Christopher Luthers, Sung-Min Ha, Annika Mittelhauser, Marco Morselli, Joseph D. Long, Caroline Y. Kuo, Zulema Romero, Donald B. Kohn
{"title":"DNA Contamination Within Recombinant Adeno Associated Virus (AAV) Preparations Correlates with Decreased CD34+ Cell Clonogenic Potential","authors":"Christopher Luthers, Sung-Min Ha, Annika Mittelhauser, Marco Morselli, Joseph D. Long, Caroline Y. Kuo, Zulema Romero, Donald B. Kohn","doi":"10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101334","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101334","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAV) are promising for applications in many genome editing techniques through their effectiveness as carriers of DNA homologous donors into primary hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) but have many outstanding concerns. Specifically, their biomanufacturing and the variety of factors that influence the quality and consistency of rAAV preps are in question. During the process of rAAV packaging, a cell line is transfected with several DNA plasmids that collectively encode all the necessary information to allow for viral packaging. Ideally, this process results in packaging of complete viral particles only containing rAAV genomes; however, this is not the case. Through this study, we were able to leverage Single-Stranded Virus (SSV)-seq, an NGS-based method to quantify all DNA species present within rAAV preps. From this, it was determined that much of the DNA within some rAAV preps is not vector-genome derived, and there is wide variability in the contamination by DNA across various preps. Furthermore, we demonstrate that transducing CD34<sup>+</sup> hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPC) with preps with higher contaminating DNA resulted in decreased clonogenic potential, altered transcriptomic profiles, and decreased genomic editing. Collectively, this study characterized the effects of DNA contamination within rAAV preps on CD34+ HSPC cellular potential.</p>","PeriodicalId":54333,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Therapy-Methods & Clinical Development","volume":"68 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142197240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Nadia Tavakolidakhrabadi, Wen Y. Ding, Moin A. Saleem, Gavin I. Welsh, Carl May
{"title":"Gene Therapy and kidney diseases","authors":"Nadia Tavakolidakhrabadi, Wen Y. Ding, Moin A. Saleem, Gavin I. Welsh, Carl May","doi":"10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101333","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101333","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Chronic kidney disease (CKD) poses a significant global health challenge, projected to become one of the leading causes of death by 2040. Current treatments primarily manage complications and slow progression, highlighting the urgent need for personalized therapies targeting the disease-causing genes. Our increased understanding on the underlying genomic changes that leads to kidney diseases coupled with recent successful gene therapies targeting specific kidney cells have turned gene therapy and genome editing into a promising therapeutic approach for treating kidney disease. This review paper will reflect on different delivery routes and system that can be exploited to target specific kidney cells, and the ways that gene therapy can be used to improve kidney health.</p>","PeriodicalId":54333,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Therapy-Methods & Clinical Development","volume":"17 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2024-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142197242","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Erika M. Shaw, Alexander J. Tate, Ramesh Periasamy, Daniel M. Lipinski
{"title":"Longitudinal characterization of sub-retinal pigment epithelium deposit formation in a primary porcine tissue culture model of dry age-related macular degeneration","authors":"Erika M. Shaw, Alexander J. Tate, Ramesh Periasamy, Daniel M. Lipinski","doi":"10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101331","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101331","url":null,"abstract":"Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects millions of individuals worldwide and is a leading cause of blindness in the elderly. In dry AMD, lipoproteinaceous deposits called drusen accumulate between the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and Bruch’s membrane, leading to impairment of oxygen and nutrient trafficking to the neural retina, and degeneration of the overlying photoreceptor cells. Owing to key differences in human and animal ocular anatomy and the slowly progressing nature of the disease, AMD is not easily modeled In this study, we further characterize a “drusen-in-a-dish” primary porcine RPE model system by employing vital lipid staining to monitor sub-RPE deposition over time in monolayers of cells cultured on porous transwell membranes. We demonstrate for the first time using a semi-automated image analysis pipeline that the number and size of sub-RPE deposits increases gradually but significantly over time and confirm that sub-RPE deposits grown in culture immunostain positive for multiple known components found in human drusen. As a result, we propose that drusen-in-a-dish cell culture models represent a high-throughput and cost-scalable alternative to animal models in which to study the pathobiology of drusen accumulation and may serve as useful tools for screening novel therapeutics aimed at treating dry AMD.","PeriodicalId":54333,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Therapy-Methods & Clinical Development","volume":"19 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142197243","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Synergy between Lactobacillus murinus and anti-PcrV antibody delivered in the airways to boost protection against Pseudomonas aeruginosa","authors":"Thomas Sécher, Mélanie Cortes, Chloé Boisseau, Marie-Thérèse Barba Goudiaby, Aubin Pitiot, Christelle Parent, Muriel Thomas, Nathalie Heuzé-Vourc’h","doi":"10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101330","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101330","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Therapeutic antibodies (Ab) have revolutionized the management of multiple illnesses including respiratory tract infections (RTIs). However, anti-infectious Ab displayed several limitations including antigen restrictiveness, narrowed therapeutic windows, and limited dose in the vicinity of the target when delivered by parenteral routes. Strategies enhancing further Ab-dependent containment of infection are currently needed. Here we showed that a combination of inhaled anti-infectious Ab and probiotics is an efficient formulation to protect against lung infection. Using a mouse model of <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</em>-induced pneumonia, we demonstrated a synergistic effect reducing both bacterial burden and pro-inflammatory response affording protection against primary and secondary infections. This is the first study showing that the local combination in the airways of anti-infective Ab and probiotics subverts suboptimal potency of Ab monotherapy and provides protection against respiratory pathogen.</p>","PeriodicalId":54333,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Therapy-Methods & Clinical Development","volume":"879 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142197288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Konstantina Tzimou, David Catalán-Tatjer, Lars K. Nielsen, Jesús Lavado-García
