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Targeting the Hepatitis B cccDNA with a Sequence-Specific ARCUS Nuclease to Eliminate Hepatitis B Virus In Vivo
Cassandra L Gorsuch 1 , Paige Nemec 1 , Mei Yu 2 , Simin Xu 2 , Dong Han 2 , Jeff Smith 1 , Janel Lape 1 , Nicholas van Buuren 2 , Ricardo Ramirez 2 , Robert C Muench 2 , Meghan M Holdorf 2 , Becket Feierbach 2 , Greg Falls 1 , Jason Holt 1 , Wendy Shoop 1 , Emma Sevigny 1 , Forrest Karriker 1 , Robert V Brown 1 , Amod Joshi 1 , Tyler Goodwin 1 , Ying K Tam 3 , Paulo J C Lin 3 , Sean C Semple 3 , Neil Leatherbury 1 , William E Delaney 4th 2 , Derek Jantz 4 , Amy Rhoden Smith 4
Affiliations
Affiliations
1
Precision BioSciences Inc., Durham, NC 27701, USA.
2
Gilead Sciences, Inc., Foster City, CA 94404, USA.
3
Acuitas Therapeutics, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada.
4
Precision BioSciences Inc., Durham, NC 27701, USA. Electronic address: [email protected].
PMID: 35581938 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymthe.2022.05.013
Abstract
Persistence of chronic Hepatitis B (CHB) is attributed to maintenance of the intrahepatic pool of the viral covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA), which serves as the transcriptional template for all viral gene products required for replication. Current nucleos(t)ide therapies for CHB prevent virus production and spread but have no direct impact on cccDNA or expression of viral genes. We describe a potential curative approach using a highly specific engineered ARCUS nuclease (ARCUS-POL) targeting the Hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome. Transient ARCUS-POL expression in HBV-infected primary human hepatocytes produced substantial reductions in both cccDNA and Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg). To evaluate ARCUS-POL in vivo, we developed episomal adeno-associated virus (AAV) mouse and non-human primate (NHP) models containing a portion of the HBV genome serving as a surrogate for cccDNA. Clinically relevant delivery was achieved through systemic administration of lipid nanoparticles containing ARCUS-POL mRNA. In both mouse and NHP, we observed a significant decrease in total AAV copy number and high on-target indel frequency. In the case of the mouse model, which supports HBsAg expression, circulating surface antigen was durably reduced by 96%. Together, these data support a gene editing approach for elimination of cccDNA toward an HBV cure.
Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
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