基于腺相关病毒的多手段联合肿瘤治疗策略

腺相关病毒(adeno-associated virus,AAV)本身具有抗肿瘤活性,以其为基础构建的重组腺相关病毒(rAAV)作为肿瘤基因治疗载体已应用于临床试验研究。与其他的药物一样,单一的AAV基因药物,可能无法对肿瘤这一多基因、多步骤的复杂疾病发挥有效的治疗作用。国内外实验研究发现,多种化疗药物和放疗手段,不但可以提高rAAV载体的基因表达效率,也能促进AAV病毒本身的复制;反过来,AAV可以提高肿瘤细胞对放化疗的敏感性。联合AAV与其他的肿瘤治疗策略将有助于优化肿瘤治疗效果。     

重组腺相关病毒：很有潜力的基因治疗载体

腺相关病毒(AAV)是细小病毒家族的一员,为无包膜的线性单链DNA病毒.由于AAV具有长期潜伏于人体而不具有任何明显致病性等优点,人们对AAV作为一种理想的基因治疗载体给予了很大期望.但是,近来发现,这类载体在应用上有许多明显的缺陷,包括某些细胞膜上病毒受体数量极少,重组AAV载体位点特异性整合不足,AAV衣壳成分和转基因产物引起宿主的免疫反应等等.这些缺陷促使人们加大对AAV生物学特性和转染过程的研究,从而更好地对AAV载体进行改进,使新一代重组AAV载体具备基因治疗所必需的安全性、高效性和靶向性,以期更广泛地应用于临床.     

AAV载体的最新研究进展

腺相关病毒(AAV)是细小病毒家族一员,为无包膜的线形单链DNA病毒。由于AAV有长期潜伏于人体而不具有任何致病性等优点,人们对AAV作为基因治疗载体,基因打靶载体等方面的应用给予了很大的希望。AAV载体的安全性能已经用于帕金森病和囊性纤维病一期的治疗。目前通过不断的发展、改造病毒载体的基因结构,扩大其载体容量,提高病毒产率和转染效率,以使腺相关病毒载体更加符合实际需要。     

腺相关病毒的衣壳装配和DNA衣壳化机制

重组腺相关病毒载体 (rAAV) 是基因治疗临床应用载体的选择之一。在简述野生型AAV基因组结构和复制机制的基础上,阐述了AAV包装过程中两个主要事件：衣壳蛋白的装配和基因组DNA的衣壳化。虽然对AAV的包装机制总体上已有一定的认识,但其详细的分子机制、构效关系仍需完善和充实。AAV病毒本身相关机制的深入研究有助于改善rAAV载体的制备技术,促进rAAV基因药物研发。     

一种高效快速浓缩腺相关病毒载体的方法

腺相关病毒载体(adeno associatedviralvector,AAVvector)是一种具有良好应用前景的基因治疗载体。研究中往往需要高滴度的重组AAV病毒(>105v g /细胞),为此利用完整的腺相关病毒颗粒具有耐受有机溶剂的特点,创造性地采用了一种用乙醇沉淀重组AAV病毒的方法,达到了高效、快速浓缩AAV载体的目的。结果表明,乙醇沉淀法可以高效浓缩AAV载体,并且对病毒的结构和活性没有明显影响。用这种方法可以方便地将低滴度的AAV病毒变成高滴度,解决动物体内实验中每点注射体积受到限制的问题。     

DMD基因治疗中AAV载体优化的研究进展

杜氏肌营养不良症(Duchenne muscular dystrophy, DMD)是一种由抗肌萎缩蛋白(dystrophin)编码基因突变引起的进行性肌肉萎缩疾病,机体无法产生正常功能的dystrophin,最后由呼吸肌或心肌衰竭引发成年早期死亡。全身系统性基因治疗是最大程度治疗DMD的最有效方法。腺相关病毒(adeno-associated virus vector, AAV)是当前极具应用前景的基因治疗载体,在多种遗传性疾病的临床治疗中取得了前所未有的成功。然而,针对DMD的AAV载体基因治疗仍面临巨大挑战,包括无法容纳dystrophin全长编码序列,载体的肌肉靶向性不足且大量滞留在肝脏,AAV在体内大幅降解严重降低转导效率,机体对AAV衣壳蛋白产生免疫反应,AAV规模化制备的实施难度,以及安全性风险等。AAV载体优化旨在利用基因工程技术改变其相关特性以定制适用于DMD基因治疗的最佳载体。本文综述了AAV载体优化的方向及策略,以期跨越DMD基因治疗的障碍。     

