WO2023235888A2 - COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR CpG DEPLETION - Google Patents
COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR CpG DEPLETION Download PDFInfo
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- WO2023235888A2 WO2023235888A2 PCT/US2023/067901 US2023067901W WO2023235888A2 WO 2023235888 A2 WO2023235888 A2 WO 2023235888A2 US 2023067901 W US2023067901 W US 2023067901W WO 2023235888 A2 WO2023235888 A2 WO 2023235888A2
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Definitions
- PAMPs Pathogen-associated molecular patterns
- TLRs toll- like receptors
- therapeutics containing PAMPs are often not as well-tolerated and are rapidly cleared from a patient given the strong immune response triggered, which ultimately can lead to reduced therapeutic efficiency.
- Gene therapy vectors that are well-tolerated and not rapidly cleared in patients is necessary to achieve therapeutic benefit.
- FIG.1A is a diagram of the secondary structure of guide RNA scaffold 235, noting the regions with CpG motifs, as described in Example 1.
- FIG.1B is a diagram of the CpG-reducing mutations that were introduced into each of the five regions in the coding sequence of the guide RNA scaffold, as described in Example 1.
- FIG.2 shows the results of an editing assay using AAV transgene plasmids nucleofected into human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs), as described in Example 1, demonstrating that CpG reduction or depletion within the U1a promoter (construct ID 178 and 179), U6 promoter (construct ID 180 and 181), or bovine growth hormone (bGH) poly(A) (construct ID 182) did not significantly reduce CasX-mediated editing at the B2M locus compared to the editing achieved with the original CpG+ AAV vector (construct ID 177).
- the controls used in this experiment were the non-targeting (NT) spacer and no treatment (NTx).
- FIG.3 is a bar plot depicting the results of an editing assay measured as indel (insert or deletion) rate detected by NGS (next generation sequencing) at the human B2M locus in human induced neurons (“iNs”) seven days post-transduction with AAVs expressing CasX 491 driven by the various protein promoters as indicated at an MOI (multiplicity of infection) of 1E3 or 3E3, as described in Example 1.
- FIG.4A illustrates the quantification of percent editing at the B2M locus as detected by NGS seven days post-transduction of AAVs into human iNs at an MOI of 3E3, as described in Example 1.
- FIG.4B illustrates the quantification of percent editing at the B2M locus as detected by NGS seven days post-transduction of AAVs into human iNs at an MOI of 1E3, as described in Example 1.
- FIG.5A provides the results of an editing experiment in which AAV vectors with various CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted guide RNA scaffolds were used to edit the B2M locus in induced neurons, as described in Example 1. The AAV vectors were administered at a MOI of 4e3. The bars show the mean ⁇ the SD of two replicates per sample. “No Tx” indicates a non- transduced control, and “NT” indicates a control with a non-targeting spacer.
- FIG.5B provides the results of an editing experiment in which AAV vectors with various CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted guide RNA scaffolds were used to edit the B2M locus in induced neurons, as described in Example 1.
- the AAV vectors were administered at an MOI of 3e3.
- the bars show the mean ⁇ the SD of two replicates per sample. “No Tx” indicates a non- transduced control.
- FIG.5C provides the results of an editing experiment in which AAV vectors with various CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted guide RNA scaffolds were used to edit the B2M locus in induced neurons, as described in Example 1.
- the AAV vectors were administered at an MOI of 1e3.
- FIG.5D provides the results of an editing experiment in which AAV vectors with various CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted guide RNA scaffolds were used to edit the B2M locus in induced neurons, as described in Example 1. The AAV vectors were administered at an MOI of 3e2. The bars show the mean ⁇ the SD of two replicates per sample. “No Tx” indicates a non- transduced control.
- FIG.11 is a western blot showing the levels of CasX expression (top western blot) in HEK293 cells transfected with AAV plasmids containing a CpG+ CasX 515 sequence (lane 1) or CpG- v1 CasX 515 sequence (lanes 2-3), as described in Example 5.
- FIG.12 is a bar graph showing the quantification of percent knockout of B2M in HEK293 cells transfected with CpG-depleted AAV plasmids containing the indicated gRNA scaffolds with spacer 7.37, as described in Example 6. The dotted line annotates the ⁇ 41% transfection efficiency.
- FIG.13A is a bar plot showing percent editing at the AAVS1 locus in human iNs transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system using the indicated gRNA scaffolds (AAV construct ID # 262-274) at the MOI of 3E4 vg/cell, as described in Example 6.
- FIG.13B is a bar plot showing percent editing at the AAVS1 locus in human iNs transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system using the indicated gRNA scaffolds (AAV construct ID # 262-274) at the MOI of 1E4 vg/cell, as described in Example 6.
- FIG.13C is a bar plot showing percent editing at the AAVS1 locus in human iNs transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system using the indicated gRNA scaffolds (AAV construct ID # 262-274) at the MOI of 3E3 vg/cell, as described in Example 6.
- FIG.14A is a bar plot showing the quantification of percent knockout of B2M in HEK293 cells transfected with CpG-depleted AAV plasmids containing the indicated gRNA scaffolds with spacer 7.37 (AAV construct ID # 275-289) at the MOI of 1E4 vg/cell, as described in Example 6.
- FIG.14B is a bar plot showing the quantification of percent knockout of B2M in HEK293 cells transfected with CpG-depleted AAV plasmids containing the indicated gRNA scaffolds with spacer 7.37 (AAV construct ID # 275-289) at the MOI of 3E3 vg/cell, as described in Example 6.
- FIG.14C is a bar plot showing the quantification of percent knockout of B2M in HEK293 cells transfected with CpG-depleted AAV plasmids containing the indicated gRNA scaffolds with spacer 7.37 (AAV construct ID # 275-289) at the MOI of 1E3 vg/cell, as described in Example 6.
- transcription regulatory element which may be used interchangeably herein with the term “transcription regulatory sequence,” is a nucleotide sequence that is itself not transcribed but controls aspects of transcription of a protein- or RNA product- encoding region, and is intended to include, by way of example, promoters, terminators, enhancers, and silencers.
- post-transcription regulatory element which may be used interchangeably herein with the term “post-transcription regulatory sequence,” is a nucleotide sequence that is transcribed but not translated, and controls aspects of translation, stability, or localization of the transcript. and is intended to include, by way of example, ribosome binding sites, internal ribosome entry sites, polyadenylation signal sequences, introns, nuclear localization signals (NLS), and self-cleaving sequences.
- promoter refers to a nucleotide sequence that contains a transcription start site and additional sequences to facilitate polymerase binding and transcription.
- exemplary eukaryotic promoters include elements such as a TATA box, and/or B recognition element (BRE) and assists or promotes the transcription and expression of an associated transcribable polynucleotide sequence and/or gene (or transgene).
- a promoter can be synthetically produced or can be derived from a known or naturally occurring promoter sequence or another promoter sequence.
- a promoter can be proximal or distal to the gene to be transcribed.
- a promoter can also include a chimeric promoter comprising a combination of two or more heterologous sequences to confer certain properties.
- a promoter of the present disclosure can include variants of promoter sequences that are similar in composition, but not identical to, other promoter sequence(s) known or provided herein.
- a promoter can be classified according to criteria relating to the pattern of expression of an associated coding or transcribable sequence or gene operably linked to the promoter, such as constitutive, developmental, tissue-specific, inducible, etc.
- a promoter can also be classified according to its strength.
- a promoter of the disclosure can be a Polymerase II (Pol II) promoter. Polymerase II transcribes all protein coding and many non-coding genes.
- a representative Pol II promoter may include a core promoter, which is a sequence of about 100 base pairs surrounding the transcription start site, and serves as a binding platform for the Pol II polymerase and associated general transcription factors.
- the promoter may contain one or more core promoter elements such as the TATA box, BRE, Initiator (INR), motif ten element (MTE), downstream core promoter element (DPE), downstream core element (DCE), although core promoters lacking these elements are known in the art. All Pol II promoters are envisaged as within the scope of the instant disclosure.
- a promoter of the disclosure can be a Polymerase III (Pol III) promoter. Pol III transcribes DNA to synthesize small ribosomal RNAs such as the 5S rRNA, tRNAs, and other small RNAs.
- Pol III promoters may use internal control sequences (sequences within the transcribed section of the gene) to support transcription, although upstream elements such as the TATA box are also sometimes used. All Pol III promoters are envisaged as within the scope of the instant disclosure.
- the term “enhancer” refers to regulatory DNA sequences that, when bound by specific proteins called transcription factors, regulate the expression of an associated gene. Enhancers may be located in the intron of the gene, or 5’ or 3’ of the coding sequence of the gene.
- Enhancers may be proximal to the gene (i.e., within a few tens or hundreds of base pairs (bp) of the promoter) or may be located distal to the gene (i.e., thousands of bp, hundreds of thousands of bp, or even millions of bp away from the promoter).
- a single gene may be regulated by more than one enhancer, all of which are envisaged as within the scope of the instant disclosure.
- “Recombinant,” as used herein, means that a particular nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) is the product of various combinations of cloning, restriction, and/or ligation steps resulting in a construct having a structural coding or non-coding sequence distinguishable from endogenous nucleic acids found in natural systems.
- DNA sequences encoding the structural coding sequence can be assembled from cDNA fragments and short oligonucleotide linkers, or from a series of synthetic oligonucleotides, to provide a synthetic nucleic acid which is capable of being expressed from a recombinant transcriptional unit contained in a cell or in a cell-free transcription and translation system.
- Such sequences can be provided in the form of an open reading frame uninterrupted by internal non-translated sequences, or introns, which are typically present in eukaryotic genes.
- Genomic DNA comprising the relevant sequences can also be used in the formation of a recombinant gene or transcriptional unit.
- sequences of non-translated DNA may be present 5’ or 3’ from the open reading frame, where such sequences do not interfere with manipulation or expression of the coding regions, and may indeed act to modulate production of a desired product by various mechanisms (see “enhancers” and “promoters”, above).
- the term “recombinant polynucleotide” or “recombinant nucleic acid” refers to one which is not naturally occurring, e.g., is made by the artificial combination of two otherwise separated segments of sequence through human intervention. This artificial combination is often accomplished by either chemical synthesis means, or by the artificial manipulation of isolated segments of nucleic acids, e.g., by genetic engineering techniques.
- nucleic acid segments of desired functions are joined together to generate a desired combination of functions.
- This artificial combination is often accomplished by either chemical synthesis means, or by the artificial manipulation of isolated segments of nucleic acids, e.g., by genetic engineering techniques.
- the term “recombinant polypeptide” or “recombinant protein” refers to a polypeptide or protein which is not naturally occurring, e.g., is made by the artificial combination of two otherwise separated segments of amino sequence through human intervention.
- a protein that comprises a heterologous amino acid sequence is recombinant.
- the term “contacting” means establishing a physical connection between two or more entities. For example, contacting a target nucleic acid with a guide nucleic acid means that the target nucleic acid and the guide nucleic acid are made to share a physical connection, e.g., can hybridize if the sequences share sequence similarity.
- the disclosure provides compositions and methods useful for modifying a target nucleic acid. As used herein “modifying” and “modification” are used interchangeably and include, but are not limited to, cleaving, nicking, editing, deleting, knocking in, knocking out, and the like.
- a polynucleotide or polypeptide has a certain percent "sequence similarity" or “sequence identity” to another polynucleotide or polypeptide, meaning that, when aligned, that percentage of bases or amino acids are the same, and in the same relative position, when comparing the two sequences.
- Sequence similarity (sometimes referred to as percent similarity, percent identity, or homology) can be determined in a number of different manners. To determine sequence similarity, sequences can be aligned using the methods and computer programs that are known in the art, including BLAST, available over the world wide web at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST.
- Percent complementarity between particular stretches of nucleic acid sequences within nucleic acids can be determined using any convenient method.
- Example methods include BLAST programs (basic local alignment search tools) and PowerBLAST programs (Altschul et al., J. Mol. Biol., 1990, 215, 403-410; Zhang and Madden, Genome Res., 1997, 7, 649-656) or by using the Gap program (Wisconsin Sequence Analysis Package, Version 8 for Unix, Genetics Computer Group, University Research Park, Madison Wis.), e.g., using default settings, which uses the algorithm of Smith and Waterman (Adv. Appl. Math., 1981, 2, 482-489).
- polypeptide and “protein” are used interchangeably herein, and refer to a polymeric form of amino acids of any length, which can include coded and non-coded amino acids, chemically or biochemically modified or derivatized amino acids, and polypeptides having modified peptide backbones.
- the term includes fusion proteins, including, but not limited to, fusion proteins with a heterologous amino acid sequence.
- a “vector” or “expression vector” is a replicon, such as plasmid, phage, virus, or cosmid, to which another DNA segment, i.e., an expression cassette, may be attached so as to bring about the replication or expression of the attached segment in a cell.
- a “mutation” refers to an insertion, deletion, substitution, duplication, or inversion of one or more amino acids or nucleotides as compared to a wild-type or reference amino acid sequence or to a wild-type or reference nucleotide sequence.
- the amino acid or nucleotide sequence prior to the mutation may be referred to herein as a parental sequence.
- the term “isolated” is meant to describe a polynucleotide, a polypeptide, or a cell that is in an environment different from that in which the polynucleotide, the polypeptide, or the cell naturally occurs.
- An isolated genetically modified host cell may be present in a mixed population of genetically modified host cells.
- a “host cell,” as used herein, denotes a eukaryotic cell, a prokaryotic cell, or a cell from a multicellular organism (e.g., a cell line) cultured as a unicellular entity, which eukaryotic or prokaryotic cells are used as recipients for a nucleic acid (e.g., an AAV vector), and include the progeny of the original cell which has been genetically modified by the nucleic acid. It is understood that the progeny of a single cell may not necessarily be completely identical in morphology or in genomic or total DNA complement as the original parent, due to natural, accidental, or deliberate mutation.
- a “recombinant host cell” (also referred to as a “genetically modified host cell”) is a host cell into which has been introduced a heterologous nucleic acid, e.g., an AAV vector.
- treatment or “treating,” are used interchangeably herein and refer to an approach for obtaining beneficial or desired results, including but not limited to a therapeutic benefit and/or a prophylactic benefit.
- therapeutic benefit is meant eradication or amelioration of the underlying disorder or disease being treated.
- a therapeutic benefit can also be achieved with the eradication or amelioration of one or more of the symptoms or an improvement in one or more clinical parameters associated with the underlying disease such that an improvement is observed in the subject, notwithstanding that the subject may still be afflicted with the underlying disorder.
- the terms “therapeutically effective amount” and “therapeutically effective dose”, as used herein, refer to an amount of a drug or a biologic, alone or as a part of a composition, that is capable of having any detectable, beneficial effect on any symptom, aspect, measured parameter or characteristics of a disease state or condition when administered in one or repeated doses to a subject such as a human or an experimental animal. Such effect need not be absolute to be beneficial.
- administering means a method of giving a dosage of a compound (e.g., a composition of the disclosure) or a composition (e.g., a pharmaceutical composition) to a subject.
- a “subject” is a mammal. Mammals include, but are not limited to, domesticated animals, non-human primates, humans, dogs, rabbits, mice, rats and other rodents. All publications, patents, and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent, or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference.
- Polynucleotides comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element and/or a CpG- reduced coding sequence are provided herein.
- polynucleotides comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element comprising no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
- the polynucleotide comprises a plurality of CpG-reduced regulatory elements, each comprising no more than about no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
- the CpG-reduced regulatory element of the disclosure may be devoid of CpG dinucleotides (depleted of CpG dinucleotides). In some embodiments, the CpG-reduced regulatory element may retain at least about 70%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% or more of its functional properties compared to the unmodified regulatory element. As described in detail in the Examples, the CpG-reduced regulatory elements described herein are effective for expressing a Cas protein (provided as exemplary) and corresponding guide RNA and achieving gene editing in cells at levels that are comparable to their non-CpG-reduced counterparts.
- the CpG-reduced regulatory element may be a CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element or a CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element.
- a protein-encoding sequence or an RNA product-encoding sequence may be under control of the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element.
- the CpG- reduced post-transcription regulatory element may be configured to be transcribed together with a sequence encoding a protein or an RNA product.
- the sequence encoding a protein and/or an RNA product is CpG reduced.
- the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element may be a promoter, a terminator, an enhancer, or a silencer.
- the promoter may be an RNA polymerase III promoter or an RNA polymerase II promoter.
- the promoter may be, a U1a promoter, a UbC promoter, or a U6 promoter or an isoform thereof.
- the promoter comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15 as set forth in Table 2 and SEQ ID NOS: 310-315 as set forth in Table 13, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- the promoter comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15.
- the promoter consists of a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15 and 310-315.
- the CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element may be a poly(A) signal sequence, an intron, a nuclear localization signal (NLS), or a self-cleaving sequence.
- the poly(A) signal sequence may comprise a bovine growth hormone (bGH) poly(A) signal sequence.
- bGH bovine growth hormone
- An exemplary CpG-reduced poly(A) signal sequence is set forth in the Examples in Table 4.
- the poly(A) signal sequence comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- the poly(A) signal sequence comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17.
- the poly(A) signal sequence consists of the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17.
- CpG-reduced coding sequences including CpG-reduced protein-encoding sequences and CpG-reduced RNA-product encoding sequences.
- polynucleotides comprising a CpG-reduced coding sequence comprising no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
- the CpG-reduced coding sequence is devoid of CpG dinucleotides.
- the CpG-reduced coding sequence retains at least about 70%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% or more of the ability to result in an expressed gene product compared to a non-CpG-reduced coding sequence.
- the polynucleotide further comprises a CpG-reduced regulatory element, e.g., any one of the CpG-reduced regulatory elements described herein.
- the protein-encoding CpG-reduced sequence may encode any protein, and may be a protein selected from the group consisting of: a structural protein, a contractile protein, an enzyme, a hormonal protein, a nuclease, a storage protein, a transport protein, a complement protein, a receptor, an antibody or a fragment thereof, an antibody fusion protein, an intracellular signaling protein, a cytokine, a growth factor, an interleukin, a microprotein, an engineered protein scaffold, a transcription factor, a viral interferon antagonist, or an engineered therapeutic protein.
- the enzyme may include a nuclease.
- the encoded nuclease may be a CRISPR-associated (Cas) protein.
- the encoded Cas protein may be a Class 2, Type II protein, or a Class 2 Type V protein.
- the encoded Class 2 Type II protein may be a Cas 9.
- the encoded Class 2 Type V protein may be selected from the group consisting of: CasX, Cas12a (Cpf1), Cas12b (C2c1), Cas12c (C2c3), Cas12d (CasY), Cas12e (CasX), Cas12f, Cas12g, Cas12h, Cas12i, Cas12j, Cas12k, Cas14, and Cas ⁇ .
- the Class 2 Type V protein is CasX.
- the encoded Class 2 Type V protein is a CasX protein, and comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 95-255 and 317-320, or a sequence having at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- Exemplary CpG-reduced sequences that encode CasX are provided in the Examples in Tables 8 and 15.
- the protein-encoding sequence comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 29-35 and 64-75, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- the protein-encoding sequence comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 29-35 and 64-75.
