Heart Immunoengineering by Lentiviral Vector-mediated Genetic Modification During Normothermic Perfusion

Overview

Journal Front Immunol

Specialty Allergy & Immunology

Date 2024 Jun 21

PMID 38903492

Authors

Katharina Schmalkuche

Tamina Rother

Jonathan M Burgmann

Henrike Voss

Klaus Hoffler

Gunes Dogan

Arjang Ruhparwar

Jan D Schmitto

Rainer Blasczyk

Constanca Figueiredo

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Heart transplantation is associated with major hurdles, including the limited number of available organs for transplantation, the risk of rejection due to genetic discrepancies, and the burden of immunosuppression. In this study, we demonstrated the feasibility of permanent genetic engineering of the heart during perfusion. Lentiviral vectors encoding for short hairpin RNAs targeting beta2-microglobulin (shβ2m) and class II transactivator (shCIITA) were delivered to the graft during two hours of normothermic EVHP. Highly efficient genetic engineering was indicated by stable reporter gene expression in endothelial cells and cardiomyocytes. Remarkably, swine leucocyte antigen (SLA) class I and SLA class II expression levels were decreased by 66% and 76%, respectively, in the vascular endothelium. Evaluation of lactate, troponin T, and LDH levels in the perfusate and histological analysis showed no additional cell injury or tissue damage caused by lentiviral vectors. Moreover, cytokine secretion profiles (IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α) of non-transduced and lentiviral vector-transduced hearts were comparable. This study demonstrated the generation of genetically engineered hearts without compromising tissue integrity. Downregulation of SLA expression may contribute to reduce the immunogenicity of the heart and support graft survival after allogeneic or xenogeneic transplantation.

Citing Articles

Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy for Kidney Transplant Recipients - A Review of Potential Complications and Management Strategies.

Barbir E, Abdulmoneim S, Dudek A, Kukla A Transpl Int. 2024; 37:13322.

PMID: 39479217 PMC: 11521864. DOI: 10.3389/ti.2024.13322.

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