Adeno-associated virus serotype 8 gene transfer rescues a neonatal lethal murine model of propionic acidemia.
Propionic acidemia (PA) is an autosomal recessive disorder of metabolism caused by a deficiency of propionyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (PCC). Despite optimal dietary and cofactor therapy, PA patients still suffer from lethal metabolic instability and experience multisystemic complications. A murine model of PA (Pcca(-/-)) of animals that uniformly die within the first 48 hr of life was used to determine the efficacy of adeno-associated viral (AAV) gene transfer as a potential therapy for PA. An AAV serotype 8 (AAV8) vector was engineered to express the human PCCA cDNA and delivered to newborn mice via an intrahepatic injection. Greater than 64% of the Pcca(-/-) mice were rescued after AAV8-mediated gene transfer and survived until day of life 16 or beyond. Western analysis of liver extracts showed that PCC was completely absent from Pcca(-/-) mice but was restored to greater than wild-type levels after AAV gene therapy. The treated Pcca(-/-) mice also exhibited markedly reduced plasma levels of 2-methylcitrate compared with the untreated Pcca(-/-) mice, which indicates significant PCC enzymatic activity was provided by gene transfer. At the time of this report, the oldest treated Pcca(-/-) mice are over 6 months of age. In summary, AAV gene delivery of PCCA effectively rescues Pcca(-/-) mice from neonatal lethality and substantially ameliorates metabolic markers of the disease. These experiments demonstrate a gene transfer approach using AAV8 that might be used as a treatment for PA, a devastating and often lethal disorder desperately in need of new therapeutic options.
Chandler
Randy J
RJ
Organic Acid Research Section, Genetics and Molecular Biology Branch, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892, USA.
Chandrasekaran
Suma
S
Carrillo-Carrasco
Nuria
N
Senac
Julien S
JS
Hofherr
Sean E
SE
Barry
Michael A
MA
Venditti
Charles P
CP
D000818:Animals; D002951:Citrates / Q000097:blood; D000229:Dependovirus / Q000235:genetics; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D043586:Methylmalonyl-CoA Decarboxylase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D010641:Phenotype; D056693:Propionic Acidemia / Q000628:therapy*; D016019:Survival Analysis
D002951:Citrates; C031605:2-methylcitric acid; D043586:Methylmalonyl-CoA Decarboxylase