- the protein-encoding sequence consists of a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 29-35 and 64-75.
- additional CasX sequences contemplated by the disclosure include those generated by introducing two or three mutations into the sequence of CasX 515 (SEQ ID NO: 320), wherein the CasX exhibit one or more improved characteristics of increased editing activity of a target nucleic acid, increased editing specificity of a target nucleic acid, and increased specificity ratio of a target nucleic acid; exemplary resultant sequences include, but are not limited to, SEQ ID NOS: 95-255 and 317- 320.
- RNA-encoding sequences including CpG-reduced RNA- encoding sequences.
- the RNA-encoding sequence may encode any RNA product, and may be selected from the group consisting of an siRNA, an rRNA, a tRNA, or a guide RNA (gRNA).
- the gRNA is a CasX gRNA.
- Such gRNAs encoded by the polynucleotides of the disclosure may comprise two segments: a targeting sequence and a protein-binding segment.
- the targeting segment of a gRNA linked to the 3' end of the scaffold, includes a nucleotide sequence (referred to interchangeably as a guide sequence, a spacer, a targeter, or a targeting sequence) that is complementary to (and therefore hybridizes with) a specific sequence (a target site) within the target nucleic acid sequence (e.g., a strand of a double stranded target DNA, a target ssRNA, a target ssDNA, etc.).
- the targeting sequence of a gRNA is capable of binding to a target nucleic acid sequence, including, in the context of the present disclosure, a coding sequence, a complement of a coding sequence, a non-coding sequence, and to accessory elements.
- the targeting sequence comprises 15 to 20 nucleotides complementary to, and able to hybridized with a target nucleic acid of a gene.
- the protein- binding segment (or “activator” or “protein-binding sequence”) interacts with (e.g., binds to) a Cas protein such as CasX protein as a complex, forming an RNP (described more fully, below).
- the protein-binding segment is alternatively referred to herein as a “scaffold”, which is comprised of several regions, described more fully, below.
- the properties and characteristics of CasX gRNA, both wild-type and variants, are described in WO2020247882A1, US20220220508A1, and WO2022120095A1, incorporated by reference herein.
- sequence encoding the scaffold comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38-59, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- sequence encoding the scaffold comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38-59.
- the sequence encoding the scaffold consists of a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38-59.
- the polynucleotide is configured for inclusion in a recombinant viral vector (e.g., comprising a viral vector sequence such as a transgene with inverted terminal repeat (ITR) sequences for recombinant AAV vectors or a long terminal repeat (LTR) sequence for recombinant lentiviral vectors), as described in detail below. III.
- Recombinant viral vectors comprising CpG-reduced regulatory elements and/or CpG-reduced coding sequences
- a recombinant viral vector comprising any one of the polynucleotides comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element and/or a CpG-reduced coding sequence as described herein.
- the recombinant viral vector is a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) or a recombinant lentivirus.
- the disclosure provides a host cell, optionally a mammalian cell, comprising an embodiment of the recombinant viral vector as described herein.
- the disclosure provides a method for regulating gene expression in a subject, the method comprising administering a dose of and embodiment of the recombinant viral vector as described herein.
- the disclosure provides a method of treating a condition in a subject, the method comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective dose of an embodiment of the recombinant viral vector as described herein.
- Recombinant AAV (rAAV) vectors [0067] rAAV vectors are an important tool for delivering gene therapies and gene editing systems to patients. A challenge with utilizing rAAV vectors for treatment of a subject is the host immune response to the rAAV (Hamilton BA, Wright JF. Front Immunol.
- the host immune response is believed to limit the lifespan of therapeutic gene expression of the gene editing systems delivered by an rAAV in a subject, and can also produce clinically significant inflammation.
- the present disclosure provides polynucleotides that are designed to be less immunogenic due to modifications to reduce or deplete the number of CpG dinucleotides in the polynucleotides.
- the polynucleotides described herein are particularly useful for generating rAAV vectors that are expected to stimulate the host immune response to a lesser extent than polynucleotides not modified to reduce the CpG content, and therefore be more effective when administered to a subject.
- the rAAV vector comprises one or more of the polynucleotides described herein.
- the rAAV vector comprises an inverted terminal repeat (ITR) that is CpG-reduced.
- ITR inverted terminal repeat
- the rAAV vector comprises a 5’ ITR comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 20, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- the rAAV vector comprises a 3’ ITR comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 21, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- the rAAV vector comprises a promoter comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15 as set forth in Table 2, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- the rAAV vector comprises a Pol III promoter operably linked to an RNA-encoding sequence.
- the rAAV vector comprises a Pol III promoter operably linked to a sequence encoding a gRNA (e.g., any one of the CpG-reduced sequence embodiments encoding gRNAs described herein). Any one of the Pol III promoters described herein may be operably linked to any one of the RNA-encoding sequences (e.g., a sequence encoding a gRNA) described herein. In some embodiments, the rAAV vector comprises a Pol II promoter operably linked to a protein-encoding sequence.
- the rAAV vector comprises a Pol II promoter operably linked to a sequence encoding CasX, e.g., any one of the CpG-reduced sequence embodiments encoding CasX described herein. Any one of the Pol II promoters described herein may be operably linked to any one of the protein-encoding sequences (e.g., a sequence encoding CasX) described herein.
- a CpG-reduced recombinant viral vector may exhibit a reduced immune response in an in vitro mammalian cell assay designed to detect production of one or more markers of an inflammatory response compared to a control recombinant viral vector that has not been modified to reduce CpG dinucleotides, when assayed under comparable conditions. Exemplary assays are described herein in the Examples.
- the markers are selected from the group consisting of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL- 12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- ⁇ ), interferon gamma (IFN ⁇ ), and granulocyte- macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
- TLR9 Toll-like receptor 9
- IL-1 interleukin-1
- IL-6 interleukin-1
- IL-12 tumor necrosis factor alpha
- IFN ⁇ interferon gamma
- GM-CSF granulocyte- macrophage colony stimulating factor
- the recombinant viral vector may reduce production of the one or more markers by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% compared to the control recombinant viral vector.
- the reduced immune response is exhibited in a subject.
- administration of a dose of the recombinant viral vector to the subject elicits a reduced immune response in the subject compared to administration of a comparable dose of a control recombinant viral vector that has not been modified to reduce CpG dinucleotides administered to a subject.
- the reduced immune response in the subject may be a reduction of a production of antibodies that specifically bind to a recombinant viral vector as described herein, or reduction of a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to a component thereof.
- the reduced immune response in the subject is determined by measurement of one or more inflammatory markers in the blood of the subject selected from the group consisting of TLR9, interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- ⁇ ), interferon gamma (IFN ⁇ ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
- the one or more inflammatory markers may be reduced by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90%, compared to administration of a comparable dose of the control recombinant viral vector. IV.
- Methods for reducing CpG dinucelotides comprising: providing a parental polynucleotide; and modifying the parental polynucleotide to generate a CpG-reduced polynucleotide that contains no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
- the parental polynucleotide and the CpG-reduced polynucleotide comprises one or more regulatory elements.
- the CpG- reduced polynucleotide may be devoid of CpG dinucleotides. In some embodiments, the CpG- reduced polynucleotide comprises less than about 50%, less than about 40%, less than about 30%, less than about 20%, less than about 10%, or less than about 1% as many CpG dinucleotides compared to the parental polynucleotide. In some embodiments, the CpG-reduced polynucleotide comprises a CpG-reduced regulatory element.
- modifying the parental polynucleotide to a CpG-reduced polynucleotide comprises modifying a CpG dinucleotide comprised in the parental polynucleotide sequence to a GpC dinucleotide. In some embodiments, modifying the parental polynucleotide to a CpG-reduced polynucleotide comprises modifying a CpG dinucleotide comprised in the parental polynucleotide sequence based on a homologous nucleotide sequence of the parental polynucleotide from a different species.
- the method may further comprise evaluating a functional property of the CpG-reduced regulatory element.
- the functional property is retained within a predetermined threshold compared to the parental polynucleotide.
- the CpG-reduced regulatory element retains at least about 70%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% of its functional properties compared to a non-CpG-reduced counterpart regulatory element.
- the method may comprise incorporating the CpG-reduced polynucleotide into a first recombinant viral vector and the parental polynucleotide into a second recombinant viral vector.
- the first and second recombinant viral vectors may each be a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) or a recombinant lentivirus.
- the method may comprise evaluating a potential of the first viral vector for inducing an immune response compared to the second recombinant viral vector.
- the potential for inducing the immune response may be evaluated in an in vitro mammalian cell assay designed to detect production of one or more markers of an inflammatory response selected from the group consisting of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- ⁇ ), interferon gamma (IFN ⁇ ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
- TLR9 Toll-like receptor 9
- IL-1 interleukin-1
- IL-6 interleukin-6
- IL-12 interferon gamma
- IFN ⁇ interferon gamma
- GM-CSF granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor
- the first recombinant viral vector may reduce production of the one or more markers of the inflammatory response by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% compared to the second recombinant viral vector.
- the potential for inducing the immune response may be evaluated in a subject, wherein, administration of a dose of the first recombinant viral vector to a subject elicits a reduced immune response in the subject compared to administration of a comparable dose of the second recombinant viral vector.
- the reduced immune response in the subject is a reduction of the production of antibodies that specifically bind to the respective recombinant viral vector of the first and second recombinant viral vectors, or a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to a component thereof.
- the reduced immune response is determined by the measurement of one or more inflammatory markers in the blood of the subject selected from the group consisting of TLR9, interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL- 18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- ⁇ ), interferon gamma (IFN ⁇ ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
- the one or more inflammatory markers induced by the first recombinant viral vector are reduced by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90%, compared to administration of the second recombinant viral vector.
- a method of reducing the immune response in a cell comprising contacting the cell with an embodiment of the recombinant viral vector described herein.
- the immune response may be detected by production of one or more markers of an inflammatory response selected from the group consisting of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- ⁇ ), interferon gamma (IFN ⁇ ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
- TLR9 Toll-like receptor 9
- IL-1 interleukin-1
- IL-6 interleukin-1
- IL-12 interleukin-12
- IL-18 tumor necrosis factor alpha
- IFN ⁇ interferon gamma
- GM-CSF granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor
- the subject has one or more mutations in a gene, wherein administration of the rAAV is administered to modify the gene, either to knock down or knock out expression of the gene product.
- the rAAV is administered to correct one or more mutations in a gene of the subject.
- the methods of the disclosure can prevent, treat and/or ameliorate a condition such as a disease of a subject by the administering to the subject of an rAAV vector composition with CpG- reduced components of the disclosure.
- the composition administered to the subject further comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent, or excipient.
- kits for regulating gene expression in a subject comprising administering a dose of any one of the recombinant viral vectors with CpG- reduced components described herein.
- the Cas protein and gRNA upon transduction of a cell of the subject, are capable of being expressed and can complex as an RNP to bind and modify a target nucleic acid of a gene in cells of the subject.
- the method comprises modifying a gene in a cell of a subject, the modifying comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically-effective dose of an recombinant viral vector encoding a Cas protein (e.g., CasX) and a gRNA as described herein, wherein the targeting sequence of the encoded gRNA has a sequence that hybridizes with a target nucleic acid of the gene, resulting in the modification of the gene by the Cas protein.
- a Cas protein e.g., CasX
- gRNA e.g., CasX
- the methods described herein comprise administering to the subject the rAAV vector of the embodiments with CpG-reduced components described herein via an administration route selected from the group consisting of subcutaneous, intradermal, intraneural, intranodal, intramedullary, intramuscular, intralumbar, intrathecal, subarachnoid, intraventricular, intracapsular, intravenous, intralymphatical, intraocular or intraperitoneal routes, wherein the administering method is injection, transfusion, or implantation.
- the subject is selected from the group consisting of mouse, rat, pig, non-human primate, and human.
- the subject is a human.
- the administering of the therapeutically effective amount of a polynucleotide or a recombinant viral vector with CpG-reduced components as described herein to knock down or knock out expression of a gene having one or more mutations leads to the prevention or amelioration of the underlying condition such that an improvement is observed in the subject, notwithstanding that the subject may still be afflicted with the underlying disease.
- the administration of the therapeutically effective amount of the polynucleotide or a recombinant viral vector leads to an improvement in at least one clinically- relevant parameter for the disease.
- the disclosure provides compositions of any of the polynucleotides and recombinant viral vectors (e.g., rAAVs) with CpG-reduced components described herein for the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of a human in need thereof.
- the medicament is administered to the subject according to a treatment regimen comprising one or more consecutive doses using a therapeutically effective dose.
- kits comprising a polynucleotide comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element or recombinant viral vector with CpG-reduced components of any of the embodiments of the disclosure, and a suitable container (for example a tube, vial or plate).
- the kit further comprises a buffer, a nuclease inhibitor, a protease inhibitor, a liposome, a therapeutic agent, a label, a label visualization reagent, or any combination of the foregoing.
- the kit further comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent or excipient.
- the kit provides instructions for use.
- ENUMERATED EMBODIMENTS [0088] The invention may be defined by reference to the following enumerated, illustrative embodiments.
- Embodiment 1 A polynucleotide comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element, comprising no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
- Embodiment 2 A polynucleotide comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element, comprising no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
- Embodiment 3 The polynucleotide of embodiment 1 or embodiment 2, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is devoid of CpG dinucleotides.
- Embodiment 4 The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 1-3, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element.
- Embodiment 6 The polynucleotide of embodiment 5, wherein the promoter is an RNA polymerase III promoter or an RNA polymerase II promoter.
- Embodiment 7. The polynucleotide of embodiment 5, wherein the promoter is a UbC promoter, a U1a promoter, a U6 promoter, or an isoform thereof.
- Embodiment 9 The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 4-8, comprising a protein-encoding sequence or an RNA-encoding sequence under the control of the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element.
- the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element.
- Embodiment 11 The polynucleotide of embodiment 10, wherein the CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a poly(A) signal sequence, an intron, a nuclear localization signal (NLS), and a self-cleaving sequence.
- Embodiment 12 Embodiment 12.
- poly(A) signal sequence comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17 as set forth in Table 4, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- Embodiment 13 The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 10-12, wherein the CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element is configured to be transcribed together with a protein-encoding sequence.
- Embodiment 14 Embodiment 14.
- a protein selected from the group consisting of a structural protein, a contractile protein, an enzyme, a hormonal protein, a storage protein, a transport protein, a complement protein, a receptor, an antibody or fragment thereof, an antibody fusion protein, an intracellular signaling protein, a cytokine, a growth factor, an interleukin, a microprotein, an engineered protein scaffold, a transcription factor, a viral interferon antagonist, and an engineered
- Embodiment 17 The polynucleotide of embodiment 15, wherein the nuclease is a CRISPR associated (Cas) protein.
- Embodiment 17 The polynucleotide of embodiment 16, wherein the Cas protein is a Class 2 Type II protein or a Class 2 Type V protein.
- Embodiment 18 The polynucleotide of embodiment 17, wherein the Class 2 Type II protein is Cas9.
- Embodiment 19 Embodiment 19.
- the polynucleotide of embodiment 17, wherein the Class 2 Type V protein is selected from the group consisting of Cas12a (Cpf1), Cas12b (C2c1), Cas12c (C2c3), Cas12d (CasY), Cas12e (CasX), Cas12f, Cas12g, Cas12h, Cas12i, Cas12j, Cas12k, Cas14, and Cas ⁇ .
- the Class 2 Type V protein is selected from the group consisting of Cas12a (Cpf1), Cas12b (C2c1), Cas12c (C2c3), Cas12d (CasY), Cas12e (CasX), Cas12f, Cas12g, Cas12h, Cas12i, Cas12j, Cas12k, Cas14, and Cas ⁇ .
- Embodiment 21 Embodiment 21.
- Embodiment 22 The polynucleotide of embodiment 9, wherein the RNA-encoding sequence encodes an siRNA, a miRNA, an rRNA, a tRNA, or a gRNA.
- Embodiment 23 The polynucleotide of 22, wherein the RNA-encoding sequence encodes a gRNA comprising a scaffold comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38-59 as set forth in Table 10, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- Embodiment 24 Embodiment 24.
- Embodiment 25 A polynucleotide comprising a CpG-reduced coding sequence, wherein the sequence comprises no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
- Embodiment 26 A polynucleotide comprising a CpG-reduced coding sequence, wherein the sequence comprises no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
- Embodiment 27 The polynucleotide of embodiment 25 or embodiment 26, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encodes a CasX protein.
- Embodiment 28 The polynucleotide of embodiment 25 or embodiment 26, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encodes a CasX protein.
- Embodiment 30 The polynucleotide of embodiment 25 or embodiment 26, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encodes a gRNA comprising a scaffold.
- the polynucleotide of 29, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encoding the gRNA scaffold comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38-59, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- Embodiment 32 Embodiment 32.
- Embodiment 33 The polynucleotide of embodiment 32, comprising a plurality of CpG-reduced regulatory elements, each comprising no more than about no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
- Embodiment 34 Embodiment 34.
- Embodiment 35 The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 32-34, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element.
- Embodiment 36 The polynucleotide of embodiment 35, wherein the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a promoter, a terminator, an enhancer, and a silencer.
- Embodiment 37 Embodiment 37.
- Embodiment 38 The polynucleotide of embodiment 36, wherein the promoter is a UbC promoter, a U1a promoter, or a U6 promoter.
- Embodiment 39 The polynucleotide of embodiment 36, wherein the promoter is a UbC promoter, a U1a promoter, or a U6 promoter.
- the polynucleotide of embodiment 36 wherein the promoter comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15 as set forth in Table 2, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- Embodiment 40 The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 32-34, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element.
- Embodiment 41 Embodiment 41.
- the polynucleotide of embodiment 40 wherein the CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a poly(A) signal sequence, an intron, a nuclear localization signal (NLS), and a self-cleaving sequence.
- Embodiment 42 The polynucleotide of embodiment 41, wherein the poly(A) signal sequence comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17 as set forth in Table 4, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- Embodiment 43 The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 25-42, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence retains at least about 70%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% of the ability to result in an expressed gene product compared to a non-CpG-reduced coding sequence.
- Embodiment 44 The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 1-43, wherein the polynucleotide is configured for inclusion in a recombinant viral vector.
- Embodiment 45 A recombinant viral vector comprising the polynucleotide of embodiment 44.
- Embodiment 46 A recombinant viral vector comprising the polynucleotide of embodiment 44.
- the recombinant viral vector of embodiment 45 wherein the recombinant viral vector exhibits a reduced immune response in an in vitro mammalian cell assay designed to detect production of one or more markers of an inflammatory response compared to a control recombinant viral vector that has not been modified to reduce CpG dinucleotides, when assayed under comparable conditions.
- Embodiment 47 Embodiment 47.
- the recombinant viral vector of embodiment 46 wherein the one or more markers of an inflammatory response are selected from the group consisting of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- ⁇ ), interferon gamma (IFN ⁇ ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
- TLR9 Toll-like receptor 9
- IL-1 interleukin-1
- IL-6 interleukin-1
- IL-12 interleukin-12
- IL-18 tumor necrosis factor alpha
- IFN ⁇ interferon gamma
- GM-CSF granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor
- Embodiment 49 The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 45, wherein the recombinant viral vector exhibits a reduced immune response when administered to a subject compared to the immune response of a comparable dose of a control recombinant viral vector that has not been modified to reduce CpG dinucleotides administered to a subject.
