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

doi:10.1016/j.omtm.2021.01.009

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

Mol Ther Methods Clin Dev. 2021 Jan 21:20:520-534. doi: 10.1016/j.omtm.2021.01.009. eCollection 2021 Mar 12.

Authors

Jeremy S Francis¹, Vladimir Markov¹, Irenuez D Wojtas¹, Steve Gray², Thomas McCown³, R Jude Samulski⁴, Marciano Figueroa¹, Paola Leone¹

Affiliations

¹ Cell and Gene Therapy Center, Department of Cell Biology & Neuroscience, Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine, Stratford, NJ, USA.
² Department of Pediatrics, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA.
³ Gene Therapy Center, Department of Psychiatry, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
⁴ Asklepios BioPharmaceutical, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA.

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.