Effective, Safe, and Sustained Correction of Murine XLA Using a UCOE-BTK Promoter-based Lentiviral Vector

Overview

Journal Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev

Publisher Cell Press

Date 2021 Mar 15

PMID 33718514

Citations 5

Authors

Brenda J Seymour

Swati Singh

Hannah M Certo

Karen Sommer

Blythe D Sather

Socheath Khim

Courtnee Clough

Malika Hale

Joseph Pangallo

Byoung Y Ryu

Iram F Khan

Jennifer E Adair

David J Rawlings

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

X-linked agammaglobulinemia (XLA) is an immune disorder caused by mutations in Bruton's tyrosine kinase (). BTK is expressed in B and myeloid cells, and its deficiency results in a lack of mature B cells and protective antibodies. We previously reported a lentivirus (LV) BTK replacement therapy that restored B cell development and function in and double knockout mice (a phenocopy of human XLA). In this study, with the goal of optimizing both the level and lineage specificity of BTK expression, we generated LV incorporating the proximal human promoter. Hematopoietic stem cells from mice transduced with this vector rescued lineage-specific expression and restored B cell function in recipients. Next, we tested addition of candidate enhancers and/or ubiquitous chromatin opening elements (UCOEs), as well as codon optimization to improve BTK expression. An Eμ enhancer improved B cell rescue, but increased immunoglobulin G (IgG) autoantibodies. Addition of the UCOE avoided autoantibody generation while improving B cell development and function and reducing vector silencing. An optimized vector containing a truncated UCOE upstream of the BTK promoter and codon-optimized BTK cDNA resulted in stable, lineage-regulated BTK expression that mirrored endogenous BTK, making it a strong candidate for XLA therapy.

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