label Phase II Study Assessing the Safety of Bilateral, Sequential Administration of Retinal Gene Therapy in Participants with Choroideremia: The GEMINI Study.","authors":"Robert E MacLaren, Isabelle Audo, M Dominik Fischer, Rachel M Huckfeldt, Byron L Lam, Mark E Pennesi, Robert Sisk, James A Gow, Jiang Li, Kan Zhu, So-Fai Tsang","doi":"10.1089/hum.2024.017","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hum.2024.017","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Choroideremia, an incurable, progressive retinal degeneration primarily affecting young men, leads to sight loss. GEMINI was a multicenter, open-label, prospective, two-period, interventional Phase II study assessing the safety of bilateral sequential administration of timrepigene emparvovec, a gene therapy, in adult males with genetically confirmed choroideremia (NCT03507686, ClinicalTrials.gov). Timrepigene emparvovec is an adeno-associated virus serotype 2 vector encoding the cDNA of Rab escort protein 1, augmented by a downstream woodchuck hepatitis virus post-transcriptional regulatory element. Up to 0.1 mL of timrepigene emparvovec, containing 1 × 10<sup>11</sup> vector genomes, was administered by subretinal injection following vitrectomy and retinal detachment. The second eye was treated after an intrasurgery window of <6, 6-12, or >12 months. Each eye was followed at up to nine visits over 12 months. Overall, 66 participants received timrepigene emparvovec, and 53 completed the study. Visual acuity (VA) was generally maintained in both eyes, independent of intrasurgery window duration, even after bilateral retinal detachment and subretinal injection. Bilateral treatment was well tolerated, with predominantly mild or moderate treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and a low rate of serious surgical complications (7.6%). Retinal inflammation TEAEs were reported in 45.5% of participants, with similar rates in both eyes; <i>post hoc</i> analyses found that these were not associated with clinically significant vision loss at month 12 versus baseline. Two participants (3.0%) reported serious noninfective retinitis. Prior timrepigene emparvovec exposure did not increase the risk of serious TEAEs or serious ocular TEAEs upon injection of the second eye; furthermore, no systemic immune reaction or inoculation effect was observed. Presence of antivector neutralizing antibodies at baseline was potentially associated with a higher percentage of TEAEs related to ocular inflammation or reduced VA after injection of the first eye. The GEMINI study results may inform decisions regarding bilateral sequential administration of other gene therapies for retinal diseases.</p>","PeriodicalId":13007,"journal":{"name":"Human gene therapy","volume":" ","pages":"564-575"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141544774","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Human gene therapyPub Date : 2024-08-01Epub Date: 2024-07-19DOI: 10.1089/hum.2024.041
Charis L Himeda, Takako I Jones, Peter L Jones
{"title":"Have a Little Heart (or Not): Highly Minimized Skeletal Muscle Regulatory Cassettes with Low or No Activity in the Heart.","authors":"Charis L Himeda, Takako I Jones, Peter L Jones","doi":"10.1089/hum.2024.041","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hum.2024.041","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Adeno-associated virus-mediated gene therapies for certain muscle disorders require regulatory cassettes that provide high-level, striated muscle-specific activity. However, cardiotoxicity has emerged as a serious concern in clinical trials for Duchenne muscular dystrophy and X-linked myotubular myopathy. While this may be caused by systemic inflammatory effects of the treatment, high transgene expression in the heart may also play a role. Thus, certain muscle disorders may require a modulated level of therapeutic expression in the heart, while others may not require any cardiac expression at all. Additionally, the size of some cargos requires regulatory cassettes to be small enough that large cDNAs and other therapeutic payloads can be accommodated. Thus, we have performed enhancer/promoter optimization to develop highly minimized regulatory cassettes that are active in skeletal muscles, with either low or no detectable activity in cardiac muscle. Our No-heart (NH) cassette is active in most skeletal muscles, but exhibits only very low activity in extensor digitorum longus (EDL), soleus, and diaphragm, and no activity in the heart. By contrast, our Have a Little Heart (HLH) cassette displays high activity in most skeletal muscles, comparable to the ∼800-bp CK8 cassette, with increased activity in EDL, soleus, and diaphragm, and low activity in the heart. Due to their small size, these cassettes can be used in therapeutic strategies with both flexible (<i>e.g.,</i> antisense) and stringent (<i>e.g.,</i> CRISPR/Cas or bicistronic) size limitations. Thus, our new cassettes may be useful for gene therapies of muscle disorders in which the need for low or almost no expression in cardiac muscle would outweigh the need for high levels of therapeutic product in certain skeletal muscles.</p>","PeriodicalId":13007,"journal":{"name":"Human gene therapy","volume":" ","pages":"543-554"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11807878/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141544776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Genome Editing of Mammalian Cells Through RNA Transcript-Mediated Homologous Recombination Repair.","authors":"Yangmin Wang, Meilin Liu, Xinjian Lin, Haozheng Wang, Na Dong, Hengshen Liu, Hongwei Shao, Wenfeng Zhang","doi":"10.1089/hum.2024.025","DOIUrl":"10.1089/hum.2024.025","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Double-stranded break (DSB) repair of eukaryotic DNA is mainly accomplished by nonhomologous end joining and homologous recombination (HR). Providing exogenous templates during HR repair can result in the editing of target genes, which is the central mechanism of the well-established clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) gene editing system. Currently, exogenous templates are mainly DNA molecules, which can provoke a cellular immune response within the cell. In order to verify the feasibility of RNA molecules as repair templates for HR in mammalian cell genome editing, we fused RNA template molecules to the 3'-end of single guide RNA (sgRNA), so that the sgRNA and the homologous template RNA form a single RNA molecule. The results show this construct can be used as a repair template to achieve target gene editing in mammalian cells. In addition, the factors influencing HR mediated by RNA template molecules were investigated, and it was found that increasing the length of homologous arms and inducing an R-loop near the DSBcan effectively promote HR repair. Furthermore, intracellular homologous chromosomes may compete with exogenous RNA templates. The findings in this article provide a reference for the utilization of RNA template molecules to mediate target gene editing in eukaryotic cells, as well as a basis for the study of the mechanism by which RNA molecules mediate the repair of DSBs.</p>","PeriodicalId":13007,"journal":{"name":"Human gene therapy","volume":" ","pages":"555-563"},"PeriodicalIF":3.9,"publicationDate":"2024-08-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141751543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}