Xiaoyan Dong

A novel method for purification of recombinant adenoassociated virus vectors on a large scale

A novel method for recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) purification on large scale is described. The method involves three steps, including chloroform treatment, PEG/NaCl precipitation and chloroform extraction. The whole procedure can be performed in four hours. Using this purification method, we can reproducibly obtain, from 4 × 109 of proviral cells cultured in roller bottles, purified rAAV-GFP stocks with titers of around 5 × 1013 particles/mL and purity greater than 95%. The infectious titers of the vector stocks were up to 2 × 1012 TU/mL, thus particle-to-infectivity rate was about 25. Under an electronic microscope, most rAAV particles appeared full and a few were in intermediate form. Empty particles were rarely seen. The purified rAAV-GFP stocks have been successfully used inin vitro andin vivo transfection experiments. Therefore, this new method offers a simple, rapid and cost-effective way for large-scale rAAV purification.

High-Throughput Functional MicroRNAs Profiling by Recombinant AAV-Based MicroRNA Sensor Arrays

Background microRNAs (miRNAs) are small and non-coding RNAs which play critical roles in physiological and pathological processes. A number of methods have been established to detect and quantify miRNA expression. However, method for high-throughput miRNA function detection is still lacking. Principal Findings We describe an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-based microRNA (miRNA) sensor (Asensor) array for high-throughput functional miRNA profiling. Each Asensor contains a Gaussia luciferase (Gluc) and a firefly luciferase (Fluc) expression cassette to sense functional miRNA and to serve as an internal control respectively. Using this array, we acquired functional profiles of 115 miRNAs for 12 cell lines and found “functional miRNA signatures” for several specific cell lines. The activities of specific miRNAs including the let-7 family, miR-17-92 cluster, miR-221, and miR-222 in HEK 293 cells were compared with their expression levels determined by quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (QRT-PCR). We also demonstrate two other practical applications of the array, including a comparison of the miRNA activity between HEK293 and HEK293T cells and the ability to monitor miRNA activity changes in K562 cells treated with 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA). Conclusions/Significance Our approach has potential applications in the identification of cell types, the characterization of biological and pathological processes, and the evaluation of responses to interventions.

Establishment of an AAV Reverse Infection-Based Array

Background The development of a convenient high-throughput gene transduction approach is critical for biological screening. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors are broadly used in gene therapy studies, yet their applications in in vitro high-throughput gene transduction are limited. Principal Findings We established an AAV reverse infection (RI)-based method in which cells were transduced by quantified recombinant AAVs (rAAVs) pre-coated onto 96-well plates. The number of pre-coated rAAV particles and number of cells loaded per well, as well as the temperature stability of the rAAVs on the plates, were evaluated. As the first application of this method, six serotypes or hybrid serotypes of rAAVs (AAV1, AAV2, AAV5/5, AAV8, AAV25 m, AAV28 m) were compared for their transduction efficiencies using various cell lines, including BHK21, HEK293, BEAS-2BS, HeLaS3, Huh7, Hepa1-6, and A549. AAV2 and AAV1 displayed high transduction efficiency; thus, they were deemed to be suitable candidate vectors for the RI-based array. We next evaluated the impact of sodium butyrate (NaB) treatment on rAAV vector-mediated reporter gene expression and found it was significantly enhanced, suggesting that our system reflected the biological response of target cells to specific treatments. Conclusions/Significance Our study provides a novel method for establishing a highly efficient gene transduction array that may be developed into a platform for cell biological assays.

Long-term ex vivo monitoring of in vivo microRNA activity in liver using a secreted luciferase sensor

Technology for monitoring in vivo microRNA (miRNA) activity is extremely important for elucidating miRNA biology. However, in vivo studies of miRNA have been hampered by the lack of a convenient approach to reliably reflect real-time functional changes in miRNAs. Sensors for miRNA were developed by adding miRNA target sequences to the 3′-untranslated region of Gaussia princeps luciferase (Gluc) mRNA. These sensors were then evaluated in vitro and in vivo by measuring Gluc activity in cell supernatants and in peripheral blood. Sensors driven by the CMV promoter were effective for monitoring miR-122 in living cells, but not for the long-term monitoring of miR-122 or miR-142 in mouse liver because of CMV-promoter silencing. Replacing the CMV promoter with a CAG promoter rendered these sensors effective for the long-term monitoring of relevant liver miRNA activities. We subsequently used the CAG-promoter-based sensor for the long-term monitoring of endogenous liver miR-122, miR142 and miR-34a activities, as well as for exogenous miR-34a activity. Our study demonstrates that real-time in vivo activities of miRNAs can be continuously and conveniently detected in mouse liver using the sensors that we have developed.

High-throughput functional microRNA profiling using recombinant AAV-based microRNA sensor arrays.

There is a lack of methods for high-throughput functional microRNA (miRNA) profiling. In this chapter, we describe a recombinant adeno-associated virus-based miRNA sensor array (miRNA Asensor array), which is able to profile functional miRNAs in cultured cells. The preparation of an miRNA Asensor array and its usage are discussed.

Deletion of the B-B’ and C-C’ regions of inverted terminal repeats reduces rAAV productivity but increases transgene expression

Inverted terminal repeats (ITRs) of the adeno-associated virus (AAV) are essential for rescue, replication, packaging, and integration of the viral genome. While ITR mutations have been identified in previous reports, we designed a new truncated ITR lacking the B-B’ and C-C’ regions named as ITRΔBC and investigated its effects on viral genome replication, packaging, and expression of recombinant AAV (rAAV). The packaging ability was compared between ITRΔBC rAAV and wild-type (wt) ITR rAAV. Our results showed the productivity of ITRΔBC rAAV was reduced 4-fold, which is consistent with the 8-fold decrease in the replication of viral genomic DNA of ITRΔBC rAAV compared with wt ITR rAAV. Surprisingly, transgene expression was significantly higher for ITRΔBC rAAV. A preliminary exploration of the underlying mechanisms was carried out by inhibiting and degrading the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) protein and the Mre11 complex (MRN), respectively, since the rAAV expression was inhibited by the ATM and/or MRN through cis interaction or binding with wt ITRs. We demonstrated that the inhibitory effects were weakened on ITRΔBC rAAV expression. This study suggests deletion in ITR can affect the transgene expression of AAV, which provides a new way to improve the AAV expression through ITRs modification.

Gene therapy for hemophilia B mice with scAAV8-LP1-hFIX

Hemophilia B is a hemorrhagic disease caused by the deficiency of clotting factor IX (FIX). Gene therapy might be the ultimate strategy for the disease. However, two main problems that should be solved in gene therapy for hemophilia B are immunity and safety. Self-complementary adeno-associated virus serotype 8 (scAAV8), a non-human primate AAV featuring low immunogenicity and high transfection efficiency in liver cells, might be a potential vector for hemophilia B gene therapy. A strong liver-specific promoter-1 (LP1) was inserted and mutant human FIX Arg338Ala was introduced into plasmid scAAV8-LP1 to develop an optimized AAV8 vector that expresses human clotting factor FIX (hFIX). The efficiency of scAAV8-LP1-hFIX administered through normal systemic injection or hydrodynamic injection was compared. A high expression was achieved using hydrodynamic injection, and the peak hFIX expression levels in the 5 × 1011 and 1 × 1011 virus genome (vg) cohorts were 31.94% and 25.02% of normal level, respectively, at 60 days post-injection. From the perspective of long-term (200 days) expression, both injection methods presented promising results with the concentration value maintained above 4% of normal plasma. The results were further verified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and activated partial thromboplastin time. Our study provides a potential gene therapy method for hemophilia B.