- Embodiment 50 Embodiment 50.
- the recombinant viral vector of embodiment 49 wherein the reduced immune response in the subject is a reduction of a production of antibodies that specifically bind to the recombinant viral vector, or reduction of a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to a component thereof.
- Embodiment 51 The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 49, wherein the reduced immune response is determined by measurement of one or more inflammatory markers in the blood of the subject selected from the group consisting of TLR9, interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL- 6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- ⁇ ), interferon gamma (IFN ⁇ ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
- TLR9 interleukin-1
- IL- 6 interleukin-12
- IFN ⁇ interferon gamma
- GM-CSF granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor
- Embodiment 52 The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 51, wherein the one or more inflammatory markers are reduced by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90%, compared to administration of a comparable dose of the control recombinant viral vector.
- Embodiment 53 The recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45-52, wherein the recombinant viral vector is a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) or a recombinant lentivirus.
- Embodiment 54 Embodiment 54.
- the recombinant viral vector of embodiment 53 wherein the rAAV comprises: [00143] (a) a 5’ inverted terminal repeat (ITR) comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 20, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto, and/or [00144] (b) a 3’ ITR comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 21, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
- ITR inverted terminal repeat
- Embodiment 55 The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 54, further comprising an AAV capsid protein.
- Embodiment 56 A cell comprising the recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45-55.
- Embodiment 57 Embodiment 57.
- a method for regulating gene expression in a subject comprising administering a dose of the recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45- 55, [00148] wherein the recombinant viral vector encodes a Cas protein and a gRNA comprising a targeting sequence of 15 to 20 nucleotides complementary to a target nucleic acid of a gene of the subject, [00149] wherein upon transduction of a cell of the subject, the Cas protein and gRNA are capable of being expressed, and [00150] wherein the gene is modified by the expressed Cas protein.
- Embodiment 58 Embodiment 58.
- a method for treating a condition in a subject comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective dose of the recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45-55.
- Embodiment 59 A method of reducing CpG dinucleotides in a polynucleotide, comprising: [00153] (a) providing a parental polynucleotide; and [00154] (b) modifying the parental polynucleotide to generate a CpG-reduced polynucleotide that contains no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
- Embodiment 60 The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 1-44 or the recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45-55, for use in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of a disease.
- Embodiment 61 A kit comprising the polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 1- 44 or the recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45-55, and a suitable container.
- nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs in AAV components were designed in silico.
- nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs were designed based on homologous nucleotide sequences from related species to produce CpG-reduced variants for the following elements: the murine U1a snRNA (small nuclear RNA) gene promoter, the human UbC (polyubiquitin C) gene promoter, and the human U6 promoter.
- Table 1 which provides parental sequences of a murine U1a promoter, a human UbC promoter, and a human U6 promoter prior to CpG reduction and Table 2, which provides sequences of CpG-reduced variants of the promoters listed in Table 1. Similar modifications were made to produce a CpG-reduced variant of a bGHpA (bovine growth hormone polyadenylation) signal sequence.
- Table 3 provides a parental sequence of a bGHpA prior to CpG reduction and Table 4, which provides a sequence of a CpG-reduced variant of the bGHpA listed in Table 3.
- AAV2 ITRs were CpG-depleted as previously described (Pan X, Yue Y, Boftsi M. et al., 2021, Rational engineering of a functional CpG-free ITR for AAV gene therapy. Gene Ther.) Table 5 provides parental ITR sequences prior to CpG reduction and Table 6, which provides sequences of CpG-reduced variants of the ITRs listed in Table 5. [00160] Nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs in exemplary CasX proteins were rationally designed for codon optimization, so that the amino acid sequence of the CpG- reduced Cas-encoding sequence would be the same as the amino acid sequence of the corresponding native Cas-encoding sequence.
- Table 7 provides parental Cas sequences prior to CpG reduction and Table 8, which provides sequences of CpG-reduced variants of the Cas proteins listed in Table 7. Furthermore, nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs within the base gRNA scaffold variants (gRNA scaffold 235 and 316) were rationally designed with the intent to preserve editing activity. The rational design process for the CpG reduction of the gRNA sequences is further described herein below.
- Table 9 provides parental gRNA sequences prior to CpG reduction and Table 10, which provides sequences of CpG-reduced variants of the gRNAs listed in Table 9.
- Table 3 Parental sequence for PolyA signal sequence
- Table 4 Sequences of CpG-reduced PolyA signal sequence
- Table 5 Sequences of parental AAV ITR sequences
- Table 6 Sequences of CpG-reduced or depleted AAV ITR sequences
- Table 7 Parental nucleotide sequences encoding CasX proteins
- Table 8 CpG-depleted nucleotide sequences encoding CasX proteins
- Table 9 Parental sequences encoding gRNA scaffolds
- Table 10 Sequences encoding CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds
- Design of CpG-reduced guide scaffolds [00162] Nucleotide substitutions were rationally-designed to replace native CpG motifs within the base gRNA scaffold variant (gRNA scaffold 235) with the intent to preserve editing activity while reducing scaffold immunogenicity.
- Scaffold 235 contains a total of eight CpG elements; six of which are predicted to basepair and form complementary strands of a double- stranded secondary structure. Therefore, the six basepairing CpGs forming three pairs were mutated in concert to maintain these double-stranded secondary structures (FIG.1A). These mutations reduced the count of independent CpG-containing regions to five (three CpG pairs and two single CpGs) to be considered independently for CpG-removal.
- mutations were designed in (1) the pseudoknot stem, (2) the scaffold stem, (3) the extended stem bubble, (4) the extended step, and (5) the extended stem loop, as diagrammed in FIG.1B and as described in detail below.
- the pseudoknot stem region 1
- the CpG pair was flipped to a GpC to minimize the alteration of the base composition and sequence. Based on previous experiments involving replacing individual base pairs, it was anticipated that this mutation was not likely to be detrimental to the structure and function of the guide RNA scaffold.
- the CpG pair was flipped to a GpC to minimize the alteration of the base composition and sequence.
- the single CpG was removed by one of three strategies. First, the bubble was deleted by mutating CG->C (removing the guanine from the CpG dinucleotide). Second, the bubble was resolved to restore ideal basepairing by mutating CG->CT (substituting thymine for guanine in the CpG dinucleoide).
- the CpGs were changed to a GG and a complementary CC motif. Similar to region 3, based on the relative robustness of the extended stem to small changes, it was anticipated that this mutation was not likely to be detrimental to the structure and function of the guide RNA scaffold.
- the extended stem loop (region 5) was mutated in one of three ways that were designed based on previous experiments examining the stability of the stem loop. In particular, several variations of the stem loop had previously been shown to have similar stability levels, and some of these variations of the stem loop do not contain CpGs. Based on these findings, first, the loop was replaced with a new loop with a CUUG sequence. Second, the loop was replaced with a new loop with a GAAA sequence.
- the GAAA loop replacement would generate a novel CpG adjacent to the loop, it was combined with a C>G base swap and the corresponding G>C base swap on the complementary strand, ultimately resulting in a CUUCGG>GGAAAC exchange.
- the loop was mutated by the insertion of an A to interrupt the CpG motif and thereby increase the size of the loop from 4 to 5 bases. It was anticipated that randomly mutating the extended stem loop would likely have detrimental effects on secondary structure stability and hence on editing. However, relying on previously confirmed sequences was believed to have a lower risk associated with a replacement. [00168]
- the mutations described above were combined in various configurations.
- Table 11 summarizes combinations of the mutations that were used.
- a 0 indicates that no mutation was introduced to a given region
- a 1, 2, or 3 indicates that a mutation was introduced in that region
- n/a indicates not applicable.
- a 1 indicates that a CG->GC mutation was introduced.
- region 2 the scaffold stem, a 1 indicates that a CG->GC mutation was introduced.
- the extended stem bubble a 1 indicates that the bubble was removed by the deletion of the G and A bases that form the bubble, a 2 indicates that the bubble was resolved by a CG->CT mutation that allows for basepairing between the A and T bases, and a 3 indicates that the extended stem loop was replaced with the extended step loop from guide scaffold 174.
- the extended stem a 1 indicates that a CG GC mutation was introduced.
- the extended stem loop a 1 indicates that the loop was replaced from TTCG to CTTG, a 2 indicates that the loop was replaced along with a basepair adjacent to the loop, from CTTCGG to GGAAAC, and a 3 indicates that an A was inserted between the C and the G.
- Table 11 Summary of mutations for CpG-reduction and depletion in guide scaffold 235 Generation of CpG-depleted AAV plasmids to assess CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds: [00170] The CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds were tested in the context of AAV vectors that were otherwise CpG-depleted, with the exception of the AAV2 ITRs.
- nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs in AAV components were designed in silico based on homologous nucleotide sequences from related species for the following elements: the murine U1a snRNA (small nuclear RNA) gene promoter, the bGHpA (bovine growth hormone polyadenylation) sequence, and the human U6 promoter.
- the coding sequence for CasX 491 was codon-optimized for CpG depletion. All resulting sequences (Tables 10 and 12) were ordered as gene fragments with the appropriate overhangs for cloning and isothermal assembly to replace individually the corresponding elements of the existing base AAV plasmid (construct ID 183).
- Table 12 Sequences of AAV elements (5’-3’ in AAV construct) AAV production
- Suspension-adapted HEK293T cells maintained in FreeStyle 293 media, were seeded in 20-30mL of media at 1.5E6 cells/mL on the day of transfection.
- Endotoxin-free pAAV plasmids with the transgene flanked by ITR repeats were co-transfected with plasmids supplying the adenoviral helper genes for replication and AAV rep/cap genome using PEI Max (Polysciences) in serum-free Opti-MEM media.
- hNPCs human neural progenitor cells
- Plasmid nucleofection into human neural progenitor cells [00175] AAV plasmids encoding the CasX:gRNA system, with or without CpG depletion of the individual elements of the AAV genome, were nucleofected into hNPCs using the Lonza P3 Primary Cell 96-well Nucleofector Kit.
- Plasmids were diluted into two concentrations: 50 ng/ ⁇ L and 25 ng/ ⁇ L.5 ⁇ L of DNA was mixed with 20 ⁇ L of 200,000 hNPCs in the Lonza P3 solution supplemented with 18% V/V P3 supplement. The combined solution was nucleofected using the Lonza 4D Nucleofector System following program EH-100. The nucleofected solution was subsequently quenched with the appropriate culture media and then divided into three wells of a 96-well plate coated with PLF. Seven days post-nucleofection, hNPCs were lifted for B2M protein expression analysis via HLA immunostaining followed by flow cytometry.
- iPSCs induced pluripotent stem cells
- Neuronal cell culture [00178] All neuronal cell culture was performed using N2B27-based media. To induce neuronal differentiation, iPSCs were plated in neuronal plating media (N2B27 base media with 1 ⁇ g/mL doxycycline, 200 ⁇ M L-ascorbic acid, 1 ⁇ M dibutyryl cAMP sodium salt, 10 ⁇ M CultureOne, 100 ng/ml of BDNF, 100 ng/ml of GDNF). iNs (induced neurons) were dissociated, aliquoted, and frozen for long term storage after three days of differentiation (DIV3).
- N2B27 base media with 1 ⁇ g/mL doxycycline, 200 ⁇ M L-ascorbic acid, 1 ⁇ M dibutyryl cAMP sodium salt, 10 ⁇ M CultureOne, 100 ng/ml of BDNF, 100 ng/ml of GDNF.
- DIV3 iNs were thawed and seeded on a 96-well plate at ⁇ 30,000-50,000 cells per well. iNs were cultured for one week in plating media and thereafter, half-media changes were performed once every week using feeding media (N2B27 base media with 200 ⁇ M L-ascorbic acid, 1 ⁇ M dibutyryl cAMP sodium salt, 200 ng/ml of BDNF, 200 ng/ml of GDNF).
- feeding media N2B27 base media with 200 ⁇ M L-ascorbic acid, 1 ⁇ M dibutyryl cAMP sodium salt, 200 ng/ml of BDNF, 200 ng/ml of GDNF.
- AAV transduction of iNs in vitro [00179] 24 hours prior to transduction, ⁇ 30,000-50,000 iNs per well were seeded on Matrigel- coated 96-well plates.
- Cells were transduced at two MOIs (1E3 or 3E3vg/cell). Seven days post- transduction, iNs were replenished using feeding media. Seven days post-transduction, cells were lifted using lysis buffer 4-well replicates were pooled per experimental condition and genomic DNA (gDNA) was harvested and prepared for editing analysis at the B2M locus using next generation sequencing (NGS).
- NGS next generation sequencing
- iNs were transduced with virus diluted in fresh feeding media.
- Seven days post-plating induced neurons were transduced with virus diluted in fresh feeding media.
- Genomic DNA from harvested cells were extracted using the Zymo Quick- DNA TM Miniprep Plus kit following the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Target amplicons were formed by amplifying regions of interest from 200 ng of extracted gDNA with a set of primers specific to the target locus, such as the human B2M gene.
- These gene-specific primers contained an additional sequence at the 5 ⁇ end to introduce an Illumina TM adapter and a 16-nucleotide unique molecule identifier.
- Amplified DNA products were purified with the Ampure XP DNA cleanup kit. Quality and quantification of the amplicon were assessed using a Fragment Analyzer DNA Analysis kit (Agilent, dsDNA 35-1500bp). Amplicons were sequenced on the Illumina TM Miseq TM according to the manufacturer's instructions. Raw fastq files from sequencing were quality-controlled and processed using cutadapt v2.1, flash2 v2.2.00, and CRISPResso2 v2.0.29.
- Each sequence was quantified for containing an insertion or deletion (indel) relative to the reference sequence, in a window around the 3 ⁇ end of the spacer (30 bp window centered at –3 bp from 3 ⁇ end of spacer).
- CasX activity was quantified as the total percent of reads that contain insertions, substitutions, and/or deletions anywhere within this window for each sample.
- FIG.2 illustrate that reducing or depleting CpG motifs within the sequences of the U1a promoter (construct ID 178 and 179), Pol III U6 promoter (construct ID 180 and 181), or bGH poly(A) (construct ID 182) did not significantly decrease editing activity compared to the editing level achieved with the original CpG + AAV construct (construct ID 177).
- CpG- U1a, CpG- U6, or CpG- bGH resulted in ⁇ 80%, ⁇ 94%, or ⁇ 83% editing of the editing level attained with the base CpG + AAV construct.
- FIG.4A-4B shows bar plots that illustrate the quantification of percent editing at the B2M locus as detected by NGS seven days post-transduction of AAVs into human iNs at an MOI of 3E3 (FIG.4A) or 1E3 (FIG.4B).
- Various CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted AAV elements were tested to assess the effects of their use on editing efficiency at the B2M locus as follows: 177 (no CpG depletion); 178 (U1A promoter with reduced CpG); 179: (U1A promoter with CpG depleted); 180 (U6 promoter with reduced CpG); 181(U6 promoter with CpG depleted); 182 (bGH poly(A) with CpG depleted); 206 (U1A promoter with reduced CpG, CasX491 with CpG depleted, bGH with CpG depleted, and U6 promoter with CpG depleted); 205 (U1A promoter with CpG depleted, CasX491 with CpG depleted, bGH with CpG depleted, and U6 promoter with CpG depleted).
- ITRs are wild-type sequence.
- FIGS.4A- 4B Several key conclusions were determined from these results illustrated in FIGS.4A- 4B: 1) use of CpG-depleted U1a promoter resulted in a drastic decrease in editing compared to the editing from using the WT or CpG-reduced U1a, supporting findings observed in FIG.3) depleting CpGs in either the bGH-polyA or U6 RNA promoter resulted in similar editing levels as that achieved by their WT counterpart; and 3) combining CpG-depleted or CpG-reduced elements to build a combined AAV genome with substantial CpG reduction could still retain editing activity (FIG.4A-4B).
- results from experiments aimed to assess the effects of incorporating CpG-depleted gRNA scaffold constructs into a combined AAV genome with substantial CpG depletion on editing at the B2M locus may reveal that varying levels of editing potency can be achieved when delivered and packaged via AAVs.
- the data also revealed that depleting CpGs in certain elements could result in similar levels of editing as that achieved when using their WT counterpart.
- CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted elements further expands the inventory of diverse sequences that could be used to build an AAV genome, potentially reducing the risk of recombination during AAV packaging and production.
- scaffold 320 showed a significant increase in potency over scaffold 235.
- Scaffold 320 includes mutations to only two regions of the scaffold: in the pseudoknot stem and the extended stem (regions 1 and 4). Further, some combinations of mutations produced worse editing than scaffold 320.
- the beneficial effect is likely caused by the mutation in region 1 (pseudoknot stem), which is present in all tested scaffolds. Further experiments are performed to test the effect of the individual mutations in the pseudoknot stem (region 1) and the extended stem (region 4) separately. [00192] Further, the data presented in FIG.5A indicate that all the new scaffolds carrying the mutation in region 2 (scaffold stem) edited at a slightly lower level than their respective counterparts without this mutation.
- AAV plasmid cloning, production of AAV vectors, and titering are performed as described in Example 1.
- HEK-BlueTM hTLR9 human TLR9 reporter HEK293 cells
- CpG+ CpG+
- CpG-depleted (CpG-) AAVs [00196]
- the HEK-Blue TM hTLR9 line (InvivoGen) is derived from HEK293 cells, specifically designed for the study of TLR9-induced NF- ⁇ B signaling.
- These HEK-Blue TM hTLR9 cells overexpress the human TLR9 gene, as well as a SEAP (secreted embryonic alkaline phosphatase) reporter gene under the control of an NF- ⁇ B inducible promoter.
- SEAP secreted embryonic alkaline phosphatase
- SEAP levels in the cell culture medium supernatant which can be quantified using colorimetric assays, report TLR9 activation.
- 5,000 HEK-Blue TM hTLR9 cells are plated in each well of a 96- well plate in DMEM medium with 10% FBS and Pen/Strep. The next day, seeded cells are transduced with CpG + or CpG- AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system. All viral infection conditions are performed at least in duplicate, with normalized number of viral genomes (vg) among experimental vectors, in a series of three-fold serial dilution of MOI starting with the effective MOI of 1E6 vg/cell.
- Levels of secreted SEAP in the cell culture medium supernatant are assessed using the HEK-Blue TM Detection kit at 1, 2, 3, and 4 days post-transduction following the manufacturer’s instructions.
- the experiments using HEK-Blue TM hTLR9 cells to assess TLR9-modulated immune response are expected to show reduced levels of secreted SEAP from cells treated with CpG- AAVs in comparison to levels from cells treated with unmodified CpG + AAVs. Reduced SEAP levels are interpreted to indicate decreased TLR9-mediated immune activation.
- Example 3 In vivo administration of AAV vectors with or without CpG-depleted genomes to assess the effects on inflammatory cytokine production and CasX-mediated editing [00199] Experiments are performed to assess the effects of administering AAV vectors with or without CpG-depleted genomes in vivo. Briefly, AAV particles expressing the CasX:gRNA system (with or without CpG depletion) are administered into C57BL/6J mice. In these experiments, the combined AAV genome with substantial CpG depletion are used for assessment. After AAV administration, mice are bled at various time points to collect blood samples.
