Lentivirus-mediated gene therapy corrects ribosomal biogenesis and shows promise for Diamond Blackfan anemia.

This study lays the groundwork for future lentivirus-mediated gene therapy in patients with Diamond Blackfan anemia (DBA) caused by mutations in ribosomal protein S19 (RPS19), showing evidence of a new safe and effective therapy. The data show that, unlike patients with Fanconi anemia (FA), the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) reservoir of patients with DBA was not significantly reduced, suggesting that collection of these cells should not constitute a remarkable restriction for DBA gene therapy. Subsequently, 2 clinically applicable lentiviral vectors were developed. In the former lentiviral vector, PGK.CoRPS19 LV, a codon-optimized version of RPS19 was driven by the phosphoglycerate kinase promoter (PGK) already used in different gene therapy trials, including FA gene therapy. In the latter one, EF1α.CoRPS19 LV, RPS19 expression was driven by the elongation factor alpha short promoter, EF1α(s). Preclinical experiments showed that transduction of DBA patient CD34+ cells with the PGK.CoRPS19 LV restored erythroid differentiation, and demonstrated the long-term repopulating properties of corrected DBA CD34+ cells, providing evidence of improved erythroid maturation. Concomitantly, long-term restoration of ribosomal biogenesis was verified using a potentially novel method applicable to patients' blood cells, based on ribosomal RNA methylation analyses. Finally, in vivo safety studies and proviral insertion site analyses showed that lentivirus-mediated gene therapy was nontoxic.

Improved collection of hematopoietic stem cells and progenitors from Fanconi anemia patients for gene therapy purposes.

Difficulties in the collection of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) from Fanconi anemia (FA) patients have limited the gene therapy in this disease. We have investigated (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02931071) the safety and efficacy of filgrastim and plerixafor for mobilization of HSPCs and collection by leukapheresis in FA patients. Nine of eleven enrolled patients mobilized beyond the threshold level of 5 CD34+ cells/µL required to initiate apheresis. A median of 21.8 CD34+ cells/µL was reached at the peak of mobilization. Significantly, the oldest patients (15 and 16 years old) were the only ones who did not reach that threshold. A median of 4.27 million CD34+ cells/kg was collected in 2 or 3 aphereses. These numbers were markedly decreased to 1.1 million CD34+ cells/kg after immunoselection, probably because of weak expression of the CD34 antigen. However, these numbers were sufficient to facilitate the engraftment of corrected HSPCs in non-conditioned patients. No procedure-associated serious adverse events were observed. Mobilization of CD34+ cells correlated with younger age, higher leukocyte counts and hemoglobin values, lower mean corpuscular volume, and higher proportion of CD34+ cells in bone marrow (BM). All these values offer crucial information for the enrollment of FA patients for gene therapy protocols.

Next-generation Sequencing in Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes and Isolated Cytopenias: Experience of the Spanish Network on Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes.

Inherited bone marrow failure syndromes (IBMFSs) are a group of congenital rare diseases characterized by bone marrow failure, congenital anomalies, high genetic heterogeneity, and predisposition to cancer. Appropriate treatment and cancer surveillance ideally depend on the identification of the mutated gene. A next-generation sequencing (NGS) panel of genes could be 1 initial genetic screening test to be carried out in a comprehensive study of IBMFSs, allowing molecular detection in affected patients. We designed 2 NGS panels of IBMFS genes: version 1 included 129 genes and version 2 involved 145 genes. The cohort included a total of 204 patients with suspected IBMFSs without molecular diagnosis. Capture-based targeted sequencing covered > 99% of the target regions of 145 genes, with more than 20 independent reads. No differences were seen between the 2 versions of the panel. The NGS tool allowed a total of 91 patients to be diagnosed, with an overall molecular diagnostic rate of 44%. Among the 167 patients with classified IBMFSs, 81 patients (48%) were diagnosed. Unclassified IBMFSs involved a total of 37 patients, of whom 9 patients (24%) were diagnosed. The preexisting diagnosis of 6 clinically classified patients (6%) was amended, implying a change of therapy for some of them. Our NGS IBMFS gene panel assay is a useful tool in the molecular diagnosis of IBMFSs and a reasonable option as the first tier genetic test in these disorders.

TALEN mediated gene editing in a mouse model of Fanconi anemia.

The promising ability to genetically modify hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells by precise gene editing remains challenging due to their sensitivity to in vitro manipulations and poor efficiencies of homologous recombination. This study represents the first evidence of implementing a gene editing strategy in a murine safe harbor locus site that phenotypically corrects primary cells from a mouse model of Fanconi anemia A. By means of the co-delivery of transcription activator-like effector nucleases and a donor therapeutic FANCA template to the Mbs85 locus, we achieved efficient gene targeting (23%) in mFA-A fibroblasts. This resulted in the phenotypic correction of these cells, as revealed by the reduced sensitivity of these cells to mitomycin C. Moreover, robust evidence of targeted integration was observed in murine wild type and FA-A hematopoietic progenitor cells, reaching mean targeted integration values of 21% and 16% respectively, that were associated with the phenotypic correction of these cells. Overall, our results demonstrate the feasibility of implementing a therapeutic targeted integration strategy into the mMbs85 locus, ortholog to the well-validated hAAVS1, constituting the first study of gene editing in mHSC with TALEN, that sets the basis for the use of a new safe harbor locus in mice.

Successful engraftment of gene-corrected hematopoietic stem cells in non-conditioned patients with Fanconi anemia.

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a DNA repair syndrome generated by mutations in any of the 22 FA genes discovered to date1,2. Mutations in FANCA account for more than 60% of FA cases worldwide3,4. Clinically, FA is associated with congenital abnormalities and cancer predisposition. However, bone marrow failure is the primary pathological feature of FA that becomes evident in 70-80% of patients with FA during the first decade of life5,6. In this clinical study (ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03157804 ; European Clinical Trials Database, 2011-006100-12), we demonstrate that lentiviral-mediated hematopoietic gene therapy reproducibly confers engraftment and proliferation advantages of gene-corrected hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) in non-conditioned patients with FA subtype A. Insertion-site analyses revealed the multipotent nature of corrected HSCs and showed that the repopulation advantage of these cells was not due to genotoxic integrations of the therapeutic provirus. Phenotypic correction of blood and bone marrow cells was shown by the acquired resistance of hematopoietic progenitors and T lymphocytes to DNA cross-linking agents. Additionally, an arrest of bone marrow failure progression was observed in patients with the highest levels of gene marking. The progressive engraftment of corrected HSCs in non-conditioned patients with FA supports that gene therapy should constitute an innovative low-toxicity therapeutic option for this life-threatening disorder.