Therapeutic gene editing of T cells to correct CTLA-4 insufficiency.

Fox, Thomas Andrew; Houghton, Benjamin Christopher; Petersone, Lina; Waters, Erin; Edner, Natalie Mona; McKenna, Alex; Preham, Olivier; Hinze, Claudia et al. · Sci Transl Med · 2022

basic_science · Level V

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Abstract

Heterozygous mutations in <i>CTLA-4</i> result in an inborn error of immunity with an autoimmune and frequently severe clinical phenotype. Autologous T cell gene therapy may offer a cure without the immunological complications of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Here, we designed a homology-directed repair (HDR) gene editing strategy that inserts the <i>CTLA-4</i> cDNA into the first intron of the <i>CTLA-4</i> genomic locus in primary human T cells. This resulted in regulated expression of CTLA-4 in CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells, and functional studies demonstrated CD80 and CD86 transendocytosis. Gene editing of T cells isolated from three patients with CTLA-4 insufficiency also restored CTLA-4 protein expression and rescued transendocytosis of CD80 and CD86 in vitro. Last, gene-corrected T cells from <i>CTLA-4</i><sup>-/-</sup> mice engrafted and prevented lymphoproliferation in an in vivo murine model of CTLA-4 insufficiency. These results demonstrate the feasibility of a therapeutic approach using T cell gene therapy for CTLA-4 insufficiency.

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