- IL-1 ⁇ IL-1 ⁇
- IL-6 IL-6
- IL-12 IL-12
- TNF- ⁇ transgene-specific T cell populations generated against the SIINFEKL (SEQ ID NO: 63) peptide.
- the SIINFEKL peptide is an ovalbumin-derived peptide that is well-characterized and has widely available reagents to probe for T cells specific for this peptide epitope.
- the nucleic acid sequence encoding this peptide are cloned as C- and N-terminal fusions to CasX in an AAV construct with a ROSA26-targeting spacer.
- AAV vectors are produced as described earlier in Example 1.
- Viral genome titers are determined as described in Example 1.
- ⁇ 1E12 vg AAVs are injected intravenously or intraperitoneally into C57BL/6J mice.
- Blood is drawn daily from the tail vein or saphenous vein for seven days after AAV injection. Collected blood serum is assessed for the levels of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1 ⁇ , IL-6, IL-12, and TNF- ⁇ using commercially available ELISA kits according to the manufacturer’s recommendations for murine blood samples (Abcam). Briefly, 50 ⁇ L of standard, control buffer, and sample are loaded to the wells of an ELISA plate, pre-coated with a specific antibody to IL- 1 ⁇ , IL-6, IL-12, or TNF- ⁇ , incubated at room temperature (RT) for two hours, washed, and incubated with horseradish peroxidase enzyme (HRP) for two hours at RT, followed by additional washes.
- RT room temperature
- HRP horseradish peroxidase enzyme
- TMB ELISA substrate is treated with TMB ELISA substrate and incubated for 30 minutes at RT in the dark, followed by quenching with H 2 SO 4 .
- Absorbance is measured at 450 nm using a TECAN spectrophotometer with wavelength correction at 570 nm.
- Assessment of transgene-specific T cell populations [00203] Ten days after intravenous injection with AAVs, the spleen is collected from mice, and T cells are isolated using the EasySep TM Mouse T Cell Isolation kit.
- Isolated T cells are incubated with the following: FITC mouse anti-human CD4 antibody (BD Biosciences), APC mouse anti-human CD8 antibody (BD Biosciences), and BV421 ovalbumin SIINFEKL MHC tetramer (Tetramer Shop).
- the percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells specific to the SIINFEKL MHC tetramer is quantified using flow cytometry.
- FITC, APC, and BV421 are excited by the 488 nm, 561 nm, and 405 nm lasers and signal are quantified using suitable filter sets.
- CpG-depleted AAVs dampen production of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1 ⁇ , IL-6, IL-12, and TNF- ⁇ , thereby reducing immunogenicity and toxicity.
- CpG- depleted AAVs are expected to cause less TLR9 activation leading to reduced expansion of T cells against the SIINFEKL peptide fused to CasX. Therefore, injections with CpG-depleted AAVs are expected to yield decreased levels of SIINFEKL-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells compared to levels from AAV constructs containing CpG elements.
- AAV plasmids were generated to express CasX protein 515 driven by the U1A promoter with a bGH poly(A) signal sequence and a gRNA transcriptional unit that expressed a Pol III promoter-guide scaffold 235 with spacer 31.63 targeting the AAVS1 locus.
- various U6 isoforms were assessed as Pol III promoter variants, which were cloned downstream relative to the CasX construct in the AAV plasmid; the sequences of the U6 isoforms tested are shown in Table 13.
- Table 14 shows the sequences of the constructs encoding for full-length AAV transgene used in this example.
- Table 13 Sequences of Pol III promoters assessed in this example
- Table 14 Sequences of AAV constructs encoding for the transgene used in this example
- AAV production was performed following similar methods as described in Example 1.
- AAV titering was performed by ddPCR according to standard methods and following the manufacturer’s protocol and guidelines. Briefly, ddPCR reactions containing the AAV viral samples were set up, serially diluted, and subjected to droplet formation using the droplet generator. Within each droplet, a PCR amplification reaction was performed using a primer- probe set specific to bGH, an indicator of the AAV transgene. Subsequently, droplet fluorescence was determined using a QX200 Droplet Reader with Bio-Rad QuantaSoft software.
- AAV transduction of iNs (induced neurons) in vitro [0209]
- iNs induced neurons
- Cells were transduced at two MOIs (1E3 or 3E2vg/cell).7 days post- transduction, cells were lifted using lysis buffer, and gDNA was harvested and prepared for editing analysis at the AAVS1 locus using NGS following methods described in Example 1. Samples that were not transduced with AAV were included as controls.
- Wild-type human U6 (hU6 isoform 1) served as the benchmark for comparison. Two replicates were performed, and the results of this experiment are shown in FIGS.6 and 7. [0210] In a second AAV transduction experiment, ⁇ 50,000 iNs per well were seeded on Matrigel-coated 96-well plates 14 days prior to transduction. Cells were transduced at three MOIs (2E3, 6.67E2, or 2.2E2 vg/cell). Cells were harvested for editing analysis at the AAVS1 locus 7 days post-transduction using NGS following methods described in Example 1. Samples that were not transduced with AAV were included as controls. Wild-type human U6 (hU6 isoform 1) served as the benchmark for comparison.
- FIGS.8 and 9 Two replicates were performed, and the results of this experiment are shown in FIGS.8 and 9.
- a third AAV transduction experiment ⁇ 50,000 iNs per well were seeded on Matrigel- coated 96-well plates 14 days prior to transduction. Cells were transduced at the following MOIs: 3E4, 1E3, 3.33E3, and 1.11E3. Cells were harvested for editing analysis at the AAVS1 locus 7 days post-transduction using NGS following methods described in Example 1. Samples that were not transduced with AAV were included as controls. Wild-type human U6 (hU6 isoform 1) served as the benchmark for comparison. One replicate was performed, and the results of this experiment are shown in FIG.10.
- Each vector also displayed dose-dependent editing at the target AAVS1 locus.
- the results from the second AAV transduction experiment are portrayed in the bar plots shown in FIGS.8-9.
- the data similarly demonstrate that use of AAV constructs containing the alternative U6 promoter isoforms resulted in similar or worse levels of editing compared to the editing level achieved when using AAV constructs with the benchmark hU6 isoform 1 promoter, recapitulating findings observed in FIGS.6-7.
- the results continue to indicate the hU6 isoform 5 promoter as a comparable alternative to the benchmark hU6 isoform 1 promoter.
- Example 5 Assessment of CpG-depleted CasX 515 variants on CasX-mediated editing [0216] Experiments were performed to deplete CpG motifs in the AAV construct encoding for CasX protein 515 and demonstrate that these CpG-depleted CasX 515 variants can edit effectively in vitro.
- Table 15 provides the sequences of CpG-depleted and codon-optimized variants of CasX 515 with flanking c-MYC NLSes, as well as the corresponding non-CpG depleted CasX 515 with flanking c-MYC NLSes.
- Table 15 Sequences of CpG-depleted and codon-optimized variants of CasX 515 with flanking c-MYC NLSes [0218] All resulting sequences of the CpG-depleted and codon-optimized variants of CasX 515 with flanking c-MYC NLSes were cloned into a base AAV plasmid (sequences shown in Table 16).
- gRNA scaffold 235 and spacer 31.63 which targets the AAVS1 locus, were used for the experiments discussed in this example.
- the resulting AAV constructs were generated using standard molecular cloning techniques. Cloned and sequence-validated plasmid constructs were midi-prepped for subsequent nucleofection and AAV vector production.
- Table 16 Sequences encoding for a base AAV plasmid into which CpG-depleted variants of CasX 515 in Table 15 were cloned Transfection of HEK293 cells in vitro: [0219] ⁇ 50,000 HEK293 cells per well were seeded on 24-well plates; two days later, cells were transfected with AAV plasmids containing sequences for a non-CpG-depleted (CpG + ) CasX 515 (Table 15) or a version 1 of a CpG-depleted and codon-optimized CasX 515 variant (CpG- v1; Table 15) following standard methods using lipofectamine.
- AAV production and titering [0220] AAV production was performed using methods described in Example 1. AAV titering was performed by ddPCR using a primer-probe set specific to bGH, an indicator of the AAV transgene.
- AAV transduction of iNs (induced neurons) in vitro [0221] For one experiment, ⁇ 30,000 iNs per well were seeded Matrigel-coated 96-well plates 7 days prior to transduction. Cells were transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system, a non-CpG-depleted CasX 515 (CpG + ; Table 15) or version 1 of the CpG-depleted and codon-optimized CasX 515 variant (CpG- v1; Table 15) and codon-optimized variants of CasX 515, at an MOI of 1E4 vg/cell.7 days post-transduction, cells were harvested for gDNA extraction for editing analysis at the AAVS1 locus using NGS following methods as described in Example 1.
- AAV transduction of HEK293 cells in vitro [0222] In a second experiment, ⁇ 5,000 HEK293 cells per well are seeded on 96-well plates two days prior to transduction. AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system, containing various CpG- depleted and codon-optimized variants of CasX 515, are diluted in neuronal plating media and added to cells. Cells are transduced at four MOIs (1E4, 3E3, 1E3, or 3.7E2 vg/cell). Five days post-transduction, cells are harvested for gDNA extraction for editing analysis at the AAVS1 locus using NGS following methods described in Example 1.
- HEK293 cells were transiently transfected with AAV plasmids containing a CpG + CasX 515 sequence or CpG- v1 CasX 515 sequence.
- CasX expression and editing activity at the AAVS1 locus were evaluated by western blotting and NGS respectively.
- the results of the western blotting analysis are portrayed in FIG. 11, showing CasX protein levels in transfected HEK293 cells, with a total protein stain blot (bottom blot) serving as the loading control.
- CpG + CasX 515 Cells transfected with the AAV plasmid containing a CpG + CasX 515 sequence are labeled as “CpG + CasX 515” (lane 1), while cells transfected with the construct harboring a CpG- CasX 515 sequence are labelled as “CpG- CasX 515_A” (lane 2) and “CpG- CasX 515_B” (lane 3). Untransfected HEK293 cells are labelled “No plasmid control” (lane 4). The results in FIG.11 show that expressing the AAV plasmid containing either the CpG- or CpG + CasX 515 sequence resulted in CasX expression.
- Editing activity at the AAVS1 locus was also assessed in human iNs; the results show that use of the AAV plasmid with either CpG- v1 or CpG + CasX 515 sequence resulting in editing at the target locus (Table 17).
- Table 17 Results of the editing assay at the AAVS1 locus when using AAV plasmid containing either CpG- or CpG + CasX 515 [0224] The experiments demonstrate that depleting CpG motifs in the AAV construct encoding for CasX protein 515 resulted in sufficient CasX expression to induce effective editing at the target locus in vitro.
- Example 6 Additional assessment of the effects of using CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds on CasX-mediated editing activity [0225] As discussed above, unmethylated CpG motifs act as PAMPs that potently trigger undesired immune activation; therefore, nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs in the AAV constructs, including that encoding for guide scaffold variants 235 and 316, were designed and generated.
- Table 18 Sequences of additional gRNA scaffolds tested in this example [0227] AAV constructs were designed and generated as previously described in Example 1. The CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds were tested in two different AAV backbones. Specifically, for the experiment involving lipofection of HEK293 cells as described below, scaffolds 235 and 320-341 were tested in AAV vectors that were CpG-depleted, with the exception of AAV2 ITRs, as previously described in Example 1. Briefly, the CpG-depleted AAV backbone construct encoded for CpG-depleted versions of the following elements: U1A promoter, CasX 491, bGH poly(A) signal sequence, and U6 promoter.
- Table 20 List of AAV constructs and scaffold variants tested in a non-CpG-depleted AAV vector (see Table 19 for sequences) and the experimental conditions in which these constructs were assessed
- AAV production was performed using methods described in Example 1.
- AAV titering was performed following similar methods as described in Example 1.
- AAV titering was performed by ddPCR.
- Cell-based assays evaluating the effects of using CpG-depleted or reduced gRNA scaffolds on editing activity [0229] In one experiment, ⁇ 20,000 HEK293 cells per well were seeded in 96-well plates 24 hours prior to transfection.
- scaffold 332 and 392 both include CG > GC mutations in the pseudoknot stem (region 1; FIGS.1A-1B), effectively reducing the overall number of CpGs when compared to scaffold 235, thereby potentially contributing to the increase in editing activity.
- scaffolds 316 and 332 both have a truncated extended stem when compared to scaffold 235, removing the bubble and the CG dinucleotide (region 3; FIGS.1A-1B), thereby also potentially contributing to the observed increase in editing activity.
- Further experiments are performed, especially at lower MOIs, to unravel the intricacies of the effects of individual CpG mutations on editing potency.
- the results from the experiments described here demonstrate that use of guide scaffolds with different levels of CpG depletion can result in varying levels of editing mediated by the CasX:gRNA system, and that the resulting editing levels can vary by method of delivery (e.g., plasmid transfection vs. AAV transduction).
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Abstract
Provided herein are polynucleotides comprising CpG-reduced regulatory elements, CpG-reduced RNA coding sequences, and CpG-reduced protein coding sequences. In some embodiments, such polynucleotides comprise no more than about 10% CpG dinucleotides. Also provided herein are recombinant vectors comprising such CpG-reduced polynucleotides, and cells expressing such reduced polynucleotides. The CpG-reduced polynucleotides, when used in methods of treatment, are useful for reducing inflammatory responses during such treatment.
Description
COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR CpG DEPLETION CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims priority to, and benefit of, U.S. Provisional Application No.63/349,009, filed on June 3, 2022, the contents of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein. INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE OF SEQUENCE LISTING [0002] The contents of the electronic sequence listing (SCRB_045_01WO_SeqList_ST26.xml; Size: 538,958 bytes; and Date of Creation: June 2, 2023) are herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. BACKGROUND [0003] Pathogen-associated molecular patterns (“PAMPs”), such as unmethylated CpG motifs, are small molecular motifs conserved within a class of microbes. They are recognized by toll- like receptors (TLRs) and other pattern recognition receptors in eukaryotes and often induce a non-specific immune activation. In the context of gene therapy, therapeutics containing PAMPs are often not as well-tolerated and are rapidly cleared from a patient given the strong immune response triggered, which ultimately can lead to reduced therapeutic efficiency. Gene therapy vectors that are well-tolerated and not rapidly cleared in patients is necessary to achieve therapeutic benefit. There remains a need in the art for compositions and methods for preparing well-tolerated gene therapy vectors that not cleared rapidly. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS [0004] The novel features of the disclosure are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. A better understanding of the features and advantages of the present disclosure will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description that sets forth illustrative embodiments, in which the principles of the disclosure are utilized, and the accompanying drawings of which: [0005] FIG.1A is a diagram of the secondary structure of guide RNA scaffold 235, noting the regions with CpG motifs, as described in Example 1. CpG motifs in (1) the pseudoknot stem, (2)
the scaffold stem, (3) the extended stem bubble, (4) the extended step, and (5) the extended stem loop are labeled on the structure. [0006] FIG.1B is a diagram of the CpG-reducing mutations that were introduced into each of the five regions in the coding sequence of the guide RNA scaffold, as described in Example 1. [0007] FIG.2 shows the results of an editing assay using AAV transgene plasmids nucleofected into human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs), as described in Example 1, demonstrating that CpG reduction or depletion within the U1a promoter (construct ID 178 and 179), U6 promoter (construct ID 180 and 181), or bovine growth hormone (bGH) poly(A) (construct ID 182) did not significantly reduce CasX-mediated editing at the B2M locus compared to the editing achieved with the original CpG+ AAV vector (construct ID 177). The controls used in this experiment were the non-targeting (NT) spacer and no treatment (NTx). [0008] FIG.3 is a bar plot depicting the results of an editing assay measured as indel (insert or deletion) rate detected by NGS (next generation sequencing) at the human B2M locus in human induced neurons (“iNs”) seven days post-transduction with AAVs expressing CasX 491 driven by the various protein promoters as indicated at an MOI (multiplicity of infection) of 1E3 or 3E3, as described in Example 1. [0009] FIG.4A illustrates the quantification of percent editing at the B2M locus as detected by NGS seven days post-transduction of AAVs into human iNs at an MOI of 3E3, as described in Example 1. [0010] FIG.4B illustrates the quantification of percent editing at the B2M locus as detected by NGS seven days post-transduction of AAVs into human iNs at an MOI of 1E3, as described in Example 1. [0011] FIG.5A provides the results of an editing experiment in which AAV vectors with various CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted guide RNA scaffolds were used to edit the B2M locus in induced neurons, as described in Example 1. The AAV vectors were administered at a MOI of 4e3. The bars show the mean ± the SD of two replicates per sample. “No Tx” indicates a non- transduced control, and “NT” indicates a control with a non-targeting spacer. [0012] FIG.5B provides the results of an editing experiment in which AAV vectors with various CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted guide RNA scaffolds were used to edit the B2M locus in induced neurons, as described in Example 1. The AAV vectors were administered at an MOI of 3e3. The bars show the mean ± the SD of two replicates per sample. “No Tx” indicates a non- transduced control.
[0013] FIG.5C provides the results of an editing experiment in which AAV vectors with various CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted guide RNA scaffolds were used to edit the B2M locus in induced neurons, as described in Example 1. The AAV vectors were administered at an MOI of 1e3. The bars show the mean ± the SD of two replicates per sample. “No Tx” indicates a non- transduced control. [0014] FIG.5D provides the results of an editing experiment in which AAV vectors with various CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted guide RNA scaffolds were used to edit the B2M locus in induced neurons, as described in Example 1. The AAV vectors were administered at an MOI of 3e2. The bars show the mean ± the SD of two replicates per sample. “No Tx” indicates a non- transduced control. [0015] FIG.6 is a bar plot showing percent editing at the AAVS1 locus in iNs transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system using the indicated U6 promoter variants, at an MOI of 1E3 and 3E2 vg/cell, for N = 1, as described in Example 4. [0016] FIG.7 is a bar plot showing percent editing at the AAVS1 locus in human iNs transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system using the indicated U6 promoter variants, at the MOI of 1E3 and 3E2 vg/cell, for N = 2, as described in Example 4. [0017] FIG.8 is a bar plot showing percent editing at the AAVS1 locus in human iNs transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system using the indicated U6 promoter variants, at the MOI of 2E3, 6.67E2, and 2E2 vg/cell, for N = 1, as described in Example 4. [0018] FIG.9 is a bar plot showing percent editing at the AAVS1 locus in human iNs transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system using the indicated U6 promoter variants, at the MOI of 2E3, 6.67E2, and 2E2 vg/cell, for N = 2, as described in Example 4. [0019] FIG.10 is a bar plot showing percent editing at the AAVS1 locus in human iNs transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system using the indicated U6 promoter variants, at the MOI of 3E4, 1E4, 3.33E3, and 1.11E3 vg/cell, for N = 1, as described in Example 4. [0020] FIG.11 is a western blot showing the levels of CasX expression (top western blot) in HEK293 cells transfected with AAV plasmids containing a CpG+ CasX 515 sequence (lane 1) or CpG- v1 CasX 515 sequence (lanes 2-3), as described in Example 5. Lysate from untransfected HEK293 cells were used as a ‘no plasmid’ control (lane 4). The bottom western blot shows the total protein loading control. Three technical replicates are shown.