腺相关病毒载体介导的基因打靶技术的研究进展

基因打靶技术在基因治疗和基因功能研究方面都有重要作用,而基因导入系统的有效性是影响中靶效率的重要因素.AAV(腺相关病毒)载体介导的基因打靶在保证有效转移DNA的同时,还具有非致病性、宿主范围广、高中靶效率和高保真性等诸多优点,使AAV成为目前人类基因治疗研究中最理想的病毒载体之一.本文就近几年AAV介导基因打靶的研究进展作一综述.     

化学修饰的重组腺相关病毒载体

重组腺相关病毒(Recombinant adenovirus-associated virus,rAAV)载体源于腺相关病毒(Adeno-associated virus,AAV),以其无致病性、低免疫原性、可定点整合及在宿主细胞内长期表达等优势,广泛应用于肿瘤和遗传疾病等基因治疗研究,被视为最有前途的基因治疗载体之一。但是人体内广泛存在AAV中和抗体,以及rAAV对体内特定组织或细胞的靶向性欠理想,限制了其在临床上的应用。经化学修饰的rAAV可以抵御血清中和抗体,提高转导靶向性,还可实现rAAV体内动态监测,这为解决当前rAAV载体的问题提供了新的思路和方法。本文对化学修饰的rAAV展开系统阐述,并对其未来发展趋势作出展望。     

提高重组型腺相关病毒转导效率的研究现状

重组型腺相关病毒(recombinant adeno-associated virus,r AAV)载体是目前基因治疗研究中常用的、非常有前景的载体之一。欧洲第一个批准上市的基因治疗药物正是基于r AAV。然而,r AAV的转导效率相对有限,导致其治疗成本过高;且过高剂量的r AAV可以激发人体的免疫反应,降低其疗效。因此,如何提高r AAV的转导效率一直是基因治疗领域研究的热点之一。目前常用的提高r AAV转导效率的方法有:使用组织特异性强的血清型/变体、应用蛋白酶体抑制剂、突变衣壳蛋白表面裸露氨基酸、增加单链DNA的第二链合成、构建自身互补型双链载体等。就这些方法各自的原理、应用现状及优劣势进行系统地综述。     

腺相关病毒与人多药耐药基因重组载体的构建及在NIH3T3细胞中的表达

腺相关病毒 (adeno- associated virus,AAV)属细小病毒科 ,是一种最小的动物病毒 .具有其他病毒载体所没有的优点 ,在基因治疗中日益受到瞩目 .以 AAV的一种多克隆载体为基础 ,构建了携带 MDR1基因的重组腺相关病毒载体 (r AAV- MDR1 ) ,经 2 93细胞包装成重组病毒 .将重组质粒、重组病毒分别转染和感染 NIH3T3细胞 ,用 PCR和 MTT法检测了人 MDR1基因的转导及表达 .为 MDR1基因用于临床和腺相关病毒载体在基因治疗中的应用提供了依据     

