Gene Immunotherapy Protects Against Multiple Sclerosis: Mouse Study

Summary: A new study in Molecular Therapy reveals gene immunotherapy is able to reverse symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, and even prevent the disease from appearing in mice.

Source: Cell Press.

A potent and long-lasting gene immunotherapy approach prevents and reverses symptoms of multiple sclerosis in mice, according to a study published September 21st in the journal Molecular Therapy. Multiple sclerosis is an autoimmune disease in which T cells destroy the myelin sheath–the material that surrounds and protects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The researchers used a viral vector to deliver a gene encoding a myelin sheath protein to the liver, thereby inducing robust and durable immune tolerance in mice by preventing T cells from attacking the myelin sheath.

“Using a clinically tested gene therapy platform, we are able to induce very specific regulatory cells that target the self-reactive cells that are responsible for causing disease,” says senior study author Brad E. Hoffman of the University of Florida. “In contrast, most current therapies for autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis are based on general immune suppression, which has various side effects or complications.”

Multiple sclerosis is the most common disabling neurological disease in young adults, affecting approximately 2.5 million people worldwide. The symptoms can range from relatively benign to devastating, as communication between the brain and other parts of the body is disrupted. The disorder can cause muscle weakness, numbness, a loss of muscle coordination, and problems with vision, speech, and bladder control. Currently there is no cure, but some conventional treatments can improve symptoms, reduce the number and severity of relapses, and delay the disease’s progression.

Although the exact cause of the disease is unknown, it is thought to result from activation of self-reactive effector T cells that attack myelin sheath proteins such as myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG). Normally, regulatory T cells keep such autoimmune responses in check by curbing the self-destructive activity of effector T cells, thereby maintaining immune tolerance. The transfer of regulatory T cells to mice with a multiple sclerosis-like disease can temporarily prevent or reduce neurological symptoms. Moreover, injection of regulatory T cells appears to be safe and effective in patients with other autoimmune disorders such as type 1 diabetes, Crohn’s disease, and graft-versus-host disease. However, these immunotherapy approaches are not sufficiently potent or long-lasting.

To overcome this hurdle, Hoffman and his team developed a gene immunotherapy strategy that leverages the unique ability of the liver to induce immune tolerance. The researchers used an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector, similar to those currently being evaluated in clinical trials, to deliver myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein to the liver in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis. A single injection effectively induced immune tolerance, stimulating regulatory T cells that protected the myelin sheath by suppressing self-destructive effector T cells.

This gene immunotherapy approach protected mice from developing clinical signs of multiple sclerosis over a seven-month period, demonstrating stable and robust immune tolerance. Moreover, the treatment reversed symptoms in mice that had already developed mild to moderate neurological deficits, and even restored mobility in mice that had developed more severe symptoms such as hind-leg paralysis.

“Traditional AAV gene therapy has been focused on delivering a transgene that produces a therapeutic protein,” Hoffman says. “Here we use the platform purposely to induce specific regulatory cells in order to restore immune tolerance and reverse an autoimmune disease.”

Image shows mice and brain slices.
This visual abstract depicts the work of Keeler et al., who developed a gene immunotherapy for multiple sclerosis in mice. NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Keeler et al.

While AAV immunotherapy alone did reduce clinical symptoms, it was not sufficient to fully reverse end-stage disease. However, when combined with a short dose of the clinically approved immunosuppressive drug rapamycin, this gene immunotherapy approach induced complete remission in nearly all mice at late stages of the disease, restoring mobility after severe paralysis and protecting mice from symptoms until the end of the experiment approximately 100 days later.

Because myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein is only one protein implicated in multiple sclerosis, Hoffman and his team have developed other viral vectors to deliver additional myelin sheath proteins. They are also currently looking to expand the range of autoimmune diseases that could benefit from this methodology.

“Our results are very promising. We have demonstrated that stable immune tolerance can be re-established and that active disease can be stopped and clinical symptoms reversed using our gene immunotherapy, especially during early onset of disease,” Hoffman says. “Even though these studies were performed in a less complex mouse model, the data suggest this may be a potential therapy in humans with additional optimization.”

About this neuroscience research article

Funding: Funding was provided by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, NIH-NIAID, the NIH Tetramer Core Facility, and the University of Florida ICBR Flow cytometry core. Brad E. Hoffman is an inventor on a pending patent related to this work.

Source: Joseph Caputo – Cell Press
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Keeler et al.
Original Research: Full open access research for “Gene Therapy-Induced Antigen-Specific Tregs Inhibit Neuro-inflammation and Reverse Disease in a Mouse Model of Multiple Sclerosis” by Geoffrey D. Keeler, Sandeep Kumar, Brett Palaschak, Emily L. Silverberg, David M. Markusic, Noah T. Jones, and Brad E. Hoffman in Molecular Therapy. Published online September 21 2017 doi:10.1016/j.ymthe.2017.09.001

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Cell Press “Gene Immunotherapy Protects Against Multiple Sclerosis: Mouse Study.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 21 September 2017.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/immunotherapy-genetics-ms-7545/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Cell Press (2017, September 21). Gene Immunotherapy Protects Against Multiple Sclerosis: Mouse Study. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved September 21, 2017 from https://neurosciencenews.com/immunotherapy-genetics-ms-7545/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Cell Press “Gene Immunotherapy Protects Against Multiple Sclerosis: Mouse Study.” https://neurosciencenews.com/immunotherapy-genetics-ms-7545/ (accessed September 21, 2017).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

Gene Therapy-Induced Antigen-Specific Tregs Inhibit Neuro-inflammation and Reverse Disease in a Mouse Model of Multiple Sclerosis

The devastating neurodegenerative disease multiple sclerosis (MS) could substantially benefit from an adeno-associated virus (AAV) immunotherapy designed to restore a robust and durable antigen-specific tolerance. However, developing a sufficiently potent and lasting immune-regulatory therapy that can intervene in ongoing disease is a major challenge and has thus been elusive. We addressed this problem by developing a highly effective and robust tolerance-inducing in vivo gene therapy. Using a pre-clinical animal model, we designed a liver-targeting gene transfer vector that expresses full-length myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG) in hepatocytes. We show that by harnessing the tolerogenic nature of the liver, this powerful gene immunotherapy restores immune tolerance by inducing functional MOG-specific regulatory T cells (Tregs) in vivo, independent of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) restrictions. We demonstrate that mice treated prophylactically are protected from developing disease and neurological deficits. More importantly, we demonstrate that when given to mice with preexisting disease, ranging from mild neurological deficits to severe paralysis, the gene immunotherapy abrogated CNS inflammation and significantly reversed clinical symptoms of disease. This specialized approach for inducing antigen-specific immune tolerance has significant therapeutic potential for treating MS and other autoimmune disorders.

“Gene Therapy-Induced Antigen-Specific Tregs Inhibit Neuro-inflammation and Reverse Disease in a Mouse Model of Multiple Sclerosis” by Geoffrey D. Keeler, Sandeep Kumar, Brett Palaschak, Emily L. Silverberg, David M. Markusic, Noah T. Jones, and Brad E. Hoffman in Molecular Therapy. Published online September 21 2017 doi:10.1016/j.ymthe.2017.09.001

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