Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-21-2022
Abstract
Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector-based therapies can effectively correct some disease pathology in murine models with mucopolysaccharidoses. However, immunogenicity can limit therapeutic effect as immune responses target capsid proteins, transduced cells, and gene therapy products, ultimately resulting in loss of enzyme activity. Inherent differences in male versus female immune response can significantly impact AAV gene transfer. We aim to investigate sex differences in the immune response to AAV gene therapies in mice with mucopolysaccharidosis IVA (MPS IVA). MPS IVA mice, treated with different AAV vectors expressing human N-acetylgalactosamine 6-sulfate sulfatase (GALNS), demonstrated a more robust antibody response in female mice resulting in subsequent decreased GALNS enzyme activity and less therapeutic efficacy in tissue pathology relative to male mice. Under thyroxine-binding globulin promoter, neutralizing antibody titers in female mice were approximately 4.6-fold higher than in male mice, with GALNS enzyme activity levels approximately 6.8-fold lower. Overall, male mice treated with AAV-based gene therapy showed pathological improvement in the femur and tibial growth plates, ligaments, and articular cartilage as determined by contrasting differences in pathology scores compared to females. Cardiac histology revealed a failure to normalize vacuolation in females, in contrast, to complete correction in male mice. These findings promote the need for further determination of sex-based differences in response to AAV-mediated gene therapy related to developing treatments for MPS IVA.
Recommended Citation
Matthew Piechnik, Matthew; Amendum, Paige C.; Sawamoto, Kazuki; Stapleton, Molly; Khan, Shaukat; Fnu, Nidhi; Álvarez, Victor; Pachon, Angelica Maria Herreño; Danos, Olivier; Bruder, Joseph T.; Karumuthil-Melethil, Subha; and Tomatsu, Shunji, "Sex Difference Leads to Differential Gene Expression Patterns and Therapeutic Efficacy in Mucopolysaccharidosis IVA Murine Model Receiving AAV8 Gene Therapy" (2022). Student Papers, Posters & Projects. Paper 92.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/student_papers/92
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Language
English
Comments
This is the author's final published version in International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Volume 23, Issue 20, October 2022, Article number 12693.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms232012693. Copyright © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.