Central Nervous System Delivery of Interleukin 4 by a Nonreplicative Herpes Simplex Type 1 Viral Vector Ameliorates Autoimmune Demyelination

Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a T cell-mediated organ-specific inflammatory disease leading to central nervous system (CNS) demyelination. On the basis of results obtained in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) models, MS treatment by administration of antiinflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 4 (IL-4) is promising but is hampered by the limited access of the cytokines to the CNS and by the pleiotropic effects of systemically administered cytokines. We established a cytokine delivery system within the CNS using nonreplicative herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) viral vectors engineered with cytokine genes. These vectors injected into the cisterna magna (i.c.) of mice diffuse in all ventricular and subarachnoid spaces and infect with high efficiency the ependymal and leptomeningeal cell layers surrounding these areas, without obvious toxic effects. Heterologous genes contained in the vectors are efficiently transcribed in infected ependymal cells, leading to the production of high amounts of the coded proteins. For example, 4.5 ng of interferon γ (IFN-γ) per milliliter is secreted into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) up to day 28 postinjection (p.i.) and reaches the CNS parenchyma in bioactive form, as demonstrated by upregulation of MHC class I expression on CNS-resident cells. We then exploited the therapeutic potential of the vectors in EAE mice. An HSV-1-derived vector containing the IL-4 gene was injected i.c. in Biozzi AB/H mice at the time of EAE induction. We found the following in treated mice: (1) delayed EAE onset, (2) a significant decrease in clinical score, (3) a significant decrease in perivascular inflammatory infiltrates and in the number of macrophages infiltrating the CNS parenchyma and the submeningeal spaces, and (4) a reduction in demyelinated areas and axonal loss. Peripheral T cells from IL-4-treated mice were not affected either in their antigen-specific proliferative response or in cytokine secretion pattern. Our results indicate that CNS cytokine delivery with HSV-1 vectors is feasible and might represent an approach for the treatment of demyelinating diseases. Advantages of this approach over systemic cytokine administration are the high cytokine level reached in the CNS, the absence of effects on the peripheral immune system, and the long-lasting cytokine production in the CNS after a single vector administration. Gene therapy of organ-specific autoimmune diseases can be approached by delivering heterologous genes encoding immunomodulatory molecules either to the target organ or to the peripheral autoreactive T cells. However, when the autoantigen responsible for the disease is unknown only the former option is available. We established a gene delivery system based on CNS administration of nonreplicative HSV-1-derived vectors engineered with cytokine genes. Gene delivery within the CNS by an HSV-1-derived vector showed itself to be feasible and nontoxic. EAE, an inflammatory demyelinating disease of the CNS mimicking human MS, was ameliorated both at clinical and pathological levels when an HSV-1 vector containing the antiinflammatory cytokine gene IL-4 was injected within the CNS. The efficacy in the inhibition of EAE was relatively long-lasting and did not affect peripheral immune responses.