[0021] FIG.12 is a bar graph showing the quantification of percent knockout of B2M in HEK293 cells transfected with CpG-depleted AAV plasmids containing the indicated gRNA scaffolds with spacer 7.37, as described in Example 6. The dotted line annotates the ~41% transfection efficiency. [0022] FIG.13A is a bar plot showing percent editing at the AAVS1 locus in human iNs transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system using the indicated gRNA scaffolds (AAV construct ID # 262-274) at the MOI of 3E4 vg/cell, as described in Example 6. [0023] FIG.13B is a bar plot showing percent editing at the AAVS1 locus in human iNs transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system using the indicated gRNA scaffolds (AAV construct ID # 262-274) at the MOI of 1E4 vg/cell, as described in Example 6. [0024] FIG.13C is a bar plot showing percent editing at the AAVS1 locus in human iNs transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system using the indicated gRNA scaffolds (AAV construct ID # 262-274) at the MOI of 3E3 vg/cell, as described in Example 6. [0025] FIG.14A is a bar plot showing the quantification of percent knockout of B2M in HEK293 cells transfected with CpG-depleted AAV plasmids containing the indicated gRNA scaffolds with spacer 7.37 (AAV construct ID # 275-289) at the MOI of 1E4 vg/cell, as described in Example 6. [0026] FIG.14B is a bar plot showing the quantification of percent knockout of B2M in HEK293 cells transfected with CpG-depleted AAV plasmids containing the indicated gRNA scaffolds with spacer 7.37 (AAV construct ID # 275-289) at the MOI of 3E3 vg/cell, as described in Example 6. [0027] FIG.14C is a bar plot showing the quantification of percent knockout of B2M in HEK293 cells transfected with CpG-depleted AAV plasmids containing the indicated gRNA scaffolds with spacer 7.37 (AAV construct ID # 275-289) at the MOI of 1E3 vg/cell, as described in Example 6. [0028] While exemplary embodiments have been shown and described herein, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Numerous variations, changes, and substitutions will now occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the inventions claimed herein. It should be understood that various alternatives to the embodiments described herein may be employed in practicing the embodiments of the disclosure. It is intended that the claims define the scope of the invention
and that methods and structures within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby. [0029] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present embodiments, suitable methods and materials are described below. In case of conflict, the patent specification, including definitions, will control. In addition, the materials, methods, and examples are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting. Numerous variations, changes, and substitutions will now occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the invention. SUMMARY [0030] Provided herein are polynucleotides comprising CpG-reduced regulatory elements, CpG-reduced RNA coding sequences, and CpG-reduced protein coding sequences. Also provided herein are recombinant vectors comprising such CpG-reduced polynucleotides, and cells expressing such reduced polynucleotides. The CpG-reduced polynucleotides, when used in methods of treatment, are useful for reducing inflammatory responses during such treatment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Definitions [0031] The term “transcription regulatory element”, which may be used interchangeably herein with the term “transcription regulatory sequence,” is a nucleotide sequence that is itself not transcribed but controls aspects of transcription of a protein- or RNA product- encoding region, and is intended to include, by way of example, promoters, terminators, enhancers, and silencers. It will be understood that the choice of the appropriate transcription regulatory element will depend on the encoded component to be expressed (e.g., protein or RNA) or whether the nucleic acid comprises multiple components that require different polymerases or are not intended to be expressed as a fusion protein. [0032] The term “post-transcription regulatory element” which may be used interchangeably herein with the term “post-transcription regulatory sequence,” is a nucleotide sequence that is transcribed but not translated, and controls aspects of translation, stability, or localization of the transcript. and is intended to include, by way of example, ribosome binding sites, internal ribosome entry sites, polyadenylation signal sequences, introns, nuclear localization signals
(NLS), and self-cleaving sequences. It will be understood that the choice of the appropriate accessory element or elements will depend on the encoded component to be expressed (e.g., protein or RNA) or whether the nucleic acid comprises multiple components that require different polymerases or are not intended to be expressed as a fusion protein. [0033] The term "promoter" refers to a nucleotide sequence that contains a transcription start site and additional sequences to facilitate polymerase binding and transcription. Exemplary eukaryotic promoters include elements such as a TATA box, and/or B recognition element (BRE) and assists or promotes the transcription and expression of an associated transcribable polynucleotide sequence and/or gene (or transgene). A promoter can be synthetically produced or can be derived from a known or naturally occurring promoter sequence or another promoter sequence. A promoter can be proximal or distal to the gene to be transcribed. A promoter can also include a chimeric promoter comprising a combination of two or more heterologous sequences to confer certain properties. A promoter of the present disclosure can include variants of promoter sequences that are similar in composition, but not identical to, other promoter sequence(s) known or provided herein. A promoter can be classified according to criteria relating to the pattern of expression of an associated coding or transcribable sequence or gene operably linked to the promoter, such as constitutive, developmental, tissue-specific, inducible, etc. A promoter can also be classified according to its strength. As used in the context of a promoter, “strength” refers to the rate of transcription of the gene controlled by the promoter. A “strong” promoter means the rate of transcription is high, while a “weak” promoter means the rate of transcription is relatively low. [0034] A promoter of the disclosure can be a Polymerase II (Pol II) promoter. Polymerase II transcribes all protein coding and many non-coding genes. A representative Pol II promoter may include a core promoter, which is a sequence of about 100 base pairs surrounding the transcription start site, and serves as a binding platform for the Pol II polymerase and associated general transcription factors. The promoter may contain one or more core promoter elements such as the TATA box, BRE, Initiator (INR), motif ten element (MTE), downstream core promoter element (DPE), downstream core element (DCE), although core promoters lacking these elements are known in the art. All Pol II promoters are envisaged as within the scope of the instant disclosure. [0035] A promoter of the disclosure can be a Polymerase III (Pol III) promoter. Pol III transcribes DNA to synthesize small ribosomal RNAs such as the 5S rRNA, tRNAs, and other
small RNAs. Representative Pol III promoters may use internal control sequences (sequences within the transcribed section of the gene) to support transcription, although upstream elements such as the TATA box are also sometimes used. All Pol III promoters are envisaged as within the scope of the instant disclosure. [0036] The term “enhancer” refers to regulatory DNA sequences that, when bound by specific proteins called transcription factors, regulate the expression of an associated gene. Enhancers may be located in the intron of the gene, or 5’ or 3’ of the coding sequence of the gene. Enhancers may be proximal to the gene (i.e., within a few tens or hundreds of base pairs (bp) of the promoter) or may be located distal to the gene (i.e., thousands of bp, hundreds of thousands of bp, or even millions of bp away from the promoter). A single gene may be regulated by more than one enhancer, all of which are envisaged as within the scope of the instant disclosure. [0037] “Recombinant,” as used herein, means that a particular nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) is the product of various combinations of cloning, restriction, and/or ligation steps resulting in a construct having a structural coding or non-coding sequence distinguishable from endogenous nucleic acids found in natural systems. Generally, DNA sequences encoding the structural coding sequence can be assembled from cDNA fragments and short oligonucleotide linkers, or from a series of synthetic oligonucleotides, to provide a synthetic nucleic acid which is capable of being expressed from a recombinant transcriptional unit contained in a cell or in a cell-free transcription and translation system. Such sequences can be provided in the form of an open reading frame uninterrupted by internal non-translated sequences, or introns, which are typically present in eukaryotic genes. Genomic DNA comprising the relevant sequences can also be used in the formation of a recombinant gene or transcriptional unit. Sequences of non-translated DNA may be present 5’ or 3’ from the open reading frame, where such sequences do not interfere with manipulation or expression of the coding regions, and may indeed act to modulate production of a desired product by various mechanisms (see “enhancers” and “promoters”, above). [0038] The term “recombinant polynucleotide” or “recombinant nucleic acid” refers to one which is not naturally occurring, e.g., is made by the artificial combination of two otherwise separated segments of sequence through human intervention. This artificial combination is often accomplished by either chemical synthesis means, or by the artificial manipulation of isolated segments of nucleic acids, e.g., by genetic engineering techniques. Such is usually done to replace a codon with a redundant codon encoding the same or a conservative amino acid, while typically introducing or removing a sequence recognition site. Alternatively, it is performed to
join together nucleic acid segments of desired functions to generate a desired combination of functions. This artificial combination is often accomplished by either chemical synthesis means, or by the artificial manipulation of isolated segments of nucleic acids, e.g., by genetic engineering techniques. [0039] Similarly, the term “recombinant polypeptide” or “recombinant protein” refers to a polypeptide or protein which is not naturally occurring, e.g., is made by the artificial combination of two otherwise separated segments of amino sequence through human intervention. Thus, e.g., a protein that comprises a heterologous amino acid sequence is recombinant. [0040] As used herein, the term “contacting” means establishing a physical connection between two or more entities. For example, contacting a target nucleic acid with a guide nucleic acid means that the target nucleic acid and the guide nucleic acid are made to share a physical connection, e.g., can hybridize if the sequences share sequence similarity. [0041] The disclosure provides compositions and methods useful for modifying a target nucleic acid. As used herein “modifying” and "modification" are used interchangeably and include, but are not limited to, cleaving, nicking, editing, deleting, knocking in, knocking out, and the like. [0042] A polynucleotide or polypeptide has a certain percent "sequence similarity" or "sequence identity" to another polynucleotide or polypeptide, meaning that, when aligned, that percentage of bases or amino acids are the same, and in the same relative position, when comparing the two sequences. Sequence similarity (sometimes referred to as percent similarity, percent identity, or homology) can be determined in a number of different manners. To determine sequence similarity, sequences can be aligned using the methods and computer programs that are known in the art, including BLAST, available over the world wide web at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/BLAST. Percent complementarity between particular stretches of nucleic acid sequences within nucleic acids can be determined using any convenient method. Example methods include BLAST programs (basic local alignment search tools) and PowerBLAST programs (Altschul et al., J. Mol. Biol., 1990, 215, 403-410; Zhang and Madden, Genome Res., 1997, 7, 649-656) or by using the Gap program (Wisconsin Sequence Analysis Package, Version 8 for Unix, Genetics Computer Group, University Research Park, Madison Wis.), e.g., using default settings, which uses the algorithm of Smith and Waterman (Adv. Appl. Math., 1981, 2, 482-489).
[0043] The terms “polypeptide,” and “protein” are used interchangeably herein, and refer to a polymeric form of amino acids of any length, which can include coded and non-coded amino acids, chemically or biochemically modified or derivatized amino acids, and polypeptides having modified peptide backbones. The term includes fusion proteins, including, but not limited to, fusion proteins with a heterologous amino acid sequence. [0044] A “vector” or “expression vector” is a replicon, such as plasmid, phage, virus, or cosmid, to which another DNA segment, i.e., an expression cassette, may be attached so as to bring about the replication or expression of the attached segment in a cell. [0045] As used herein, a “mutation” refers to an insertion, deletion, substitution, duplication, or inversion of one or more amino acids or nucleotides as compared to a wild-type or reference amino acid sequence or to a wild-type or reference nucleotide sequence. The amino acid or nucleotide sequence prior to the mutation may be referred to herein as a parental sequence. [0046] As used herein the term “isolated” is meant to describe a polynucleotide, a polypeptide, or a cell that is in an environment different from that in which the polynucleotide, the polypeptide, or the cell naturally occurs. An isolated genetically modified host cell may be present in a mixed population of genetically modified host cells. [0047] A “host cell,” as used herein, denotes a eukaryotic cell, a prokaryotic cell, or a cell from a multicellular organism (e.g., a cell line) cultured as a unicellular entity, which eukaryotic or prokaryotic cells are used as recipients for a nucleic acid (e.g., an AAV vector), and include the progeny of the original cell which has been genetically modified by the nucleic acid. It is understood that the progeny of a single cell may not necessarily be completely identical in morphology or in genomic or total DNA complement as the original parent, due to natural, accidental, or deliberate mutation. A “recombinant host cell” (also referred to as a “genetically modified host cell”) is a host cell into which has been introduced a heterologous nucleic acid, e.g., an AAV vector. [0048] As used herein, “treatment” or “treating,” are used interchangeably herein and refer to an approach for obtaining beneficial or desired results, including but not limited to a therapeutic benefit and/or a prophylactic benefit. By therapeutic benefit is meant eradication or amelioration of the underlying disorder or disease being treated. A therapeutic benefit can also be achieved with the eradication or amelioration of one or more of the symptoms or an improvement in one or more clinical parameters associated with the underlying disease such that an improvement is
observed in the subject, notwithstanding that the subject may still be afflicted with the underlying disorder. [0049] The terms “therapeutically effective amount” and “therapeutically effective dose”, as used herein, refer to an amount of a drug or a biologic, alone or as a part of a composition, that is capable of having any detectable, beneficial effect on any symptom, aspect, measured parameter or characteristics of a disease state or condition when administered in one or repeated doses to a subject such as a human or an experimental animal. Such effect need not be absolute to be beneficial. [0050] As used herein, “administering” means a method of giving a dosage of a compound (e.g., a composition of the disclosure) or a composition (e.g., a pharmaceutical composition) to a subject. [0051] A “subject” is a mammal. Mammals include, but are not limited to, domesticated animals, non-human primates, humans, dogs, rabbits, mice, rats and other rodents. All publications, patents, and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent, or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated by reference. The contents of WO 2020/247882, filed on June 5, 2020, WO 2020/247883, filed June 5, 2020, WO 2021/050593, filed on September 9, 2020, WO 2021/050601, filed on September 9, 2021, WO 2021/142342, filed on January 8, 2021, WO 2021/113763, filed on December 4, 2020, WO 2021/113769, filed on December 4, 2020, WO 2021/113772, filed on December 4, 2020, WO 2022/120095, filed December 2, 2021, WO 2022/120094, filed on December 2, 2021 , WO 2022/261150, filed on June 7, 2022 , WO 2023/049742, filed on September 21, 2022, WO 2022/261149, filed on June 7, 2022, and PCT/US23/67791, filed on June 1, 2023 which disclose CasX variants and gRNA variants, are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. II. Polynucleotides comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element and/or a CpG- reduced coding sequence [0052] Provided herein are polynucleotides comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element, comprising no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides. In some embodiments, the polynucleotide comprises a plurality of CpG-reduced regulatory elements, each comprising no more than about no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no
more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides. In some embodiments, the CpG-reduced regulatory element of the disclosure may be devoid of CpG dinucleotides (depleted of CpG dinucleotides). In some embodiments, the CpG-reduced regulatory element may retain at least about 70%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% or more of its functional properties compared to the unmodified regulatory element. As described in detail in the Examples, the CpG-reduced regulatory elements described herein are effective for expressing a Cas protein (provided as exemplary) and corresponding guide RNA and achieving gene editing in cells at levels that are comparable to their non-CpG-reduced counterparts. CpG-reduced regulatory elements [0053] In some embodiments, with respect to embodiments of the polynucleotide, embodiments of the recombinant viral vector, and embodiments of the various methods described herein, the CpG-reduced regulatory element may be a CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element or a CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element. In some embodiments, a protein-encoding sequence or an RNA product-encoding sequence may be under control of the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element. In some embodiments, the CpG- reduced post-transcription regulatory element may be configured to be transcribed together with a sequence encoding a protein or an RNA product. In one embodiment of the foregoing, the sequence encoding a protein and/or an RNA product is CpG reduced. [0054] In some embodiments, the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element may be a promoter, a terminator, an enhancer, or a silencer. In some embodiments, the promoter may be an RNA polymerase III promoter or an RNA polymerase II promoter. In some embodiments, the promoter may be, a U1a promoter, a UbC promoter, or a U6 promoter or an isoform thereof. In some embodiments, the promoter comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15 as set forth in Table 2 and SEQ ID NOS: 310-315 as set forth in Table 13, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. In some embodiments, the promoter comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15. In some embodiments, the promoter consists of a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15 and 310-315. [0055] In some embodiments, the CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element may be a poly(A) signal sequence, an intron, a nuclear localization signal (NLS), or a self-cleaving
sequence. In some embodiments, the poly(A) signal sequence may comprise a bovine growth hormone (bGH) poly(A) signal sequence. An exemplary CpG-reduced poly(A) signal sequence is set forth in the Examples in Table 4. In some embodiments, the poly(A) signal sequence comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. In some embodiments, the poly(A) signal sequence comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17. In some embodiments, the poly(A) signal sequence consists of the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17. CpG-reduced coding sequences [0056] Also provided herein are coding sequences, including CpG-reduced protein-encoding sequences and CpG-reduced RNA-product encoding sequences. In some embodiments, provided herein are polynucleotides comprising a CpG-reduced coding sequence comprising no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides. In some embodiments, the CpG-reduced coding sequence is devoid of CpG dinucleotides. In some embodiments, the CpG-reduced coding sequence retains at least about 70%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% or more of the ability to result in an expressed gene product compared to a non-CpG-reduced coding sequence. [0057] In some embodiments, the polynucleotide further comprises a CpG-reduced regulatory element, e.g., any one of the CpG-reduced regulatory elements described herein. [0058] In some embodiments, the protein-encoding CpG-reduced sequence may encode any protein, and may be a protein selected from the group consisting of: a structural protein, a contractile protein, an enzyme, a hormonal protein, a nuclease, a storage protein, a transport protein, a complement protein, a receptor, an antibody or a fragment thereof, an antibody fusion protein, an intracellular signaling protein, a cytokine, a growth factor, an interleukin, a microprotein, an engineered protein scaffold, a transcription factor, a viral interferon antagonist, or an engineered therapeutic protein. In some embodiments, the enzyme may include a nuclease. Optionally, the encoded nuclease may be a CRISPR-associated (Cas) protein. In some embodiments, the encoded Cas protein may be a Class 2, Type II protein, or a Class 2 Type V protein. In some embodiments, the encoded Class 2 Type II protein may be a Cas 9. In some embodiments, the encoded Class 2 Type V protein may be selected from the group consisting of: CasX, Cas12a (Cpf1), Cas12b (C2c1), Cas12c (C2c3), Cas12d (CasY), Cas12e (CasX), Cas12f,
Cas12g, Cas12h, Cas12i, Cas12j, Cas12k, Cas14, and Casĭ. In some embodiments, the Class 2 Type V protein is CasX. In some embodiments, the encoded Class 2 Type V protein is a CasX protein, and comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 95-255 and 317-320, or a sequence having at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 91%, at least about 92%, at least about 93%, at least about 94%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [0059] Exemplary CpG-reduced sequences that encode CasX are provided in the Examples in Tables 8 and 15. In some embodiments, the protein-encoding sequence comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 29-35 and 64-75, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. In some embodiments, the protein-encoding sequence comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 29-35 and 64-75. In some embodiments, the protein-encoding sequence consists of a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 29-35 and 64-75. In some embodiments, additional CasX sequences contemplated by the disclosure include those generated by introducing two or three mutations into the sequence of CasX 515 (SEQ ID NO: 320), wherein the CasX exhibit one or more improved characteristics of increased editing activity of a target nucleic acid, increased editing specificity of a target nucleic acid, and increased specificity ratio of a target nucleic acid; exemplary resultant sequences include, but are not limited to, SEQ ID NOS: 95-255 and 317- 320. [0060] Also provided herein are RNA-encoding sequences, including CpG-reduced RNA- encoding sequences. The RNA-encoding sequence may encode any RNA product, and may be selected from the group consisting of an siRNA, an rRNA, a tRNA, or a guide RNA (gRNA). In some embodiments, the gRNA is a CasX gRNA. Such gRNAs encoded by the polynucleotides of the disclosure may comprise two segments: a targeting sequence and a protein-binding segment. The targeting segment of a gRNA, linked to the 3' end of the scaffold, includes a nucleotide sequence (referred to interchangeably as a guide sequence, a spacer, a targeter, or a targeting sequence) that is complementary to (and therefore hybridizes with) a specific sequence (a target site) within the target nucleic acid sequence (e.g., a strand of a double stranded target DNA, a target ssRNA, a target ssDNA, etc.). The targeting sequence of a gRNA is capable of
binding to a target nucleic acid sequence, including, in the context of the present disclosure, a coding sequence, a complement of a coding sequence, a non-coding sequence, and to accessory elements. In some embodiments, the targeting sequence comprises 15 to 20 nucleotides complementary to, and able to hybridized with a target nucleic acid of a gene. The protein- binding segment (or “activator” or “protein-binding sequence”) interacts with (e.g., binds to) a Cas protein such as CasX protein as a complex, forming an RNP (described more fully, below). The protein-binding segment is alternatively referred to herein as a “scaffold”, which is comprised of several regions, described more fully, below. The properties and characteristics of CasX gRNA, both wild-type and variants, are described in WO2020247882A1, US20220220508A1, and WO2022120095A1, incorporated by reference herein. [0061] Exemplary CpG-reduced or depleted sequences encoding gRNA scaffolds are provided in Table 10 in the Examples. In some embodiments, the sequence encoding the scaffold comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38-59, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. In some embodiments, the sequence encoding the scaffold comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38-59. In some embodiments, the sequence encoding the scaffold consists of a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38-59. [0062] In some embodiments, the polynucleotide is configured for inclusion in a recombinant viral vector (e.g., comprising a viral vector sequence such as a transgene with inverted terminal repeat (ITR) sequences for recombinant AAV vectors or a long terminal repeat (LTR) sequence for recombinant lentiviral vectors), as described in detail below. III. Recombinant viral vectors comprising CpG-reduced regulatory elements and/or CpG-reduced coding sequences [0063] Also provided herein is a recombinant viral vector comprising any one of the polynucleotides comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element and/or a CpG-reduced coding sequence as described herein. In some embodiments, the recombinant viral vector is a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) or a recombinant lentivirus. [0064] In some embodiments, the disclosure provides a host cell, optionally a mammalian cell, comprising an embodiment of the recombinant viral vector as described herein.
