Preclinical biodistribution, tropism, and efficacy of oligotropic AAV/Olig001 in a mouse model of congenital white matter disease

Jeremy S. Francis, Vladimir Markov, Irenuez D. Wojtas, Steve Gray, Thomas McCown, R. Jude Samulski, Marciano Figueroa, Paola Leone

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

Recent advances in adeno-associated viral (AAV) capsid variants with novel oligotropism require validation in models of disease in order to be viable candidates for white matter disease gene therapy. We present here an assessment of the biodistribution, tropism, and efficacy of a novel AAV capsid variant (AAV/ Olig001) in a model of Canavan disease. We first define a combination of dose and route of administration of an AAV/Olig001-GFP reporter conducive to widespread CNS oligodendrocyte transduction in acutely symptomatic animals that model the Canavan brain at time of diagnosis. Administration of AAV/Olig001-GFP resulted in >70% oligotropism in all regions of interest except the cerebellum without the need for lineage-specific expression elements. Intracerebroventricular infusion into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was identified as the most appropriate route of administration and employed for delivery of an AAV/Olig001 vector to reconstitute oligodendroglial aspartoacylase (ASPA) in adult Canavan mice, which resulted in a dose-dependent rescue of ASPA activity, motor function, and a near-total reduction in vacuolation. A head-to-head efficacy comparison with astrogliotropic AAV9 highlighted a significant advantage conferred by oligotropic AAV/Olig001 that was independent of overall transduction efficiency. These results support the continued development of AAV/Olig001 for advancement to clinical application to white matter disease.

Original languageAmerican English
Pages (from-to)520-534
Number of pages15
JournalMolecular Therapy Methods and Clinical Development
Volume20
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 12 2021

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Molecular Medicine
  • Molecular Biology
  • Genetics

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