High ionic strength vector formulations enhance gene transfer to airway epithelia

• Published in: Nucleic acids research Vol. 52; no. 16; pp. 9369 - 9383
• Main Authors: Cooney, Ashley L, Loza, Laura Marquez, Najdawi, Kenan, Brommel, Christian M, McCray, Paul B, Sinn, Patrick L
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 30-07-2024
• Subjects: Chemical Biology and Nucleic Acid Chemistry
• ISSN: 0305-1048; 1362-4962; 1362-4962
• DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkae640

Abstract
A fundamental challenge for cystic fibrosis (CF) gene therapy is ensuring sufficient transduction of airway epithelia to achieve therapeutic correction. Hypertonic saline (HTS) is frequently administered to people with CF to enhance mucus clearance. HTS transiently disrupts epithelial cell tight junctions, but its ability to improve gene transfer has not been investigated. Here, we asked if increasing the concentration of NaCl enhances the transduction efficiency of three gene therapy vectors: adenovirus, AAV, and lentiviral vectors. Vectors formulated with 3–7% NaCl exhibited markedly increased transduction for all three platforms, leading to anion channel correction in primary cultures of human CF epithelial cells and enhanced gene transfer in mouse and pig airways in vivo. The mechanism of transduction enhancement involved tonicity but not osmolarity or pH. Formulating vectors with a high ionic strength solution is a simple strategy to greatly enhance efficacy and immediately improve preclinical or clinical applications.
Graphical Abstract
Graphical Abstract