2型腺相关病毒载体介导的apoAⅠ和SR-BⅠ双基因表达对动脉硬化模型鼠保护效应的研究

重组腺相关病毒载体(AAV)具有很多安全方面的特性,有利于其在动脉硬化方面的治疗研究.尽管如此,传统的介导单个基因的治疗效果并不是很理想,这都归因于动脉硬化疾病的发生是由于多种基因的缺陷而不是单单某一特定基因.为了克服这个问题,尝试了重组腺相关病毒载体介导的双基因对动脉硬化的治疗研究.实验大鼠分为动脉硬化模型鼠和正常饮食组(即正常对照组),动脉硬化组大鼠被随机分为3组,分别进行AAV-apoAⅠ/SR-BⅠ,AAV-apoAⅠ,与AAV-GFP尾静脉注射,同时正常饮食组尾静脉注射PBS作为对照.其中目的基因mRNA检测采用RT-PCR方法,蛋白质表达的检测采用Western blotting和ELISA.由饮食诱导的动脉硬化和高胆固醇的大鼠模型在尾静脉注射后8周进行冰冻切片的荧光检测.重组AAV载体显示出较强的表达活性.尾静脉注射治疗8周后,AAV-apoAⅠ/SR-BⅠ与AAV-apoAⅠ治疗组血浆总胆固醇和低密度脂蛋白胆固醇浓度与AAV-GFP治疗组相比有了明显下降(P<0.05),高密度脂蛋白胆固醇浓度各组之间没有明显差异,彩色多普勒超声检测发现,AAV-apoAⅠ/SR-BⅠ与AAV-apoAⅠ治疗组的腹主动脉的内中膜厚度相对于AAV-GFP治疗组有了明显下降(P<0.05),血清hs-CRP和SOD的水平有了明显上升(P<0.01),血清MDA的水平有了明显的下降(P<0.01).同时也检测了动脉硬化相关基因mRNA水平的表达.结果显示,rAAV-hapoAⅠ-IRES-hSR-BⅠ治疗后可能是通过抑制NF-κB的活性发挥抗炎作用减少炎症因子的释放,增加动脉硬化板块的稳定性以及降低血浆胆固醇含量的.总之,利用2型腺相关病毒载体介导的基因转移过度表达人载脂蛋白AⅠ和SR-BⅠ可能对饮食诱发大鼠高胆固醇血症和动脉硬化的产生有利影响.这些结果可能为动脉粥样硬化基因治疗提供了一种新的研究思路.     

Adeno-associated virus vectors for gene therapy: more pros than cons?

Gene therapy vectors based on the adeno-associated virus (AAV) are being developed for a widening variety of therapeutic applications. Enthusiasm for AAV is due, not only to the relative safety of these vectors, but also to advances in understanding of the unique biology of this virus. This review examines a number of long-standing concerns regarding the utility of AAV for gene transfer in light of many new insights into the biology, immunology and production of AAV.     

Regulation of gene expression in adeno-associated virus vectors in the brain

Regulated adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors have broad utility in both experimental and applied gene therapy, and to date, several regulation systems have exhibited a capability to control gene expression from viral vectors over two orders of magnitude. The tetracycline responsive system has been the most used in AAV, although other regulation systems such as RU486- and rapamycin-responsive systems are reasonable options. AAV vectors influence how regulation systems function by several mechanisms, leading to increased background gene expression and restricted induction. Methods to reduce background expression continue to be explored and systems not yet tried in AAV may prove quite functional. Although regulated promoters are often assumed to exhibit ubiquitous expression, the tropism of different neuronal subtypes can be altered dramatically by changing promoters in recombinant AAV vectors. Differences in promoter-directed tropism have significant consequences for proper expression of gene products as well as the utility of dual vector regulation. Thus regulated vector systems must be carefully optimized for each application.     

Optimizing the transduction efficiency of capsid-modified AAV6 serotype vectors in primary human hematopoietic stem cells in vitro and in a xenograft mouse model in vivo

Background aimsAlthough recombinant adeno-associated virus serotype 2 (AAV2) vectors have gained attention because of their safety and efficacy in numerous phase I/II clinical trials, their transduction efficiency in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) has been reported to be low. Only a few additional AAV serotype vectors have been evaluated, and comparative analyses of their transduction efficiency in HSCs from different species have not been performed.MethodsWe evaluated the transduction efficiency of all available AAV serotype vectors (AAV1 through AAV10) in primary mouse, cynomolgus monkey and human HSCs. The transduction efficiency of the optimized AAV vectors was also evaluated in human HSCs in a murine xenograft model in vivo.ResultsWe observed that although there are only six amino acid differences between AAV1 and AAV6, AAV1, but not AAV6, transduced mouse HSCs well, whereas AAV6, but not AAV1, transduced human HSCs well. None of the 10 serotypes transduced cynomolgus monkey HSCs in vitro. We also evaluated the transduction efficiency of AAV6 vectors containing mutations in surface-exposed tyrosine residues. We observed that tyrosine (Y) to phenylalanine (F) point mutations in residues 445, 705 and 731 led to a significant increase in transgene expression in human HSCs in vitro and in a mouse xenograft model in vivo.ConclusionsThese studies suggest that the tyrosine-mutant AAV6 serotype vectors are the most promising vectors for transducing human HSCs and that it is possible to increase further the transduction efficiency of these vectors for their potential use in HSC-based gene therapy in humans.     

