Lentiviral gene therapy for X-linked chronic granulomatous disease.

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is a rare inherited disorder of phagocytic cells1,2. We report the initial results of nine severely affected X-linked CGD (X-CGD) patients who received ex vivo autologous CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell-based lentiviral gene therapy following myeloablative conditioning in first-in-human studies (trial registry nos. NCT02234934 and NCT01855685). The primary objectives were to assess the safety and evaluate the efficacy and stability of biochemical and functional reconstitution in the progeny of engrafted cells at 12 months. The secondary objectives included the evaluation of augmented immunity against bacterial and fungal infection, as well as assessment of hematopoietic stem cell transduction and engraftment. Two enrolled patients died within 3 months of treatment from pre-existing comorbidities. At 12 months, six of the seven surviving patients demonstrated stable vector copy numbers (0.4-1.8 copies per neutrophil) and the persistence of 16-46% oxidase-positive neutrophils. There was no molecular evidence of either clonal dysregulation or transgene silencing. Surviving patients have had no new CGD-related infections, and six have been able to discontinue CGD-related antibiotic prophylaxis. The primary objective was met in six of the nine patients at 12 months follow-up, suggesting that autologous gene therapy is a promising approach for CGD patients.

Lifestyle transitions in plant pathogenic Colletotrichum fungi deciphered by genome and transcriptome analyses.

Colletotrichum species are fungal pathogens that devastate crop plants worldwide. Host infection involves the differentiation of specialized cell types that are associated with penetration, growth inside living host cells (biotrophy) and tissue destruction (necrotrophy). We report here genome and transcriptome analyses of Colletotrichum higginsianum infecting Arabidopsis thaliana and Colletotrichum graminicola infecting maize. Comparative genomics showed that both fungi have large sets of pathogenicity-related genes, but families of genes encoding secreted effectors, pectin-degrading enzymes, secondary metabolism enzymes, transporters and peptidases are expanded in C. higginsianum. Genome-wide expression profiling revealed that these genes are transcribed in successive waves that are linked to pathogenic transitions: effectors and secondary metabolism enzymes are induced before penetration and during biotrophy, whereas most hydrolases and transporters are upregulated later, at the switch to necrotrophy. Our findings show that preinvasion perception of plant-derived signals substantially reprograms fungal gene expression and indicate previously unknown functions for particular fungal cell types.