Tissue-targeted and localized AAV5-DCN and AAV5-PEDF combination gene therapy abrogates corneal fibrosis and concurrent neovascularization in rabbit eyes in vivo
Rajiv R. Mohan , Suneel Gupta , Rajnish Kumar , Nishant R. Sinha , James Landreneau , Prashant R. Sinha , Ashish Tandon , Shyam S. Chaurasia , Nathan P. Hesemann
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Purpose
Corneal fibrosis and neovascularization (CNV) after ocular trauma impairs vision. This study tested therapeutic potential of tissue-targeted adeno-associated virus5 (AAV5) mediated decorin (DCN) and pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF) combination genes in vivo.
Methods
Corneal fibrosis and CNV were induced in New Zealand White rabbits via chemical trauma. Gene therapy in stroma was delivered 30-min after chemical-trauma via topical AAV5-DCN and AAV5-PEDF application using a cloning cylinder. Clinical eye examinations and multimodal imaging in live rabbits were performed periodically and corneal tissues were collected 9-day and 15-day post euthanasia. Histological, cellular, and molecular and apoptosis assays were used for efficacy, tolerability, and mechanistic studies.
Results
The AAV5-DCN and AAV5-PEDF combination gene therapy significantly reduced corneal fibrosis (p < 0.01 or p < 0.001) and CNV (p < 0.001) in therapy-given (chemical-trauma and AAV5-DCN + AAV5-PEDF) rabbit eyes compared to the no-therapy given eyes (chemical-trauma and AAV5-naked vector). Histopathological analyses demonstrated significantly reduced fibrotic α-smooth muscle actin and endothelial lectin expression in therapy-given corneas compared to no-therapy corneas on day-9 (p < 0.001) and day-15 (p < 0.001). Further, therapy-given corneas showed significantly increased Fas-ligand mRNA levels (p < 0.001) and apoptotic cell death in neovessels (p < 0.001) compared to no-therapy corneas. AAV5 delivered 2.69 × 107 copies of DCN and 2.31 × 107 copies of PEDF genes per μg of DNA. AAV5 vector and delivered DCN and PEDF genes found tolerable to the rabbit eyes and caused no significant toxicity to the cornea.
Conclusion
The combination AAV5-DCN and AAV5-PEDF topical gene therapy effectively reduces corneal fibrosis and CNV with high tolerability in vivo in rabbits. Additional studies are warranted.
期刊介绍:
The Ocular Surface, a quarterly, a peer-reviewed journal, is an authoritative resource that integrates and interprets major findings in diverse fields related to the ocular surface, including ophthalmology, optometry, genetics, molecular biology, pharmacology, immunology, infectious disease, and epidemiology. Its critical review articles cover the most current knowledge on medical and surgical management of ocular surface pathology, new understandings of ocular surface physiology, the meaning of recent discoveries on how the ocular surface responds to injury and disease, and updates on drug and device development. The journal also publishes select original research reports and articles describing cutting-edge techniques and technology in the field.
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