AAV is a small non-enveloped virus that packages both negatively and positively charged single-stranded DNA. AAV is a member of the Parvoviridae family and requires a helper virus (e.g., adenovirus or herpes virus) for efficient infection. The wild-type genome is 4.7 kb and contains two major open reading frames (ORFs), including the Rep gene and the Cap gene. In addition, a third ORF has recently been discovered. When using AAV as a gene transfer vector, the endogenous gene is removed and replaced by an expression cassette for the gene of interest.
One of the barriers to efficient transgene expression is the conversion of the single-stranded AAV (ssAAV) genome into a double-stranded single DNA molecule. The development of self-complementary AAV (scAAV) vectors has improved the limitations of transgene expression from ssAAV vectors, in which the single-stranded AAV genome self-hybridizes to form double-stranded DNA. scAAV vectors have shown earlier onset of transgene expression and overall higher transduction efficiencies than ssAAV vectors.
CD40 ligand (CD40L) gene therapy has multiple antitumor activities and provides a potentially useful option for lung cancer. However, membrane-bound CD40L may be proteolytically cleaved to form soluble CD40L (sCD40L), resulting in adverse effects. Previous studies have demonstrated that recombinant self-complementing adeno-associated virus 5 (scAAV5) can efficiently deliver genes into lung cancer cells. Here, researchers generated an scAAV5 expressing a non-cleavable human CD40L mutant (scAAV5-CD40L-M) and evaluated its direct antitumor effects in lung cancer. Compared with scAAV5-CD40L transduction, scAAV5-CD40L-M transduction resulted in effective expression of CD40L on the cell surface with low levels of cleaved sCD40L, which significantly reduced the percentage of viable cells and promoted caspase-3-dependent apoptosis of CD40-positive lung carcinoma A549 cells. Furthermore, scAAV5-CD40L-M treatment exerted significant antitumor effects on CD40-positive A549 xenografts by inducing apoptosis with few side effects. Therefore, gene therapy using scAAV5 vectors expressing non-cleavable human CD40L mutants may have direct antitumor effects in CD40-positive lung cancer.
To focus on the direct tumor growth inhibitory properties of AAV5-CD40L-M, in vivo analyzes were performed in athymic nude mice via lung cancer xenografts. Both scAAV5-CD40L and scAAV5-CD40L-M effectively reduced tumor growth rate (Figure 1A). The average tumor weights for the scAAV5-GFP, scAAV5-CD40L, and scAAV5-CD40L-M groups were 0.43±0.03, 0.31±0.02, and 0.29±0.03 g, respectively (Figure 1B). CD40L expression was detected in scAAV5-CD40L- and scAAV5-CD40L-M-injected tumors but not in scAAV5-GFP-injected tumors (Figure 1C). The effect of scAAV5-CD40L-M treatment on apoptosis was assessed using an in situ TUNEL assay. The most significant levels of apoptosis were observed in tumors from mice treated with scAAV5-CD40L or scAAV5-CD40L-M compared with scAAV5-GFP mice (Figure 1D).
Figure 1. scAAV5-CD40L-M inhibits tumor growth in vivo. (Xu W, et al., 2015)
Customer Reviews
Reliable Performance
The transduction efficiency is notably high, and the GFP signal remains strong over extended periods, facilitating long-term experiments without any signal degradation.
Write a Review