Site Specific Modification of Adeno-Associated Virus Enables Both Fluorescent Imaging of Viral Particles and Characterization of the Capsid Interactome

Sci Rep. 2017 Nov 7;7(1):14766. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-15255-2.

Abstract

Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are attractive gene therapy vectors due to their low toxicity, high stability, and rare integration into the host genome. Expressing ligands on the viral capsid can re-target AAVs to new cell types, but limited sites have been identified on the capsid that tolerate a peptide insertion. Here, we incorporated a site-specific tetracysteine sequence into the AAV serotype 9 (AAV9) capsid, to permit labelling of viral particles with either a fluorescent dye or biotin. We demonstrate that fluorescently labelled particles are detectable in vitro, and explore the utility of the method in vivo in mice with time-lapse imaging. We exploit the biotinylated viral particles to generate two distinct AAV interactomes, and identify several functional classes of proteins that are highly represented: actin/cytoskeletal protein binding, RNA binding, RNA splicing/processing, chromatin modifying, intracellular trafficking and RNA transport proteins. To examine the biological relevance of the capsid interactome, we modulated the expression of two proteins from the interactomes prior to AAV transduction. Blocking integrin αVβ6 receptor function reduced AAV9 transduction, while reducing histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) expression enhanced AAV transduction. Our method demonstrates a strategy for inserting motifs into the AAV capsid without compromising viral titer or infectivity.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Antigens, Neoplasm
  • Capsid / metabolism*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Cysteine / metabolism
  • Dependovirus / genetics*
  • Genetic Vectors
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Histone Deacetylases
  • Humans
  • Integrins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Maleimides / chemistry
  • Mice
  • Mutation*
  • Optical Imaging / methods*
  • Repressor Proteins / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Transduction, Genetic
  • Viral Proteins / chemistry
  • Viral Proteins / metabolism
  • Virion / metabolism*

Substances

  • Antigens, Neoplasm
  • Integrins
  • Maleimides
  • Repressor Proteins
  • Viral Proteins
  • integrin alphavbeta6
  • HDAC4 protein, human
  • Histone Deacetylases
  • Cysteine