Factor VIII Sequences
20230241180 · 2023-08-03
Inventors
- Amit Nathwani (London, GB)
- Jenny Mcintosh (London, GB)
- Edward Tuddenham (London, GB)
- Andrew Davidoff (Memphis, TN)
Cpc classification
A61P7/04
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A01K67/0275
HUMAN NECESSITIES
A01K2267/01
HUMAN NECESSITIES
C07K14/755
CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
International classification
Abstract
There is provided a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding for a functional factor VIII protein, wherein the portion of the nucleotide sequence encoding for the B domain of the factor VIII protein is between 90 and 111 nucleotides in length and encodes for an amino acid sequence comprising a sequence having at least 85% identity to SEQ ID NO: 4 and which comprises six asparagine residues. Also provided is a functional factor VIII protein, a vector comprising the above nucleic acid molecule, a host cell, a transgenic animal, a method of treating haemophilia, e.g. haemophilia A, and a method for the preparation of a parvoviral gene delivery vector.
Claims
1-33. (canceled)
34. A method of administering to a subject a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a Factor VIII protein, wherein the nucleotide sequence is at least 90% identical to SEQ ID NO: 3, wherein the B domain of the Factor VIII protein is replaced with a spacer, and wherein the Factor VIII protein participates in blood coagulation via the coagulation cascade.
35. The method of claim 34, wherein nucleotide sequence encodes a Factor VIII protein comprises an A1, A2, A3, C1 and/or C2 domain having a modified amino acid sequence compared to the wild type amino acid sequence.
36. The method of claim 34, wherein the nucleotide sequence encodes a Factor VIII protein comprises an A2 and A3 domain having a modified amino acid sequence compared to the wild type amino acid sequence.
37. A method of treating hemophilia comprising administering to a subject a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a Factor VIII protein, wherein the nucleotide sequence is at least 90% identical to SEQ ID NO: 3, wherein the B domain of the Factor VIII protein is replaced with a spacer, and wherein the Factor VIII protein participates in blood coagulation via the coagulation cascade.
38. The method of claim 37, wherein nucleotide sequence encodes a Factor VIII protein comprises an A1, A2, A3, C1 and/or C2 domain having a modified amino acid sequence compared to the wild type amino acid sequence.
39. The method of claim 34, wherein the nucleotide sequence encodes a Factor VIII protein comprises an A2 and A3 domain having a modified amino acid sequence compared to the wild type amino acid sequence.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0158] In order to develop a safe and efficient gene transfer strategy for the treatment of haemophilia A (IIA), the most common inherited bleeding disorder, the inventors have developed a new FVIII variant called codop-hFVIII-V3 (
[0159] The cDNA in codop-hFVIII-V3 has been modified to reduce its size to 4424 bp (
[0160] The inventors' data show that a rAAV expression cassette encoding the 5.2 kb codop-hFVIII-V3 is packaged uniformly as a full length provirus as shown in
[0161] By shortening the B domain of the codop-hFVIII-N6 variant but retaining essential features of the B domain sequence, in particular the N-linked glycosylation consensus sequences, the inventors have been able to enable more efficient packaging of the transgene into AAV. In the course of creating novel sequences for this purpose, one particular sequence N6V3 proved to be associated with highly efficient packaging into AAV. This sequence also showed a remarkable and unpredicted further improvement of transgene expression in animal gene transfer studies.
[0162] Based on rational analysis of the structure of factor VIII and on its known secretion pathway, requiring interaction with the chaperon protein LMANN-1, the inventors have deduced that the expression improvement may be due to the following reasons.
[0163] The interaction of factor VIII B domain with the lectin LMANN-1 requires multiple N-linked carbohydrate side chains to be present and for them to adopt a specific conformation for binding between the nascent glycopeptide and the lectin.
[0164] The wild type B domain is nearly 1000 amino acids long with no likely secondary structure. Therefore, this lengthy peptide requires a considerable time for synthesis into the Golgi and further time for the random coil to adopt a suitable structure stochastically to bring together the widely separated carbohydrate side chains into a conformation that would enable binding to the lectin (LMANN-1).
[0165] By shortening the sequence to the minimum length possible that still retains 6 potential N-glycosylation sites (17mer), the time required for synthesis is drastically reduced.
[0166] Furthermore only a very small number of conformations or possibly just one can occur in the glycosylated peptide amongst which is the required tertiary structure for binding the lectin. The inventors have calculated that the length of this peptide is only just long enough to span the distance between the C-terminal of the A2 domain and the N-terminal of the A3 domain in the crystal structure of B domain deleted factor VIII at 53 Angstroms. Therefore, the N6V3 peptide is further constrained to an almost linear structure that would limit the number of sterically possible conformations and, provided the carbohydrate side chains are added in appropriate places, enable the chaperon to bind virtually co-translationally, thus optimizing to the maximum degree possible this essential step in the factor VIII specific secretion pathway.
