Comparison of different gene-therapy methods to treat Leber hereditary optic neuropathy in a mouse model

Autor: Sindhu Velmurugan, Tsung-Han Chou, Jeremy D. Eastwood, Vittorio Porciatti, Yuan Liu, William W. Hauswirth, John Guy, Hong Yu
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2023
Předmět:
Zdroj: Frontiers in Neuroscience, Vol 17 (2023)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1662-453X
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1119724
Popis: IntroductionTherapies for Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), in common with all disorders caused by mutated mitochondrial DNA, are inadequate. We have developed two gene therapy strategies for the disease: mitochondrial-targeted and allotopic expressed and compared them in a mouse model of LHON.MethodsA LHON mouse model was generated by intravitreal injection of a mitochondrialtargeted Adeno-associated virus (AAV) carrying mutant human NADH dehydrogenase 4 gene (hND4/m.11778G>A) to induce retinal ganglion cell (RGC) degeneration and axon loss, the hallmark of the human disease. We then attempted to rescue those mice using a second intravitreal injection of either mitochondrial-targeted or allotopic expressed wildtype human ND4. The rescue of RGCs and their axons were assessed using serial pattern electroretinogram (PERG) and transmission electron microscopy.ResultsCompared to non-rescued LHON controls where PERG amplitude was much reduced, both strategies significantly preserved PERG amplitude over 15 months. However, the rescue effect was more marked with mitochondrial-targeted therapy than with allotopic therapy (p = 0.0128). Post-mortem analysis showed that mitochondrial-targeted human ND4 better preserved small axons that are preferentially lost in human LHON.ConclusionsThese results in a pre-clinical mouse model of LHON suggest that mitochondrially-targeted AAV gene therapy, compared to allotopic AAV gene therapy, is more efficient in rescuing the LHON phenotype.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals