Enhanced plasma factor VIII activity in mice via cysteine mutation using dual vectors

Hemophilia A is caused by a genetic mutation in coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) gene and gene therapy is considered to be a promising strategy for its treatment. We recently demonstrated that co-delivery of two vectors expressing M662C mutated heavy and D1828C mutated light chain genes of B-domain-deleted coagulation factor VIII (BDD-FVIII) leads to inter-chain disulfide cross-linking and improved heavy chain secretion in vitro. In this study, co-injection of both M662C and D1828C mutated BDD-FVIII gene expression vectors into mice resulted in increased heavy chain secretion and coagulation activity in plasma in vivo. Approximately (239 ± 56) ng mL(-1) above endogenous levels of transgenic FVIII heavy chain was found in mouse plasma using a chain-specific ELISA. For FVIII coagulation activity, approximately (1.09 ± 0.25) IU mL(-1) above endogenous levels were detected in co-injected transgenic mouse plasma using a chromogenic assay. These data demonstrate that inter-chain disulfide bonds likely increase heavy chain secretion and coagulation activity in the plasma of transgenic mice with an improved efficacy of a dual-vector delivery of BDD-FVIII gene. These findings support our ongoing efforts to develop a gene therapy for hemophilia A treatment using dual-AAV vectors.