Adeno-Associated Virus Serotype 8 Gene Transfer Rescues a Neonatal Lethal Murine Model of Propionic Acidemia

Abstract

Propionic acidemia (PA) is an autosomal recessive disorder of metabolism caused by a deficiency of propionyl-coenzyme A carboxylase (PCC). Despite optimal dietary and cofactor therapy, PA patients still suffer from lethal metabolic instability and experience multisystemic complications. A murine model of PA (Pcca^–/–) of animals that uniformly die within the first 48 hr of life was used to determine the efficacy of adeno-associated viral (AAV) gene transfer as a potential therapy for PA. An AAV serotype 8 (AAV8) vector was engineered to express the human PCCA cDNA and delivered to newborn mice via an intrahepatic injection. Greater than 64% of the Pcca^–/– mice were rescued after AAV8-mediated gene transfer and survived until day of life 16 or beyond. Western analysis of liver extracts showed that PCC was completely absent from Pcca^–/– mice but was restored to greater than wild-type levels after AAV gene therapy. The treated Pcca^–/– mice also exhibited markedly reduced plasma levels of 2-methylcitrate compared with the untreated Pcca^–/– mice, which indicates significant PCC enzymatic activity was provided by gene transfer. At the time of this report, the oldest treated Pcca^–/– mice are over 6 months of age. In summary, AAV gene delivery of PCCA effectively rescues Pcca^–/– mice from neonatal lethality and substantially ameliorates metabolic markers of the disease. These experiments demonstrate a gene transfer approach using AAV8 that might be used as a treatment for PA, a devastating and often lethal disorder desperately in need of new therapeutic options.