[0167] The unique specificity of the novel N6V3 sequence is further supported by the fact that very minor deviation from this sequence, such as retaining a single extra amino acid between each N-glycosylation consensus sequence trimer, greatly reduces the synthesis and secretion efficiency of factor VIII compared to that obtained with other versions of the truncated B domain.
[0168] A New Shorter Codon Optimised FVIII Variant: Codop-hFVIII-V3
[0169] The inventors have modified codop-N6-hFVIII, to improve the efficiency with which it is packaged into AAV virions as full length viral genome without compromising its potency in vivo. This involved the replacement of the 226 amino acid B domain spacer with a 31 amino acid (93 bp) peptide, containing a 14 amino acid linker sequence as in B domain deleted FVIII and 17 amino acids which are unique. This peptide contained the 6 asparagine residues present in codop-N6-hFVIII that are required for efficient intra-cellular processing. The peptide brings these residues in closer proximity. Consequently, this new hFVIII variant (AAV-HLP-codop-hFVIII-V3) is 5.1 Kb in size, 600 bp smaller than AAV-HLP-codop-N6-hFVIII (5.7 kb), and closer to the packaging capacity of AAV of approximately 5.0 kb (
[0170] The yield of AAV8-HLP-codop-hFVIII-V3 vector using the standard HEK293 transient transfection method was comparable (
[0171] AAV-HLP-Codop-hFVIII-V3 is More Potent than AAV-HLP-Codop-BDD-hFVIII
[0172] AAV vectors containing the different codon optimised FVIII variants, pseudotyped with serotype 8 capsid, were injected as a bolus into the tail vein of 4-6 week old males C571/6 mice (N=6) at a dose of 4×10.sup.13 vg/kg to compare their potency in vivo. The highest level of hFVIII expression was observed with AAV-HLP-codop-FVIII-V3 at 1.52±0.15 IU/ml (152±15% of normal,
[0173] Biologic Potency of AAV-HLP-Codop-hFVIII-V3 in F8−/− Mice
[0174] A direct comparison of the biologic potency of codop-N6-FVIII, codop-BDD-FVIII and codop-FVIII-V3 was performed in F8−/− mice. Vector encoding each of these FVIII variants, pseudotyped with serotype 8 capsid was administered into the tail vein of male F8−/− mice at a dose of 4×10.sup.12 (low-dose cohort, n=5/6) or 4×10.sup.13 (high-dose cohort, n=5/6) vg/kg. For all three constructs the kinetics of expression was broadly similar with plasma hFVIII levels reaching peak levels between 2-6 weeks after gene transfer. For a given construct, hFVIII levels were roughly two fold higher in animals transduced with the high dose of vector when compared to the low dose (
[0175] To establish if the FVIII activity correlated with phenotypic correction in AAV-treated mice, blood loss was analysed by tail clip assay at 8 week after gene transfer (
[0176] Biodistribution studies (
[0177] Materials and Methods
[0178] AAV-hFVIII Vector Production and Purification:
[0179] The BDD deleted and N6 (kindly provided by Professor Steven Pipe (Miiao et al, 2004))-human FVIII variants containing the wild type DNA sequences were cloned downstream of the previously described liver specific LP1 promoter (Nathwani et al, 2006). A 5012 bp codon optimized human N6 FVIII (codop-N6-hFVIII) was generated using codons most frequently found in highly expressed eukaryotic genes, (Haas et at, 1996) synthesized and also cloned downstream of the LP1 promoter. The smaller HLP enhancer/promoter was constructed by synthesizing a 251 bp fragment containing a 34 bp core enhancer from the human apolipoprotein hepatic control region (HCR) upstream of a modified 217 bp alpha-1-antitrypsin (hAAT) gene promoter consisting only of the distal X and the proximal A+B regulatory domains. AAV-HLP-codop-N6-hFVIII was generated by cloning the codop-N6-hFVIII cDNA downstream of the HLP promoter but upstream of a 60 bp synthetic polyadenylation signal. The AAV-HLP-codop-FVIII variants 1 and 3 were made by synthesis of a 1485 and a 1446 bp fragment, respectively. HLP-codop-N6-FVIII was cut with KpnI and the 2028 bp fragment was replaced with the synthesised fragments cut with KpnI. AAV vectors were made by the adenovirus free transient transfection method described before (Davidoff et at, 2004). AAV5 pseudotyped vector particles were generated using a chimeric AAV2 Rep-5Cap packaging plasmid called pLT-RCO3 which is based on XX2 (Xiao et at, 1998) and pAAV5-2 (Chiorini et at, 1999) and similar in configuration to that described before (Rabinowitz et at, 2002). AAV8 pseudotyped vectors were also made using the packaging plasmid pAAV8-2 (Gao et at, 2002). AAV2/5 and 2/8 vectors were purified by the previously described ion exchange chromatography method (Davidoff et at, 2004). Vector genome (vg) titers were determined by previously described quantitative PCR and gel based methods (Nathwani et at, 2001), (Fagone et at, 2012). To determine the size of the packaged genome, vector stocks were run on an alkaline gel as previously described in Fagone et at, 2012.
