The  AAV capsid can influence the epigenetic marking of rAAV delivered episomal genomes in a species dependent manner [Tn5_InVitro]
Recombinant adeno-associated viral vectors (rAAVs) are among the most commonly used vehicles for in vivo based gene therapies. However, it is hard to predict which AAV capsid will provide the most robust expression in human subjects due to the observed discordance in vector-mediated transduction between species.  We used a primate specific capsid, AAV-LK03, and demonstrated that the limitation of this capsid towards transduction of mouse cells was unrelated to cell entry and nuclear transport but rather due to depleted histone H3 chemical modifications related to active transcription, namely H3K4me3 and H3K27ac, on the vector DNA itself. A single-amino acid insertion into the AAV-LK03 capsid enabled efficient transduction and the accumulation of active-related epigenetic marks on the vector chromatin in mouse without compromising transduction efficiency in human cells. Our study suggests that the capsid protein itself is involved in driving the epigenetic status of the vector genome, most likely during the process of uncoating. Programming viral chromatin states by capsid design may enable facile DNA  transduction between vector and host species and ultimately led to rationale selection of AAV capsids for use in humans. Overall design: Human and murine cell lines were transduced with rAAV packaged using different capsids, nuclei were isolated, gDNA was extracted from nuclei, and normalization for Cut&Tag analysis was performed using the Illumina DNA prep kit.