{"title":"Unlocking DOE potential by selecting the most appropriate design for rAAV optimization","authors":"Konstantina Tzimou, David Catalán-Tatjer, Lars K. Nielsen, Jesús Lavado-García","doi":"10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101329","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101329","url":null,"abstract":"Producing recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) for gene therapy via triple transfection is an intricate process involving many cellular interactions. Each of the different elements encoded in the three required plasmids—pHelper, pRepCap, and pGOI—plays a distinct role, affecting different cellular pathways when producing rAAVs. The required expression balance emphasizes the critical need to fine-tune the concentration of all these different elements. The use of design of experiments (DOE) to find optimal ratios is a powerful method to streamline the process. However, the choice of the DOE method and design construction is crucial to avoid misleading results. In this work, we examined and compared four distinct DOE approaches: rotatable central composite design (RCCD), Box-Behnken design (BBD), face-centered central composite design (FCCD), and mixture design (MD). We compared the abilities of the different models to predict optimal ratios and interactions among the plasmids and the transfection reagent. Our findings revealed that blocking is essential to reduce the variability caused by uncontrolled random effects and that MD coupled with FCCD outperformed all other approaches, improving volumetric productivity 109-fold. These outcomes underscore the importance of selecting a model that can effectively account for the biological context, ultimately yielding superior results in optimizing rAAV production.","PeriodicalId":54333,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Therapy-Methods & Clinical Development","volume":"27 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142197291","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Katharina Schindler, Katharina Eva Ruppel, Claudia Müller, Ulrike Koehl, Stephan Fricke, Dominik Schmiedel
{"title":"Linker-specific monoclonal antibodies present a simple and reliable detection method for scFv-based CARNK cells","authors":"Katharina Schindler, Katharina Eva Ruppel, Claudia Müller, Ulrike Koehl, Stephan Fricke, Dominik Schmiedel","doi":"10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101328","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101328","url":null,"abstract":"Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies have demonstrated significant successes in treating cancer. Currently, there are six approved CAR T cell products available on the market that target different malignancies of the B cell lineage. However, to overcome the limitations of CAR T cell therapies, other immune cells are being investigated for CAR-based cell therapies. CAR natural killer (NK) cells can be applied as allogeneic cell therapy, providing an economical, safe, and efficient alternative to autologous CAR T cells. To improve CAR research and future in-patient monitoring of cell therapeutics, a simple, reliable, and versatile CAR detection reagent is crucial. As most existing CARs contain a single-chain variable fragment (scFv) with either a Whitlow or a G4S linker site, linker-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) can detect a broad range of CARs. This study demonstrates that these linker-specific mAbs can detect different CAR NK cells , spiked in whole blood, and within patient-derived tumor spheroids with high specificity and sensitivity, providing an effective and almost universal alternative for scFv-based CAR detection. Additionally, we confirm that linker-specific antibodies can be used for functional testing and enrichment of CAR NK cells, thereby providing a useful research tool to fast-track the development of novel CAR-based therapies.","PeriodicalId":54333,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Therapy-Methods & Clinical Development","volume":"11 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142197290","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stefan Barisic, Elena Cherkasova, Rosa Nadal, Xin Tian, Long Chen, Angelina Parrizzi, Robert N. Reger, Gina M. Scurti, Michael I. Nishimura, Richard W. Childs
{"title":"Quantification of circulating TCR-engineered T cells targeting a human endogenous retrovirus post-adoptive transfer using nanoplate digital PCR","authors":"Stefan Barisic, Elena Cherkasova, Rosa Nadal, Xin Tian, Long Chen, Angelina Parrizzi, Robert N. Reger, Gina M. Scurti, Michael I. Nishimura, Richard W. Childs","doi":"10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101324","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.omtm.2024.101324","url":null,"abstract":"expansion of genetically modified T cells in cancer patients following adoptive transfer has been linked to both anti-tumor activity and T cell-mediated toxicities. The development of digital PCR has improved the accuracy in quantifying the status of adoptively infused T cells compared to qPCR or flow cytometry. Here, we developed and evaluated the feasibility and performance of nanoplate-based digital PCR (ndPCR) to quantify adoptively infused T cells engineered with a T cell receptor (TCR) that recognizes a human endogenous retrovirus type E (HERV-E) antigen. Analysis of blood samples collected from patients with metastatic kidney cancer following the infusion of HERV-E TCR-transduced T cells established the limit of detection of ndPCR to be 0.3 transgene copies/μL of reaction. The lower limit of quantification for ndPCR was one engineered T cell per 10,000 PBMCs, which outperformed both qPCR and flow cytometry by 1 log. High inter-test and test-retest reliability was confirmed by analyzing blood samples collected from multiple patients. In conclusion, we demonstrated the feasibility of ndPCR for detecting and monitoring the fate of TCR-engineered T cells in adoptive cell therapy.","PeriodicalId":54333,"journal":{"name":"Molecular Therapy-Methods & Clinical Development","volume":"182 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":4.7,"publicationDate":"2024-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142225186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}