[0180] Animal Studies:
[0181] All procedures were performed in accordance with institutional guidelines under protocols approved by the Institutional and/or National Committees for the care and use of animals in the United States and Europe. FVIII-deficient mice (mixed C57B16/J-129 Sv background with a deletion in exon 16) were bred in-house and used for experiments between 8 and 10 weeks of age. Tail vein administration of rAAV vector particles was performed in 7-1) week old male mice as described before (Nathwani el at, 2001).
[0182] Determination of Transduction Efficiency and Vector Biodistribution:
[0183] Human FVIII ELISA: Human FVIII antigen levels in murine samples were determined by ELISA using a paired FVIII ELISA kit (Affinity Biologicals, Quadratech, Dorking, UK). Flat-bottomed 96-well plates (Maxisorp, Nunc, Fisher Scientific, Loughborough, UK) were coated with a combination of two mouse monocloncal antibodies (ESH2 (Sekisui Diagnostica, Axis-Shield, Dundee, UK), and N77110 M (Biodesign international, AMS biotechnology, Abingdon, UK)) 50 μl of a 100 μg/mL in 50 mM carbonate buffer pH9.6 at 4° C. overnight, washed with PBS containing 0.05% Tween 20 (=PBST), and blocked with 200 μL/well of 6% bovine serum albumin (BSA, Sigma, Pool, UK) in PBST during a 1 hour incubation at 37° C. Standards were made by serial dilutions of murine plasma spiked with recombinant human FVIII, starting concentration 4 IU/mL (11.sup.th BS 95/608 6.9 IU/mL, NIBSC, South Mimms). Murine samples and standards were diluted 1:10 in kit buffer with 50 μl in duplicates. Following a 2 hour incubation at 37° C., the plates were washed and incubated for a further hour with 100 μl of horseradish peroxidase conjugated goat anti-human FVIII polyclonal secondary antibody. After a final wash step, plates were developed with o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride peroxidase substrate (Sigma) and the optical density was assessed spectrophotometrically at 492 nm. Probability of statistical difference between experimental groups was determined by one-way ANOVA and paired student t test using GraphPad Prizm version 4.0 software (GraphPad, San Diego, Calif.). FVIII activity was measured in a two-stage coagulation assay, using human plasma as a standard.
[0184] Blood loss assay: Mice were anaesthetized with tribromoethanol (0.15 mL/10 g bodyweight) and 3 mm of the distal tail was cut with a scalpel. The tail was immersed immediately in 50 ml saline buffer at 37° C. and blood was collected for 30 min. Two parameters were monitored: First, time to arrest of bleeding was measured from the moment of transection. Second, collected erythrocytes were pelleted at 1500 g and lysed in H.sub.2O. The amount of released haemoglobin was determined by measuring the optical density at 416 nm and using a standard curve prepared upon lysis of 20-100 microliter of mouse blood.
[0185] Quantification of vector copy number: Genomic DNA was extracted from murine tissues using the DNeasy Blood and tissue kit (Qiagen, Crawley, UK), 37 ng of genomic DNA extracted from various murine tissues was subjected to quantitativereal-time PCR using primers which amplified a 299 bp region of codop-hFVIII (5′ primer: 5′ AAGGACTTCCCCATCCTGCCTGG 3′ and 3′ primer: 5′ GGGTTGGGCAGGAACCTCTGG 3′) as described previously (Nathwani et al, 2011).
[0186] Detection of Anti-Human FVIII Antibodies:
[0187] Plasma samples from mice were screened for the presence of antibodies against hFVIII using an ELISA. A 96 well Maxisorp plate (Nunc) was coated with 50 μL of 2 IU/ML recombinant FVIII in 50 m carbonate buffer pH 9.6 at 4° C. overnight. Plates were washed with PBS-T and blocked with 3% BSA/TBS-T (25 mM Tris, 150 mM NaCl, 5 mM CaCl.sub.2 0.01% Tween, pH7.5). 50 μL of serial dilutions of the plasma samples were prepared in 3% BSA/TBS-T. Following a 2 hour incubation at 37° C., the plates were washed and incubated for a further hour with 100 μl of horseradish peroxidase conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG secondary antibody (A8924, Sigma). After a final wash step, plates were developed with o-phenylenediamine dihydrochloride peroxidase substrate (Sigma) and the optical density was assessed spectrophotometrically at 492 nm. Results were expressed as the end-point titer, defined as the reciprocal of the interpolated dilution with an absorbance value equal to five times the mean absorbance background value.
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