Evaluation of beta-globin gene therapy constructs in single copy transgenic mice

Effective gene therapy constructs based on retrovirus or adeno-associated virus vectors will require regulatory elements that direct expression of genes transduced at single copy. Most beta-globin constructs designed for therapy of beta-thalassemias are regulated by the 5'HS2 component of the locus control region (LCR). Here we show that a human beta-globin gene flanked by two small 5'HS2 core elements or flanked by a 5'HS3 (footprints 1-3) core and a 5'HS2 core are not reproducibly expressed in single copy transgenic mice. In addition, low copy transgene concatamers that contain only dimer 5'HS2 cores fail to express, whereas those that contain monomer 5'HS2 cores express at 14% per copy. These data suggest that spacing between HS cores is crucial for LCR activity. We therefore constructed a novel 3.0 kb LCR cassette in which the 5'HS2, 5'HS3 and 5'HS4 cores are each separated by approximately 700 bp. When linked to the 815 bp beta-globin promoter this LCR directs 45% levels of expression from four independent single copy transgenes. However, the 3.0 kb LCR linked to the 265 bp promoter expresses variable levels, averaging 18%, from three single copy transgenes. Our findings suggest that sequences in the distal promoter play a role in single copy transgene activation and that larger LCR and promoter elements are most suitable for gene therapy applications.