[0065] In some embodiments, the disclosure provides a method for regulating gene expression in a subject, the method comprising administering a dose of and embodiment of the recombinant viral vector as described herein. [0066] In some embodiments, the disclosure provides a method of treating a condition in a subject, the method comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective dose of an embodiment of the recombinant viral vector as described herein. Recombinant AAV (rAAV) vectors [0067] rAAV vectors are an important tool for delivering gene therapies and gene editing systems to patients. A challenge with utilizing rAAV vectors for treatment of a subject is the host immune response to the rAAV (Hamilton BA, Wright JF. Front Immunol. 2021;12:675897). Specifically, the host immune response is believed to limit the lifespan of therapeutic gene expression of the gene editing systems delivered by an rAAV in a subject, and can also produce clinically significant inflammation. In order to generate therapies that may avoid the problems presented by the host immune response, the present disclosure provides polynucleotides that are designed to be less immunogenic due to modifications to reduce or deplete the number of CpG dinucleotides in the polynucleotides. The polynucleotides described herein are particularly useful for generating rAAV vectors that are expected to stimulate the host immune response to a lesser extent than polynucleotides not modified to reduce the CpG content, and therefore be more effective when administered to a subject. [0068] Provided herein are rAAV vectors comprising one or more of the polynucleotides described herein. In some embodiments, the rAAV vector comprises an inverted terminal repeat (ITR) that is CpG-reduced. In some embodiments, the rAAV vector comprises a 5’ ITR comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 20, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. In some embodiments, the rAAV vector comprises a 3’ ITR comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 21, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. In some embodiments, the rAAV vector comprises a promoter comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15 as set forth in Table 2, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at
least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. In some embodiments, the rAAV vector comprises a Pol III promoter operably linked to an RNA-encoding sequence. In some embodiments, the rAAV vector comprises a Pol III promoter operably linked to a sequence encoding a gRNA (e.g., any one of the CpG-reduced sequence embodiments encoding gRNAs described herein). Any one of the Pol III promoters described herein may be operably linked to any one of the RNA-encoding sequences (e.g., a sequence encoding a gRNA) described herein. In some embodiments, the rAAV vector comprises a Pol II promoter operably linked to a protein-encoding sequence. In some embodiments, the rAAV vector comprises a Pol II promoter operably linked to a sequence encoding CasX, e.g., any one of the CpG-reduced sequence embodiments encoding CasX described herein. Any one of the Pol II promoters described herein may be operably linked to any one of the protein-encoding sequences (e.g., a sequence encoding CasX) described herein. Reduced immunogenicity [0069] In some embodiments, a CpG-reduced recombinant viral vector may exhibit a reduced immune response in an in vitro mammalian cell assay designed to detect production of one or more markers of an inflammatory response compared to a control recombinant viral vector that has not been modified to reduce CpG dinucleotides, when assayed under comparable conditions. Exemplary assays are described herein in the Examples. In some embodiments, the markers are selected from the group consisting of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL- 12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-Į), interferon gamma (IFNȖ), and granulocyte- macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). The recombinant viral vector may reduce production of the one or more markers by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% compared to the control recombinant viral vector. [0070] In some embodiments, the reduced immune response is exhibited in a subject. In some embodiments, administration of a dose of the recombinant viral vector to the subject elicits a reduced immune response in the subject compared to administration of a comparable dose of a control recombinant viral vector that has not been modified to reduce CpG dinucleotides administered to a subject. In some embodiments, the reduced immune response in the subject may be a reduction of a production of antibodies that specifically bind to a recombinant viral vector as described herein, or reduction of a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to a component thereof. In some embodiments, the reduced immune response in the subject is
determined by measurement of one or more inflammatory markers in the blood of the subject selected from the group consisting of TLR9, interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-Į), interferon gamma (IFNȖ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). In some embodiments, the one or more inflammatory markers may be reduced by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90%, compared to administration of a comparable dose of the control recombinant viral vector. IV. Methods for reducing CpG dinucelotides [0071] There is also provided herein a method of reducing CpG dinucleotides in a polynucleotide, comprising: providing a parental polynucleotide; and modifying the parental polynucleotide to generate a CpG-reduced polynucleotide that contains no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides. [0072] In some embodiments, the parental polynucleotide and the CpG-reduced polynucleotide comprises one or more regulatory elements. In some embodiments, the CpG- reduced polynucleotide may be devoid of CpG dinucleotides. In some embodiments, the CpG- reduced polynucleotide comprises less than about 50%, less than about 40%, less than about 30%, less than about 20%, less than about 10%, or less than about 1% as many CpG dinucleotides compared to the parental polynucleotide. In some embodiments, the CpG-reduced polynucleotide comprises a CpG-reduced regulatory element. [0073] In some embodiments, modifying the parental polynucleotide to a CpG-reduced polynucleotide comprises modifying a CpG dinucleotide comprised in the parental polynucleotide sequence to a GpC dinucleotide. In some embodiments, modifying the parental polynucleotide to a CpG-reduced polynucleotide comprises modifying a CpG dinucleotide comprised in the parental polynucleotide sequence based on a homologous nucleotide sequence of the parental polynucleotide from a different species. Evaluating a functional property of the CpG-reduced regulatory element [0074] In some embodiments, the method may further comprise evaluating a functional property of the CpG-reduced regulatory element. In some embodiments, the functional property is retained within a predetermined threshold compared to the parental polynucleotide. In some embodiments, the CpG-reduced regulatory element retains at least about 70%, at least about
80%, or at least about 90% of its functional properties compared to a non-CpG-reduced counterpart regulatory element. Evaluating immunogenicity [0075] In some embodiments, the method may comprise incorporating the CpG-reduced polynucleotide into a first recombinant viral vector and the parental polynucleotide into a second recombinant viral vector. In some embodiments, the first and second recombinant viral vectors may each be a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) or a recombinant lentivirus. [0076] In some embodiments, the method may comprise evaluating a potential of the first viral vector for inducing an immune response compared to the second recombinant viral vector. [0077] In some embodiments, the potential for inducing the immune response may be evaluated in an in vitro mammalian cell assay designed to detect production of one or more markers of an inflammatory response selected from the group consisting of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-Į), interferon gamma (IFNȖ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). By way of example, the first recombinant viral vector may reduce production of the one or more markers of the inflammatory response by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% compared to the second recombinant viral vector. [0078] In some embodiments, the potential for inducing the immune response may be evaluated in a subject, wherein, administration of a dose of the first recombinant viral vector to a subject elicits a reduced immune response in the subject compared to administration of a comparable dose of the second recombinant viral vector. Optionally, the reduced immune response in the subject is a reduction of the production of antibodies that specifically bind to the respective recombinant viral vector of the first and second recombinant viral vectors, or a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to a component thereof. Optionally, the reduced immune response is determined by the measurement of one or more inflammatory markers in the blood of the subject selected from the group consisting of TLR9, interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL- 18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-Į), interferon gamma (IFNȖ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). In some embodiments, the one or more inflammatory markers induced by the first recombinant viral vector are reduced by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at
least about 80%, or at least about 90%, compared to administration of the second recombinant viral vector. [0079] There is also provided herein a method of reducing the immune response in a cell, comprising contacting the cell with an embodiment of the recombinant viral vector described herein. Optionally, the immune response may be detected by production of one or more markers of an inflammatory response selected from the group consisting of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-Į), interferon gamma (IFNȖ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). V. Therapeutic Methods and Methods of Regulating Gene Expression [0080] The polynucleotides and recombinant viral vectors with CpG-reduced components described herein may be used in methods of treating conditions in subjects in need thereof. In some embodiments of the method, the subject has one or more mutations in a gene, wherein administration of the rAAV is administered to modify the gene, either to knock down or knock out expression of the gene product. In some embodiments of the method, the rAAV is administered to correct one or more mutations in a gene of the subject. In some embodiments, the methods of the disclosure can prevent, treat and/or ameliorate a condition such as a disease of a subject by the administering to the subject of an rAAV vector composition with CpG- reduced components of the disclosure. In some embodiments, the composition administered to the subject further comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent, or excipient. [0081] Also provided herein are methods for regulating gene expression in a subject, the method comprising administering a dose of any one of the recombinant viral vectors with CpG- reduced components described herein. In some embodiments, upon transduction of a cell of the subject, the Cas protein and gRNA are capable of being expressed and can complex as an RNP to bind and modify a target nucleic acid of a gene in cells of the subject. In some embodiments, the method comprises modifying a gene in a cell of a subject, the modifying comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically-effective dose of an recombinant viral vector encoding a Cas protein (e.g., CasX) and a gRNA as described herein, wherein the targeting sequence of the encoded gRNA has a sequence that hybridizes with a target nucleic acid of the gene, resulting in the modification of the gene by the Cas protein. [0082] In some embodiments, the methods described herein comprise administering to the subject the rAAV vector of the embodiments with CpG-reduced components described herein
via an administration route selected from the group consisting of subcutaneous, intradermal, intraneural, intranodal, intramedullary, intramuscular, intralumbar, intrathecal, subarachnoid, intraventricular, intracapsular, intravenous, intralymphatical, intraocular or intraperitoneal routes, wherein the administering method is injection, transfusion, or implantation. In some embodiments of the methods of treating a condition or regulating gene expression in a subject, the subject is selected from the group consisting of mouse, rat, pig, non-human primate, and human. In a particular embodiment, the subject is a human. [0083] In some embodiments, the administering of the therapeutically effective amount of a polynucleotide or a recombinant viral vector with CpG-reduced components as described herein to knock down or knock out expression of a gene having one or more mutations leads to the prevention or amelioration of the underlying condition such that an improvement is observed in the subject, notwithstanding that the subject may still be afflicted with the underlying disease. In some embodiments, the administration of the therapeutically effective amount of the polynucleotide or a recombinant viral vector leads to an improvement in at least one clinically- relevant parameter for the disease. [0084] In some embodiments, the disclosure provides compositions of any of the polynucleotides and recombinant viral vectors (e.g., rAAVs) with CpG-reduced components described herein for the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of a human in need thereof. In some embodiments, the medicament is administered to the subject according to a treatment regimen comprising one or more consecutive doses using a therapeutically effective dose. VI. Kits and Articles of Manufacture [0085] In other embodiments, provided herein are kits comprising a polynucleotide comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element or recombinant viral vector with CpG-reduced components of any of the embodiments of the disclosure, and a suitable container (for example a tube, vial or plate). [0086] In some embodiments, the kit further comprises a buffer, a nuclease inhibitor, a protease inhibitor, a liposome, a therapeutic agent, a label, a label visualization reagent, or any combination of the foregoing. In some embodiments, the kit further comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent or excipient. [0087] In some embodiments, the kit provides instructions for use.
ENUMERATED EMBODIMENTS [0088] The invention may be defined by reference to the following enumerated, illustrative embodiments. [0089] Embodiment 1. A polynucleotide comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element, comprising no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides. [0090] Embodiment 2. The polynucleotide of embodiment 1, comprising a plurality of CpG-reduced regulatory elements, each comprising no more than about no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides. [0091] Embodiment 3. The polynucleotide of embodiment 1 or embodiment 2, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is devoid of CpG dinucleotides. [0092] Embodiment 4. The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 1-3, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element. [0093] Embodiment 5. The polynucleotide of embodiment 4, wherein the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a promoter, a terminator, an enhancer, and a silencer. [0094] Embodiment 6. The polynucleotide of embodiment 5, wherein the promoter is an RNA polymerase III promoter or an RNA polymerase II promoter. [0095] Embodiment 7. The polynucleotide of embodiment 5, wherein the promoter is a UbC promoter, a U1a promoter, a U6 promoter, or an isoform thereof. [0096] Embodiment 8. The polynucleotide of embodiment 5, wherein the promoter comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15 as set forth in Table 2, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [0097] Embodiment 9. The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 4-8, comprising a protein-encoding sequence or an RNA-encoding sequence under the control of the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element. [0098] Embodiment 10. The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 1-3, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element.
[0099] Embodiment 11. The polynucleotide of embodiment 10, wherein the CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a poly(A) signal sequence, an intron, a nuclear localization signal (NLS), and a self-cleaving sequence. [00100] Embodiment 12. The polynucleotide of embodiment 11, wherein the poly(A) signal sequence comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17 as set forth in Table 4, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [00101] Embodiment 13. The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 10-12, wherein the CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element is configured to be transcribed together with a protein-encoding sequence. [00102] Embodiment 14. The polynucleotide of embodiment 9 or 13, wherein the protein- encoding sequence encodes a protein selected from the group consisting of a structural protein, a contractile protein, an enzyme, a hormonal protein, a storage protein, a transport protein, a complement protein, a receptor, an antibody or fragment thereof, an antibody fusion protein, an intracellular signaling protein, a cytokine, a growth factor, an interleukin, a microprotein, an engineered protein scaffold, a transcription factor, a viral interferon antagonist, and an engineered therapeutic protein. [00103] Embodiment 15. The polynucleotide of embodiment 14, wherein the enzyme is a nuclease. [00104] Embodiment 16. The polynucleotide of embodiment 15, wherein the nuclease is a CRISPR associated (Cas) protein. [00105] Embodiment 17. The polynucleotide of embodiment 16, wherein the Cas protein is a Class 2 Type II protein or a Class 2 Type V protein. [00106] Embodiment 18. The polynucleotide of embodiment 17, wherein the Class 2 Type II protein is Cas9. [00107] Embodiment 19. The polynucleotide of embodiment 17, wherein the Class 2 Type V protein is selected from the group consisting of Cas12a (Cpf1), Cas12b (C2c1), Cas12c (C2c3), Cas12d (CasY), Cas12e (CasX), Cas12f, Cas12g, Cas12h, Cas12i, Cas12j, Cas12k, Cas14, and Casĭ. [00108] Embodiment 20. The polynucleotide of embodiment 19, wherein the Class 2 Type V protein is CasX, and the protein-encoding sequence is selected from the group consisting of
SEQ ID NOS: 29-35 and 64-75 as set forth in Table 8 and Table 15, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [00109] Embodiment 21. The polynucleotide of embodiment 19, wherein the Class 2 Type V protein is CasX, and the encoded CasX protein comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 95-255 and 317-320, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [00110] Embodiment 22. The polynucleotide of embodiment 9, wherein the RNA-encoding sequence encodes an siRNA, a miRNA, an rRNA, a tRNA, or a gRNA. [00111] Embodiment 23. The polynucleotide of 22, wherein the RNA-encoding sequence encodes a gRNA comprising a scaffold comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38-59 as set forth in Table 10, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [00112] Embodiment 24. The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 1-23, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element retains at least about 70%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% of its functional properties compared to a non-CpG-reduced counterpart regulatory element. [00113] Embodiment 25. A polynucleotide comprising a CpG-reduced coding sequence, wherein the sequence comprises no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides. [00114] Embodiment 26. The polynucleotide of embodiment 25, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence is devoid of CpG dinucleotides. [00115] Embodiment 27. The polynucleotide of embodiment 25 or embodiment 26, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encodes a CasX protein. [00116] Embodiment 28. The polynucleotide of embodiment 27, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encoding the CasX protein is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 29-35 and 64-75, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least
about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [00117] Embodiment 29. The polynucleotide of embodiment 27, wherein the encoded CasX protein comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 95-255 and 317-320, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [00118] Embodiment 30. The polynucleotide of embodiment 25 or embodiment 26, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encodes a gRNA comprising a scaffold. [00119] Embodiment 31. The polynucleotide of 29, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encoding the gRNA scaffold comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38-59, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [00120] Embodiment 32. The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 25-31, wherein the polynucleotide further comprises a CpG-reduced regulatory element comprising no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides. [00121] Embodiment 33. The polynucleotide of embodiment 32, comprising a plurality of CpG-reduced regulatory elements, each comprising no more than about no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides. [00122] Embodiment 34. The polynucleotide of embodiment 32 or embodiment 33, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is devoid of CpG dinucleotides. [00123] Embodiment 35. The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 32-34, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element. [00124] Embodiment 36. The polynucleotide of embodiment 35, wherein the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a promoter, a terminator, an enhancer, and a silencer. [00125] Embodiment 37. The polynucleotide of embodiment 36, wherein the promoter is an RNA polymerase III promoter or an RNA polymerase II promoter.
