Long-term enzyme replacement therapy in beta-glucuronidase--deficient mice by allogeneic bone marrow transplantation

Enzyme replacement therapy was successfully accomplished in beta-Glu-deficient C3H/HeJ mice after transplantation of BM cells obtained from normal BALB/c donors. Marrow recipients were prepared for transplantation by fractionated TLI. Enzyme activity increased from 20.5 +/- 7.0 nmol/mg of protein per hour to 180 +/- 30.2 in the liver (p less than 0.001) and from 8.2 +/- 2.0 to 17.5 +/- 5.0 nmol/ml/hr in the plasma (p less than 0.05) at 50 days after marrow infusion. Normal enzyme activity was maintained in treated mice for at least 100 days after marrow transplantation, as documented by repeated liver biopsies and examination of plasma samples. The marrow donors and the recipients were fully histoincompatible. Both immunologic rejection of the marrow allograft and GVHD were prevented by the prior conditioning of the recipients with TLI, resulting in bilateral transplantation tolerance of host vs. graft and graft vs. host. The data suggest that allogeneic BM transplantation may provide a possible therapeutic approach for certain enzyme deficiency syndromes.