Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has become the preferred viral gene transfer platform for ocular gene therapy due to its known safety profile in human clinical trials. This viral vector has a 4.7 kbp (kilo base pair) carrying capacity (single-stranded DNA) and only retains the inverted terminal repeats (ITRs) from the original virus. Here we describe the design and testing of AAV vectors capable of delivering an anti-inflammatory serine protease inhibitor (serpin) derived from the myxoma virus. Myxoma is a rabbit species specific virus infection, a Leporipoxvirus. Myxomaviral proteins have been developed as therapeutic stand-alone immune-modulating proteins for inflammation-based disorders and the myxoma virus itself is under development as a viral oncolytic platform for cancer treatment. We fused the Serp2 gene with the GFP reporter gene through a self-cleaving peptide.
Keywords: Adeno-associated virus (AAV); Gene transfer; Inflammation; Retina; Serpins; Uveitis.