96. An Approach to Compare Multiple Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) Capsids Side-by-Side in a Single Eye Following Intravitreal Injection

Current gene therapy approaches for ocular diseases rely largely on the use of subretinal injection for treatment of outer nuclear layer cells of interest. While subretinal injection allows for efficient transduction of retinal cells close to the site of the injection, there is a significant risk that the injection can further damage retinas with compromised integrity. Several studies have identified new adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid mutants that are potentially able to transduce outer nuclear layer cells following intravitreal injections. To further explore AAV vector-mediated intravitreal injection approaches for clinical translation, it is imperative to directly compare retinal transduction efficiencies between newly identified and previously published AAV mutants. Using clinically relevant large animal models, these mutant capsids, as well as other commonly used AAV serotypes, can be tested in a comprehensive manner. To this end, we propose to utilize a viral DNA/RNA barcoding approach established by our lab. In this approach, AAV capsids derived from different serotypes and mutants can be identified by DNA and RNA barcodes unique to each AAV capsid. These barcodes are contained in viral genomes and also expressed as RNA barcodes following cellular transduction. As each AAV capsid strain has a unique viral genome, a mass transduction of a number of different AAV strains can be conducted in order to directly compare transduction levels side-by-side in a single eye. To test feasibility of the barcode approach and establish proof-of-principle in the ocular gene therapy research, we produced a DNA/RNA-barcoded AAV library that contained 20 serotypes including AAV serotypes 1-11 and AAV mutants including DJ, LK03, 2i8 and 2G9. Each AAV strain expresses a pair of 12 nucleotide-long RNA barcodes unique to each strain under the control of the human U6 snRNA promoter. Seven C57BL/6J mice have been injected into vitreous humor bilaterally with the DNA/RNA-barcoded AAV library vector at doses ranging from 2 to 9 x109 vg. To date, eyes were harvested from one mouse 3 weeks post injection. Total DNA and RNA were extracted from the retina as a whole from each eye, and were subjected to DNA-PCR or reverse transcriptase (RT)-PCR to amplify viral DNA and RNA barcodes, followed by Illumina barcode sequencing. A preliminary data analysis revealed that AAV2, AAV-DJ and AAV2G9 transduced the murine retina better than other AAV strains including AAV9, the reference control AAV strain contained in the library. Although further optimization of the approach may be required to move this project forward, we plan to apply this method to assess transduction efficiencies of various AAV strains side by side in specific subsets of sorted retinal cells and in various animal species. The safer approach of intravitreal injections with the most optimal AAV vectors would significantly increase the ability to treat over 200 genetic retinal diseases and therefore the data that will be obtained from these studies will considerably benefit the field of retinal gene therapy.