Corneal transparency is maintained, in part, by specialized fibroblasts called keratocytes, which reside in the fibrous lamellae of the stroma. Corneal clouding, a condition that impairs visual acuity, is associated with numerous diseases, including mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS) type VII. MPS VII is due to deficiency in beta-glucuronidase (beta-glu) enzymatic activity, which leads to accumulation of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), and secondary accumulation of gangliosides. Here, we tested the efficacy of canine adenovirus type 2 (CAV-2) vectors to transduce keratocyte in vivo in mice and nonhuman primates, and ex vivo in dog and human corneal explants. Following efficacy studies, we asked if we could treat corneal clouding by the injection a helper-dependent (HD) CAV-2 vector (HD-RIGIE) harboring the human cDNA coding for beta-glu (GUSB) in the canine MPS VII cornea. beta-Glu activity, GAG content, and lysosome morphology and physiopathology were analyzed. We found that HD-RIGIE injections efficiently transduced coxsackievirus adenovirus receptor-expressing keratocytes in the four species and, compared to mock-injected controls, improved the pathology in the canine MPS VII cornea. The key criterion to corrective therapy was the steady controlled release of beta-glu and its diffusion throughout the collagen-dense stroma. These data support the continued evaluation of HD CAV-2 vectors to treat diseases affecting corneal keratocytes.
Corrective GUSB transfer to the canine mucopolysaccharidosis VII cornea using a helper-dependent canine adenovirus vector
Serratrice, N.; Cubizolle, A.; Ibanes, S.; Mestre-Frances, N.; Bayo-Puxan, N.; Creyssels, S.; Gennetier, A.; Bernex, F.; Verdier, J. M.; Haskins, M. E.; Couderc, G.; Malecaze, F.; Kalatzis, V.; Kremer, E. J.
2014
J Control Release
2014-05-10 / vol 181 / pages 22-31
Abstract
10.1016/j.jconrel.2014.02.022 S0168-3659(14)00122-9 [pii]
1873-4995 (Electronic) 0168-3659 (Linking)
IGMM team(s) involved in this publication