Adeno-associated virus (AAV)-7 and-8 poorly transduce vascular endothelial cells and are sensitive to proteasomal degradation

Denby, L., Nicklin, S.A. and Baker, A.H. (2005) Adeno-associated virus (AAV)-7 and-8 poorly transduce vascular endothelial cells and are sensitive to proteasomal degradation. Gene Therapy, 12, pp. 1534-1538. (doi: 10.1038/sj.gt.3302564)

Abstract

Transduction of the vascular endothelium by adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors would have broad appeal for gene therapy. However, levels of transduction by AAV serotype-2 are low, an observation linked to deficiencies in endothelial cell binding, sequestration of virions in the extracellular matrix and/or virion degradation by the proteasome. Strategies to improve transduction of endothelial cells include AAV-2 capsid targeting using small peptides isolated by phage display or the use of alternate serotypes. Previously, we have shown that AAV serotypes-3 through -6 transduce endothelial cells with poor efficiency. Recently, AAV serotypes-7 and -8 have been shown to mediate efficient transduction of the skeletal muscle and liver, respectively, although their infectivity profile for vascular cells has not been addressed. Here, we show that AAV-7 and -8 also transduce endothelial cells with poor efficiency and the levels of transgene expression are markedly enhanced by inhibition of the proteasome. In both cases proteasome blockade enhances the nuclear translocation of virions. We further show that this is vascular cell-type selective since transduction of smooth muscle cells is not sensitive to proteasome inhibition. Analysis in intact blood vessels corroborated these findings and suggests that proteasome degradation is a common limiting factor for endothelial cell transduction by AAV vectors.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Nicklin, Professor Stuart and Baker, Professor Andrew and Denby, Dr Laura
• Authors: Denby, L., Nicklin, S.A., and Baker, A.H.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences; College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Health
• Journal Name: Gene Therapy
• Publisher: Nature Publishing Group
• ISSN: 0969-7128
• Published Online: 01 January 2005

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
32937	1	Development and evaluation of novel adeno-associated viral vectors for long term gene therapy	Andrew Baker	Medical Research Council (MRC)	G0200279	Institute of Cardiovascular and Medical Sciences