Engineering lentivirus envelope VSV-G for liver targeted delivery of IDOL-shRNA to ameliorate hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis

• Main Authors: Wei Wang (Author), Xuemei Chen (Author), Jiali Chen (Author), Menglong Xu (Author), Ying Liu (Author), Shijie Yang (Author), Wenfeng Zhao (Author), Shuhua Tan (Author)
• Format: Book
• Published: Elsevier, 2024-03-01T00:00:00Z.
• Subjects: article
• Online Access: Connect to this object online.

Summary

Lentiviral vectors (LVs) have been widely used as a tool for gene therapies. However, tissue-selective transduction after systemic delivery remains a challenge. Inducible degrader of low-density lipoprotein receptor is an attractive target for treating hypercholesterolemia. Here, a liver-targeted LV, CS8-LV-shIDOL, is developed by incorporating a hepatocyte-targeted peptide derived from circumsporozoite protein (CSP) into the lentivirus envelope for liver-targeted delivery of IDOL-shRNA (short hairpin RNA) to alleviate hypercholesterolemia. Tail-vein injection of CS8-LV-shIDOL results in extremely high accumulation in liver and nearly undetectable levels in other organs in mice. In addition, it shows superior therapeutic efficacy in lowering serum low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and reducing atherosclerotic lesions over unmodified LV-shIDOL in hyperlipidemic mice. Mechanically, the envelope-engineered CS8-LV-shIDOL can enter liver cells via low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein (LRP). Thus, this study provides a novel approach for liver-targeted delivery of IDOL-shRNA to treat hypercholesterolemia by using an envelope-engineered LV, and this delivery system has great potential for liver-targeted transgene therapy.

Item Description

2162-2531
10.1016/j.omtn.2024.102115