[00126] Embodiment 38. The polynucleotide of embodiment 36, wherein the promoter is a UbC promoter, a U1a promoter, or a U6 promoter. [00127] Embodiment 39. The polynucleotide of embodiment 36, wherein the promoter comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15 as set forth in Table 2, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [00128] Embodiment 40. The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 32-34, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element. [00129] Embodiment 41. The polynucleotide of embodiment 40, wherein the CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a poly(A) signal sequence, an intron, a nuclear localization signal (NLS), and a self-cleaving sequence. [00130] Embodiment 42. The polynucleotide of embodiment 41, wherein the poly(A) signal sequence comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17 as set forth in Table 4, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [00131] Embodiment 43. The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 25-42, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence retains at least about 70%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% of the ability to result in an expressed gene product compared to a non-CpG-reduced coding sequence. [00132] Embodiment 44. The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 1-43, wherein the polynucleotide is configured for inclusion in a recombinant viral vector. [00133] Embodiment 45. A recombinant viral vector comprising the polynucleotide of embodiment 44. [00134] Embodiment 46. The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 45, wherein the recombinant viral vector exhibits a reduced immune response in an in vitro mammalian cell assay designed to detect production of one or more markers of an inflammatory response compared to a control recombinant viral vector that has not been modified to reduce CpG dinucleotides, when assayed under comparable conditions. [00135] Embodiment 47. The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 46, wherein the one or more markers of an inflammatory response are selected from the group consisting of Toll-like
receptor 9 (TLR9), interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-Į), interferon gamma (IFNȖ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). [00136] Embodiment 48. The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 47, wherein the recombinant viral vector exhibits reduced production of the one or more markers of at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% compared to the control recombinant viral vector. [00137] Embodiment 49. The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 45, wherein the recombinant viral vector exhibits a reduced immune response when administered to a subject compared to the immune response of a comparable dose of a control recombinant viral vector that has not been modified to reduce CpG dinucleotides administered to a subject. [00138] Embodiment 50. The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 49, wherein the reduced immune response in the subject is a reduction of a production of antibodies that specifically bind to the recombinant viral vector, or reduction of a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to a component thereof. [00139] Embodiment 51. The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 49, wherein the reduced immune response is determined by measurement of one or more inflammatory markers in the blood of the subject selected from the group consisting of TLR9, interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL- 6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-Į), interferon gamma (IFNȖ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF). [00140] Embodiment 52. The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 51, wherein the one or more inflammatory markers are reduced by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90%, compared to administration of a comparable dose of the control recombinant viral vector. [00141] Embodiment 53. The recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45-52, wherein the recombinant viral vector is a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) or a recombinant lentivirus. [00142] Embodiment 54. The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 53, wherein the rAAV comprises:
[00143] (a) a 5’ inverted terminal repeat (ITR) comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 20, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto, and/or [00144] (b) a 3’ ITR comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 21, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto. [00145] Embodiment 55. The recombinant viral vector of embodiment 54, further comprising an AAV capsid protein. [00146] Embodiment 56. A cell comprising the recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45-55. [00147] Embodiment 57. A method for regulating gene expression in a subject, the method comprising administering a dose of the recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45- 55, [00148] wherein the recombinant viral vector encodes a Cas protein and a gRNA comprising a targeting sequence of 15 to 20 nucleotides complementary to a target nucleic acid of a gene of the subject, [00149] wherein upon transduction of a cell of the subject, the Cas protein and gRNA are capable of being expressed, and [00150] wherein the gene is modified by the expressed Cas protein. [00151] Embodiment 58. A method for treating a condition in a subject, the method comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective dose of the recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45-55. [00152] Embodiment 59. A method of reducing CpG dinucleotides in a polynucleotide, comprising: [00153] (a) providing a parental polynucleotide; and [00154] (b) modifying the parental polynucleotide to generate a CpG-reduced polynucleotide that contains no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides. [00155] Embodiment 60. The polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 1-44 or the recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45-55, for use in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of a disease.
[00156] Embodiment 61. A kit comprising the polynucleotide of any one of embodiments 1- 44 or the recombinant viral vector of any one of embodiments 45-55, and a suitable container. EXAMPLES Example 1: CpG-depleted AAVs demonstrate CasX-mediated editing in vitro [00157] CpG motifs are short single-stranded DNA sequences containing the dinucleotide CG. When these CpG motifs are unmethylated, they act as PAMPs and therefore potently stimulate the immune response. In this example, experiments were performed to deplete CpG motifs in the AAV construct encoding CasX variant 491, guide scaffold variant 235, and spacer 7.37 targeting the endogenous B2M (beta-2-microglobulin) locus and demonstrate that CpG-depleted AAV vectors were able to edit effectively in vitro. The editing activity induced from use of the individual elements of the AAV genome and their respective CpG-reduced versions, as well as combinations of these elements, was assessed in vitro. In vitro assessment of immunogenicity of such vectors is presented in Example 2. Materials and Methods: Design of CpG-depleted AAV components: [00158] Nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs in AAV components were designed in silico. For exemplary regulatory elements, nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs were designed based on homologous nucleotide sequences from related species to produce CpG-reduced variants for the following elements: the murine U1a snRNA (small nuclear RNA) gene promoter, the human UbC (polyubiquitin C) gene promoter, and the human U6 promoter. See Table 1, which provides parental sequences of a murine U1a promoter, a human UbC promoter, and a human U6 promoter prior to CpG reduction and Table 2, which provides sequences of CpG-reduced variants of the promoters listed in Table 1. Similar modifications were made to produce a CpG-reduced variant of a bGHpA (bovine growth hormone polyadenylation) signal sequence. Table 3 provides a parental sequence of a bGHpA prior to CpG reduction and Table 4, which provides a sequence of a CpG-reduced variant of the bGHpA listed in Table 3. [00159] AAV2 ITRs were CpG-depleted as previously described (Pan X, Yue Y, Boftsi M. et al., 2021, Rational engineering of a functional CpG-free ITR for AAV gene therapy. Gene
Ther.) Table 5 provides parental ITR sequences prior to CpG reduction and Table 6, which provides sequences of CpG-reduced variants of the ITRs listed in Table 5. [00160] Nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs in exemplary CasX proteins were rationally designed for codon optimization, so that the amino acid sequence of the CpG- reduced Cas-encoding sequence would be the same as the amino acid sequence of the corresponding native Cas-encoding sequence. Table 7 provides parental Cas sequences prior to CpG reduction and Table 8, which provides sequences of CpG-reduced variants of the Cas proteins listed in Table 7. Furthermore, nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs within the base gRNA scaffold variants (gRNA scaffold 235 and 316) were rationally designed with the intent to preserve editing activity. The rational design process for the CpG reduction of the gRNA sequences is further described herein below. Table 9 provides parental gRNA sequences prior to CpG reduction and Table 10, which provides sequences of CpG-reduced variants of the gRNAs listed in Table 9. [00161] All resulting sequences were ordered from a third party commercial source as synthetized gene fragments with the appropriate overhangs for cloning and isothermal assembly to replace individually the corresponding elements of the existing base AAV plasmid (construct ID 183). Spacer 7.37 (GGCCGAGAUGUCUCGCUCCG; SEQ ID NO: 60), which targets the endogenous B2M gene, was used for the experiments discussed in this example. The resulting AAV constructs were generated using standard molecular cloning techniques. Cloned and sequence-validated plasmid constructs were midi-prepped for subsequent nucleofection and AAV vector production. Table 1: Parental sequences of promoters
Table 2: Sequences of CpG-reduced or depleted promoters
Table 3: Parental sequence for PolyA signal sequence
Table 4: Sequences of CpG-reduced PolyA signal sequence
Table 5: Sequences of parental AAV ITR sequences
Table 6: Sequences of CpG-reduced or depleted AAV ITR sequences
Table 7: Parental nucleotide sequences encoding CasX proteins
Table 8: CpG-depleted nucleotide sequences encoding CasX proteins
Table 9: Parental sequences encoding gRNA scaffolds
Table 10: Sequences encoding CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds
Design of CpG-reduced guide scaffolds: [00162] Nucleotide substitutions were rationally-designed to replace native CpG motifs within the base gRNA scaffold variant (gRNA scaffold 235) with the intent to preserve editing activity while reducing scaffold immunogenicity. CpG-motifs were removed from the scaffold coding sequence in order to reduce immunogenicity. Scaffold 235 contains a total of eight CpG elements; six of which are predicted to basepair and form complementary strands of a double- stranded secondary structure. Therefore, the six basepairing CpGs forming three pairs were mutated in concert to maintain these double-stranded secondary structures (FIG.1A). These mutations reduced the count of independent CpG-containing regions to five (three CpG pairs and two single CpGs) to be considered independently for CpG-removal. Specifically, mutations were designed in (1) the pseudoknot stem, (2) the scaffold stem, (3) the extended stem bubble, (4) the extended step, and (5) the extended stem loop, as diagrammed in FIG.1B and as described in detail below. [00163] In the pseudoknot stem (region 1), the CpG pair was flipped to a GpC to minimize the alteration of the base composition and sequence. Based on previous experiments involving replacing individual base pairs, it was anticipated that this mutation was not likely to be detrimental to the structure and function of the guide RNA scaffold. [00164] Similarly, in the scaffold stem (region 2) the CpG pair was flipped to a GpC to minimize the alteration of the base composition and sequence. It was anticipated that this mutation was likely to be detrimental to the structure and function of the guide RNA scaffold because strong sequence conservation was seen in this region in previous experiments mutating individual bases or base pairs. This strong sequence conservation is likely due to the scaffold stem loop being important in interacting with the CasX protein as well as in the formation of a triplex structural element with the pseudoknot region. [00165] In the extended stem bubble (region 3) the single CpG was removed by one of three strategies. First, the bubble was deleted by mutating CG->C (removing the guanine from the CpG dinucleotide). Second, the bubble was resolved to restore ideal basepairing by mutating CG->CT (substituting thymine for guanine in the CpG dinucleoide). Third, the entire extended stem loop was replaced with the extended stem loop of scaffold 174. Note that, by itself, the replacement of the extended stem loop with that of scaffold 174 recapitulates scaffold 316, which has previously been shown to edit efficiently. As are no CpG motifs in the extended stem loop of scaffold 174, replacing the extended stem loop with that of scaffold 174 also removes the
CpG motif in the extended stem (region 4). Based on previous experiments showing the relative robustness of the extended stem to small changes, it was anticipated that mutating the extended stem bubble was moderately likely to be detrimental to the structure and function of the guide RNA scaffold. [00166] In the extended stem (region 4), the CpG pair could not be flipped to GpC without generating additional CpG motifs. Therefore, the CpGs were changed to a GG and a complementary CC motif. Similar to region 3, based on the relative robustness of the extended stem to small changes, it was anticipated that this mutation was not likely to be detrimental to the structure and function of the guide RNA scaffold. [00167] Finally, the extended stem loop (region 5) was mutated in one of three ways that were designed based on previous experiments examining the stability of the stem loop. In particular, several variations of the stem loop had previously been shown to have similar stability levels, and some of these variations of the stem loop do not contain CpGs. Based on these findings, first, the loop was replaced with a new loop with a CUUG sequence. Second, the loop was replaced with a new loop with a GAAA sequence. Since the GAAA loop replacement would generate a novel CpG adjacent to the loop, it was combined with a C>G base swap and the corresponding G>C base swap on the complementary strand, ultimately resulting in a CUUCGG>GGAAAC exchange. Third, the loop was mutated by the insertion of an A to interrupt the CpG motif and thereby increase the size of the loop from 4 to 5 bases. It was anticipated that randomly mutating the extended stem loop would likely have detrimental effects on secondary structure stability and hence on editing. However, relying on previously confirmed sequences was believed to have a lower risk associated with a replacement. [00168] To generate guide RNA scaffolds encoded by DNA with reduced CpG levels, the mutations described above were combined in various configurations. Table 11, below, summarizes combinations of the mutations that were used. In Table 11, a 0 indicates that no mutation was introduced to a given region, a 1, 2, or 3 indicates that a mutation was introduced in that region, and n/a indicates not applicable. Specifically, for region 1, the pseudoknot stem, a 1 indicates that a CG->GC mutation was introduced. For region 2, the scaffold stem, a 1 indicates that a CG->GC mutation was introduced. For region 3, the extended stem bubble, a 1 indicates that the bubble was removed by the deletion of the G and A bases that form the bubble, a 2 indicates that the bubble was resolved by a CG->CT mutation that allows for basepairing between the A and T bases, and a 3 indicates that the extended stem loop was replaced with the
extended step loop from guide scaffold 174. For region 4, the extended stem, a 1 indicates that a CG GC mutation was introduced. For region 5, the extended stem loop, a 1 indicates that the loop was replaced from TTCG to CTTG, a 2 indicates that the loop was replaced along with a basepair adjacent to the loop, from CTTCGG to GGAAAC, and a 3 indicates that an A was inserted between the C and the G. [00169] Whereas the above disclosure is regarding the rational design of CpG-reduced gRNA scaffolds, it will be appreciated that the same considerations and process can be applied to rationally plan and perform CpG reduction of other elements, including but not limited to regulatory elements such as the various transcription regulatory elements and post-transcription regulatory elements described herein, as well as protein-encoding sequences. Table 11: Summary of mutations for CpG-reduction and depletion in guide scaffold 235
Generation of CpG-depleted AAV plasmids to assess CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds: [00170] The CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds were tested in the context of AAV vectors that were otherwise CpG-depleted, with the exception of the AAV2 ITRs. Specifically, nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs in AAV components were designed in silico based on homologous nucleotide sequences from related species for the following elements: the murine U1a snRNA (small nuclear RNA) gene promoter, the bGHpA (bovine growth hormone polyadenylation) sequence, and the human U6 promoter. The coding sequence for CasX 491 was codon-optimized for CpG depletion. All resulting sequences (Tables 10 and 12) were ordered as gene fragments with the appropriate overhangs for cloning and isothermal assembly to replace individually the corresponding elements of the existing base AAV plasmid (construct ID 183). Spacer 7.37 (GGCCGAGAUGUCUCGCUCCG; SEQ ID NO: 60), which targets the endogenous B2M gene, was used for the experiments discussed in this example. The first time that the experiment was performed, a sample with the non-targeting spacer 0.0 was also included as a control (CGAGACGUAAUUACGUCUCG; SEQ ID NO: 61). [00171] The resulting AAV constructs were generated using standard molecular cloning techniques. Cloned and sequence-validated plasmid constructs were midi-prepped for subsequent nucleofection and AAV vector production. The sequences of the additional components of AAV constructs, with the exception of sequences encoding the gRNAs (Table 10), are listed in Table 12. Table 12: Sequences of AAV elements (5’-3’ in AAV construct)
AAV production [00172] Suspension-adapted HEK293T cells, maintained in FreeStyle 293 media, were seeded in 20-30mL of media at 1.5E6 cells/mL on the day of transfection. Endotoxin-free pAAV plasmids with the transgene flanked by ITR repeats were co-transfected with plasmids supplying
the adenoviral helper genes for replication and AAV rep/cap genome using PEI Max (Polysciences) in serum-free Opti-MEM media. Three days later, cultures were centrifuged to separate the supernatant from the cell pellet, and the AAV particles were collected, concentrated, and filtered following standard procedures. [00173] To determine the viral genome (vg) titer, 1 μL from crude lysate viruses was digested with DNase and proteinase K, followed by quantitative PCR.5 μL of digested virus was used in a 25 μL qPCR reaction composed of IDT primetime master mix and a set of primer and 6’FAM/Zen/IBFQ probe (IDT) designed to amplify a 62 bp-fragment located in the AAV2-ITR. An AAV ITR plasmid was used as reference standards to calculate the titer (vg/mL) of viral samples. Culturing human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs) in vitro: [00174] Immortalized hNPCs were cultured in hNPC medium (DMEM/F12 with GlutaMax™, 10mM HEPES, 1X NEAA, 1X B-27 without vitamin A, 1X N2 supplemented growth factors hFGF and EGF, Pen/Strep, and 2-mercaptoethanol). Prior to testing, cells were lifted with TrypLE, gently resuspended to dissociate neurospheres, quenched with media, spun down, and resuspended in fresh media. Cells were counted and directly used for nucleofection or are seeded at a density of ~10,000 cells per well on a 96-well plate coated with PLF (poly-DL-ornithine hydrobromide, laminin, and fibronectin) 48 hours prior to AAV transduction. Plasmid nucleofection into human neural progenitor cells (hNPCs): [00175] AAV plasmids encoding the CasX:gRNA system, with or without CpG depletion of the individual elements of the AAV genome, were nucleofected into hNPCs using the Lonza P3 Primary Cell 96-well Nucleofector Kit. Plasmids were diluted into two concentrations: 50 ng/μL and 25 ng/μL.5 μL of DNA was mixed with 20 μL of 200,000 hNPCs in the Lonza P3 solution supplemented with 18% V/V P3 supplement. The combined solution was nucleofected using the Lonza 4D Nucleofector System following program EH-100. The nucleofected solution was subsequently quenched with the appropriate culture media and then divided into three wells of a 96-well plate coated with PLF. Seven days post-nucleofection, hNPCs were lifted for B2M protein expression analysis via HLA immunostaining followed by flow cytometry. Subsequently, stacking of individual CpG-depleted elements to create a combined AAV genome with substantial CpG depletion was performed and similarly tested for editing assessment at the B2M locus in vitro.