Carbidopa-Based Modulation of the Functional Effect of the AAV2-hAADC Gene Therapy in 6-OHDA Lesioned Rats

Progressively blunted response to L-DOPA in Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a critical factor that complicates long-term pharmacotherapy in view of the central importance of this drug in management of the PD-related motor disturbance. This phenomenon is likely due to progressive loss of one of the key enzymes involved in the biosynthetic pathway for dopamine in the basal ganglia: aromatic L-amino acid decarboxylase (AADC). We have developed a gene therapy based on an adeno-associated virus encoding human AADC (AAV2-hAADC) infused into the Parkinsonian striatum. Although no adverse clinical effects of the AAV2-hAADC gene therapy have been observed so far, the ability to more precisely regulate transgene expression or transgene product activity could be an important long-term safety feature. The present study was designed to define pharmacological regulation of the functional activity of AAV2-hAADC transgene product by manipulating L-DOPA and carbidopa (AADC inhibitor) administration in hemi-parkinsonian rats. Thirty days after unilateral striatal infusion of AAV2-hAADC, animals displayed circling behavior and acceleration of dopamine metabolism in the lesioned striatum after administration of a low dose of L-DOPA (5 mg/kg) co-administered with 1.25 mg/kg of carbidopa. This phenomenon was not observed in control AAV2-GFP-treated rats. Withdrawal of carbidopa from a daily L-DOPA regimen decreased the peripheral L-DOPA pool, resulting in almost total loss of L-DOPA-induced behavioral response in AAV2-hAADC rats and a significant decline in striatal dopamine turnover. The serum L-DOPA level correlated with the magnitude of circling behavior in AAV2-hAADC rats. Additionally, AADC activity in homogenates of lesioned striata transduced by AAV2-AADC was 10-fold higher when compared with AAV2-GFP-treated control striata, confirming functional transduction. Our data suggests that the pharmacological regulation of circulating L-DOPA might be effective in the controlling of function of AAV2-hAADC transgene product in PD gene therapy.     

Restoration of cone vision in a mouse model of achromatopsia

Loss of cone function in the central retina is a pivotal event in the development of severe vision impairment for many prevalent blinding diseases. Complete achromatopsia is a genetic defect resulting in cone vision loss in 1 in 30,000 individuals. Using adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy, we show that it is possible to target cones and rescue both the cone-mediated electroretinogram response and visual acuity in the Gnat2 ( cpfl3 ) mouse model of achromatopsia.     

Site-specific integration of a transgene mediated by a hybrid adenovirus/adeno-associated virus vector using the Cre/loxP-expression-switching system

As vectors, adenoviruses (Ads) have many attractive advantages for in vivo gene therapy. However, Ads do not usually integrate into the host genome and gene expression is, thus, transient. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) integrates into a specific locus (AAVS1) on the human host's chromosome 19, while conventional recombinant AAV (rAAV) vectors do not possess this property because such vectors lack the rep gene. AAV vectors carrying the rep gene do not have enough space for insertion of a transgene. We have constructed a hybrid adenovirus/adeno-associated virus (Ad/AAV) vector which has the advantages of both Ads and AAVs. Given that the rep gene products inhibit propagation of Ads, we used the Cre/loxP-expression-switching system to regulate the expression of the rep gene. The Ad/AAV vector easily propagates, can efficiently infect a broad range of cell types, and can integrate into a specific locus on host chromosomes.