Editing activity assessment by HLA immunostaining and flow cytometry: [00176] Seven days after nucleofection, AAV-treated hNPCs were lifted with TrypLE. After cell dissociation, staining buffer (3% fetal bovine serum in dPBS) was used for quenching. The dissociated cells were transferred to a round-bottom 96-well plate, followed by centrifugation and resuspension of cell pellets with staining buffer. After another centrifugation, cell pellets were resuspended in staining buffer containing the antibody (BioLegend) that would detect the B2M-dependent HLA protein expressed on the cell surface. After HLA immunostaining, cells were stained with DAPI to label cell nuclei. HLA+ hNPCs were measured using the Attune NxT flow cytometer. Reprogramming of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs): [00177] Fibroblast cells from a patient were obtained from the Coriell Cell Repository. iPSCs were generated from these lines by episomal reprogramming and genetically engineered to ectopically express Neurogenin 2 (Neurog2) to accelerate neuronal differentiation. Three iPSC clones were selected for downstream experiments. Neuronal cell culture: [00178] All neuronal cell culture was performed using N2B27-based media. To induce neuronal differentiation, iPSCs were plated in neuronal plating media (N2B27 base media with 1 ^g/mL doxycycline, 200 ^M L-ascorbic acid, 1 ^M dibutyryl cAMP sodium salt, 10 ^M CultureOne, 100 ng/ml of BDNF, 100 ng/ml of GDNF). iNs (induced neurons) were dissociated, aliquoted, and frozen for long term storage after three days of differentiation (DIV3). DIV3 iNs were thawed and seeded on a 96-well plate at ~30,000-50,000 cells per well. iNs were cultured for one week in plating media and thereafter, half-media changes were performed once every week using feeding media (N2B27 base media with 200 ^M L-ascorbic acid, 1 ^M dibutyryl cAMP sodium salt, 200 ng/ml of BDNF, 200 ng/ml of GDNF). AAV transduction of iNs in vitro: [00179] 24 hours prior to transduction, ~30,000-50,000 iNs per well were seeded on Matrigel- coated 96-well plates. AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system, with or without CpG depletion of the individual elements of the AAV genome, were then diluted in neuronal plating media and added to cells. Cells were transduced at two MOIs (1E3 or 3E3vg/cell). Seven days post- transduction, iNs were replenished using feeding media. Seven days post-transduction, cells were lifted using lysis buffer 4-well replicates were pooled per experimental condition and
genomic DNA (gDNA) was harvested and prepared for editing analysis at the B2M locus using next generation sequencing (NGS). Subsequently, combining individual CpG-reduced or CpG- depleted elements to create a combined AAV genome with substantial CpG depletion was performed and similarly tested for editing assessment at the B2M locus in vitro. Experiments assessing the effects of incorporating CpG-depleted gRNA scaffold constructs on editing at the B2M locus in vitro are similarly conducted. [00180] In a separate experiment, CpG-depleted guide scaffolds were assessed. Here, iNs were transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system with various versions of the guide scaffold. The first time that the experiment was performed, cells were transduced at an MOI of 4e3 vg/cell (see FIG.5A). Seven days post-plating, iNs were transduced with virus diluted in fresh feeding media. Eight days post-transduction, cells were lifted using lysis buffer, 4-well replicates were pooled per experimental condition, and gDNA was harvested and prepared for editing analysis at the B2M locus using NGS. The second time that the experiment was performed (“N=2”), cells were transduced at an MOI of 3e3 vg/cell, 1e3 vg/cell, or 3e2 vg/cell (see FIG.5B, FIG.5C, and FIG.5D). Seven days post-plating, induced neurons were transduced with virus diluted in fresh feeding media. Seven days post-transduction, cells were lifted using lysis buffer, 2-well replicates were pooled per experimental condition, and gDNA was harvested and prepared for editing analysis at the B2M locus using NGS. Samples that were not transduced with AAV were included as controls. NGS processing and analysis: [00181] Genomic DNA (gDNA) from harvested cells were extracted using the Zymo Quick- DNATM Miniprep Plus kit following the manufacturer’s instructions. Target amplicons were formed by amplifying regions of interest from 200 ng of extracted gDNA with a set of primers specific to the target locus, such as the human B2M gene. These gene-specific primers contained an additional sequence at the 5ƍ end to introduce an IlluminaTM adapter and a 16-nucleotide unique molecule identifier. Amplified DNA products were purified with the Ampure XP DNA cleanup kit. Quality and quantification of the amplicon were assessed using a Fragment Analyzer DNA Analysis kit (Agilent, dsDNA 35-1500bp). Amplicons were sequenced on the IlluminaTM MiseqTM according to the manufacturer's instructions. Raw fastq files from sequencing were quality-controlled and processed using cutadapt v2.1, flash2 v2.2.00, and CRISPResso2 v2.0.29. Each sequence was quantified for containing an insertion or deletion (indel) relative to the reference sequence, in a window around the 3ƍ end of the spacer (30 bp window centered at –3
bp from 3ƍ end of spacer). CasX activity was quantified as the total percent of reads that contain insertions, substitutions, and/or deletions anywhere within this window for each sample. Results: Assessment of use of CpG-depleted AAV vector elements on editing in a cell-based assay: [00182] The findings of an assay assessing the editing activity at the B2M locus in hNPCs nucleofected with CpG-containing (CpG+) or CpG-reduced/depleted (CpG-) AAV vectors are illustrated in FIG.2. Editing activity was measured as the percentage of hNPCs that were edited at the B2M locus, resulting in reduced or lack of B2M expression (B2M-) on the cell surface. The results shown in FIG.2 illustrate that reducing or depleting CpG motifs within the sequences of the U1a promoter (construct ID 178 and 179), Pol III U6 promoter (construct ID 180 and 181), or bGH poly(A) (construct ID 182) did not significantly decrease editing activity compared to the editing level achieved with the original CpG+ AAV construct (construct ID 177). Specifically, CpG- U1a, CpG- U6, or CpG- bGH resulted in ~80%, ~94%, or ~83% editing of the editing level attained with the base CpG+ AAV construct. However, reducing or depleting CpG motifs within the UbC promoter sequence (construct ID 184, 185, and 186) substantially diminished editing activity compared to the level seen with the base UbC construct (construct ID 183), highlighting context-dependent effects of CpG depletion on AAV editing activity and underscoring the importance of screening individual CpG-depleted AAV elements to retain potent editing. [00183] The bar plot in FIG.3 illustrated that use of the U1a promoter (construct ID 177) resulted in higher editing at the B2M locus when compared to the editing level after use of the UbC promoter (construct ID 183) at both MOIs. This improvement in editing was recapitulated when comparing the use of their CpG-reduced and CpG-depleted counterparts at both MOIs (compare construct ID 178-179 to construct ID 184-186; FIG.3). Furthermore, depleting CpGs in either U1a or UbC resulted in reduced editing when compared to the editing observed from using their wild-type (WT) or CpG-reduced counterparts (FIG.3). Interestingly, depleting CpGs in the U1a promoter nevertheless resulted in relatively higher editing compared to the editing level achieved when depleting CpGs in the UbC promoter (FIG.3). [00184] In addition to evaluating the effects of depleting CpGs in different protein promoters (e.g., U1a compared to UbC) on editing mediated by the CasX:gRNA system delivered by AAVs, the effects of depleting CpGs in other elements on editing were analyzed at two MOIs (FIGS.4A-4B). Furthermore, individual CpG- elements were combined to generate an AAV
genome with substantial CpG depletion, and the consequential effects on editing at the B2M locus were assessed (FIGS.4A-4B). [00185] FIG.4A-4B shows bar plots that illustrate the quantification of percent editing at the B2M locus as detected by NGS seven days post-transduction of AAVs into human iNs at an MOI of 3E3 (FIG.4A) or 1E3 (FIG.4B). Various CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted AAV elements were tested to assess the effects of their use on editing efficiency at the B2M locus as follows: 177 (no CpG depletion); 178 (U1A promoter with reduced CpG); 179: (U1A promoter with CpG depleted); 180 (U6 promoter with reduced CpG); 181(U6 promoter with CpG depleted); 182 (bGH poly(A) with CpG depleted); 206 (U1A promoter with reduced CpG, CasX491 with CpG depleted, bGH with CpG depleted, and U6 promoter with CpG depleted); 205 (U1A promoter with CpG depleted, CasX491 with CpG depleted, bGH with CpG depleted, and U6 promoter with CpG depleted). ITRs are wild-type sequence. [00186] Several key conclusions were determined from these results illustrated in FIGS.4A- 4B: 1) use of CpG-depleted U1a promoter resulted in a drastic decrease in editing compared to the editing from using the WT or CpG-reduced U1a, supporting findings observed in FIG.3) depleting CpGs in either the bGH-polyA or U6 RNA promoter resulted in similar editing levels as that achieved by their WT counterpart; and 3) combining CpG-depleted or CpG-reduced elements to build a combined AAV genome with substantial CpG reduction could still retain editing activity (FIG.4A-4B). [00187] Additionally, results from experiments aimed to assess the effects of incorporating CpG-depleted gRNA scaffold constructs into a combined AAV genome with substantial CpG depletion on editing at the B2M locus may reveal that varying levels of editing potency can be achieved when delivered and packaged via AAVs. [00188] These experiments demonstrated that using AAV elements with different levels of CpG depletion can result in varying levels of editing mediated by the CasX:gRNA system when packaged and delivered in vitro via AAVs. The data also revealed that depleting CpGs in certain elements could result in similar levels of editing as that achieved when using their WT counterpart. Incorporating CpG-reduced or CpG-depleted elements further expands the inventory of diverse sequences that could be used to build an AAV genome, potentially reducing the risk of recombination during AAV packaging and production. Assessment of use of CpG-depleted guide scaffolds on editing in a cell-based assay:
[00189] Mutations were introduced into the guide scaffold 235 to reduce the CpG content of the DNA sequence coding the guide scaffold. Surprisingly, compared to scaffold 235, all CpG- reduced and CpG-depleted scaffold variants produced higher levels of editing in induced neurons. This was the case with two independent repeats of the experiment (with the results from the first repeat of the experiment shown in FIG.5A, and the results of the second repeat of the experiment shown in FIGS.5B-5D), and across multiple MOIs (FIGS.5B-5D). The enhanced level of editing was surprising because the goal of reducing CpG content was to simply preserve editing activity while reducing immunogenicity. Instead, the mutations enhanced editing activity, rather than merely preserving it. [00190] Notably, scaffold 320 showed a significant increase in potency over scaffold 235. Scaffold 320 includes mutations to only two regions of the scaffold: in the pseudoknot stem and the extended stem (regions 1 and 4). Further, some combinations of mutations produced worse editing than scaffold 320. However, even the CpG-reduced scaffolds that performed worse than scaffold 320, such as scaffolds 331 and 334, performed similarly to or better than scaffold 235. [00191] Based on these results, it is believed that the boost in potency seen in many of the CpG-reduced and CpG-depleted scaffolds is likely caused by one of the mutations present in all CpG-reduced scaffolds (i.e., region 1 and/or 4). Since the mutation to region 4 is not present in the scaffolds with the extended stem loop replacement (i.e., the third mutation to region 3) and these scaffolds show a similar improvement in potency over 235 as 320 did, it is believed that the beneficial effect is likely caused by the mutation in region 1 (pseudoknot stem), which is present in all tested scaffolds. Further experiments are performed to test the effect of the individual mutations in the pseudoknot stem (region 1) and the extended stem (region 4) separately. [00192] Further, the data presented in FIG.5A indicate that all the new scaffolds carrying the mutation in region 2 (scaffold stem) edited at a slightly lower level than their respective counterparts without this mutation. This suggests that mutating this position in the scaffold stem may have a small deleterious effect on editing potency. [00193] The results described here demonstrate that introducing mutations that reduced the CpG content of the DNA encoding the guide RNA scaffold resulted in improvements in gene editing relative to guide scaffold 235.
Example 2: CpG-depleted AAVs induce less TLR9-mediated immune response in vitro [00194] In the preceding example, CpG-reduced and CpG-depleted AAVs were shown to achieve editing at the human B2M locus. Here, experiments are performed to assess the effects of CpG reduction or CpG depletion on the activation of TLR9-mediated immune response in vitro. Individual elements of the AAV genome and their respective CpG-reduced or CpG- depleted versions are subjected to in vitro assessment of immunogenicity to identify the optimal CpG-depleted sequences that reduce undesired TLR9 activation and yield potent editing (as demonstrated in Example 1), before being combined to generate an AAV genome with drastically reduced CpG presence for further evaluation. Materials and Methods: [00195] AAV plasmid cloning, production of AAV vectors, and titering are performed as described in Example 1. Use of human TLR9 reporter HEK293 cells (HEK-BlueTM hTLR9) for the in vitro immunogenicity assessment post-transduction with CpG-containing (CpG+) or CpG-depleted (CpG-) AAVs: [00196] The HEK-BlueTM hTLR9 line (InvivoGen) is derived from HEK293 cells, specifically designed for the study of TLR9-induced NF-^B signaling. These HEK-BlueTM hTLR9 cells overexpress the human TLR9 gene, as well as a SEAP (secreted embryonic alkaline phosphatase) reporter gene under the control of an NF-^B inducible promoter. SEAP levels in the cell culture medium supernatant, which can be quantified using colorimetric assays, report TLR9 activation. [00197] For this experiment, 5,000 HEK-BlueTM hTLR9 cells are plated in each well of a 96- well plate in DMEM medium with 10% FBS and Pen/Strep. The next day, seeded cells are transduced with CpG+ or CpG- AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system. All viral infection conditions are performed at least in duplicate, with normalized number of viral genomes (vg) among experimental vectors, in a series of three-fold serial dilution of MOI starting with the effective MOI of 1E6 vg/cell. Levels of secreted SEAP in the cell culture medium supernatant are assessed using the HEK-BlueTM Detection kit at 1, 2, 3, and 4 days post-transduction following the manufacturer’s instructions. [00198] The experiments using HEK-BlueTM hTLR9 cells to assess TLR9-modulated immune response are expected to show reduced levels of secreted SEAP from cells treated with CpG-
AAVs in comparison to levels from cells treated with unmodified CpG+ AAVs. Reduced SEAP levels are interpreted to indicate decreased TLR9-mediated immune activation. Example 3: In vivo administration of AAV vectors with or without CpG-depleted genomes to assess the effects on inflammatory cytokine production and CasX-mediated editing [00199] Experiments are performed to assess the effects of administering AAV vectors with or without CpG-depleted genomes in vivo. Briefly, AAV particles expressing the CasX:gRNA system (with or without CpG depletion) are administered into C57BL/6J mice. In these experiments, the combined AAV genome with substantial CpG depletion are used for assessment. After AAV administration, mice are bled at various time points to collect blood samples. Production of inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1ȕ, IL-6, IL-12, and TNF-Į is measured using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and an assay to assess transgene-specific T cell populations generated against the SIINFEKL (SEQ ID NO: 63) peptide. Materials and Methods: Generation of CpG-depleted AAV plasmids: [00200] To assess the generation of transgene-specific T cells, a SIINFEKL peptide is cloned into an AAV transgene plasmid on the C- and N-terminus of the CasX protein. The SIINFEKL peptide is an ovalbumin-derived peptide that is well-characterized and has widely available reagents to probe for T cells specific for this peptide epitope. The nucleic acid sequence encoding this peptide are cloned as C- and N-terminal fusions to CasX in an AAV construct with a ROSA26-targeting spacer. [00201] AAV vectors are produced as described earlier in Example 1. Viral genome titers are determined as described in Example 1. Measurement of inflammatory cytokines to assess humoral immune activation: [00202] ~1E12 vg AAVs are injected intravenously or intraperitoneally into C57BL/6J mice. Blood is drawn daily from the tail vein or saphenous vein for seven days after AAV injection. Collected blood serum is assessed for the levels of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1ȕ, IL-6, IL-12, and TNF-Į using commercially available ELISA kits according to the manufacturer’s recommendations for murine blood samples (Abcam). Briefly, 50 μL of standard, control buffer, and sample are loaded to the wells of an ELISA plate, pre-coated with a specific antibody to IL-
1ȕ, IL-6, IL-12, or TNF-Į, incubated at room temperature (RT) for two hours, washed, and incubated with horseradish peroxidase enzyme (HRP) for two hours at RT, followed by additional washes. Wells are treated with TMB ELISA substrate and incubated for 30 minutes at RT in the dark, followed by quenching with H2SO4. Absorbance is measured at 450 nm using a TECAN spectrophotometer with wavelength correction at 570 nm. Assessment of transgene-specific T cell populations: [00203] Ten days after intravenous injection with AAVs, the spleen is collected from mice, and T cells are isolated using the EasySepTM Mouse T Cell Isolation kit. Isolated T cells are incubated with the following: FITC mouse anti-human CD4 antibody (BD Biosciences), APC mouse anti-human CD8 antibody (BD Biosciences), and BV421 ovalbumin SIINFEKL MHC tetramer (Tetramer Shop). The percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells specific to the SIINFEKL MHC tetramer is quantified using flow cytometry. FITC, APC, and BV421 are excited by the 488 nm, 561 nm, and 405 nm lasers and signal are quantified using suitable filter sets. Quantification of AAV-mediated genome editing at the ROSA26 locus: [00204] To test whether CpG- AAVs exhibit enhanced CasX editing activity relative to CpG+ AAVs in vivo, ~1E12 AAV particles containing CasX protein 491 with gRNA targeting the ROSA26 locus are administered intravenously via the facial vein of C57BL/6J mice. Four weeks post-injection, mice are euthanized, and the liver and/or muscle tissue is harvested for gDNA extraction using the Zymo Quick DNA/RNATM miniprep Kit following the manufacturer’s instructions. Target amplicons are amplified from 200 ng of extracted gDNA with a set of primers targeting the mouse ROSA26 locus and processed for NGS as described in Example 1. [00205] In vivo experiments measuring serum inflammatory cytokine levels are expected to show that CpG-depleted AAVs dampen production of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1ȕ, IL-6, IL-12, and TNF-Į, thereby reducing immunogenicity and toxicity. In addition, CpG- depleted AAVs are expected to cause less TLR9 activation leading to reduced expansion of T cells against the SIINFEKL peptide fused to CasX. Therefore, injections with CpG-depleted AAVs are expected to yield decreased levels of SIINFEKL-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cells compared to levels from AAV constructs containing CpG elements. [00206] Since CpG-depleted AAVs are expected to cause less humoral immune activation and non-specific inflammation, as well as less T-cell mediated immunity, titers of CasX-reactive
antibodies are also expected to be reduced (i.e., lower ELISA signal quantifying CasX antibodies are anticipated). Example 4: Assessment of U6 isoforms as alternative guide RNA promoters [00207] Experiments were performed to assess various U6 isoforms as alternative gRNA promoters. Materials and Methods: [00208] AAV plasmid constructs were generated and cloned into a pAAV plasmid flanked with AAV2 ITRs using standard molecular cloning methods. Briefly, AAV plasmids were generated to express CasX protein 515 driven by the U1A promoter with a bGH poly(A) signal sequence and a gRNA transcriptional unit that expressed a Pol III promoter-guide scaffold 235 with spacer 31.63 targeting the AAVS1 locus. In this example, various U6 isoforms were assessed as Pol III promoter variants, which were cloned downstream relative to the CasX construct in the AAV plasmid; the sequences of the U6 isoforms tested are shown in Table 13. Table 14 shows the sequences of the constructs encoding for full-length AAV transgene used in this example. Table 13: Sequences of Pol III promoters assessed in this example
Table 14: Sequences of AAV constructs encoding for the transgene used in this example
* Components are listed in a 5’ to 3’ order within the constructs [0208] AAV production was performed following similar methods as described in Example 1. AAV titering was performed by ddPCR according to standard methods and following the manufacturer’s protocol and guidelines. Briefly, ddPCR reactions containing the AAV viral samples were set up, serially diluted, and subjected to droplet formation using the droplet generator. Within each droplet, a PCR amplification reaction was performed using a primer- probe set specific to bGH, an indicator of the AAV transgene. Subsequently, droplet fluorescence was determined using a QX200 Droplet Reader with Bio-Rad QuantaSoft software. AAV transduction of iNs (induced neurons) in vitro: [0209] In a first transduction experiment, ~50,000 iNs per well were seeded on Matrigel-coated 96-well plates 7 days prior to transduction. AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system, containing various U6 promoters listed in Table 13, were then diluted in neuronal plating media
and added to cells. Cells were transduced at two MOIs (1E3 or 3E2vg/cell).7 days post- transduction, cells were lifted using lysis buffer, and gDNA was harvested and prepared for editing analysis at the AAVS1 locus using NGS following methods described in Example 1. Samples that were not transduced with AAV were included as controls. Wild-type human U6 (hU6 isoform 1) served as the benchmark for comparison. Two replicates were performed, and the results of this experiment are shown in FIGS.6 and 7. [0210] In a second AAV transduction experiment, ~50,000 iNs per well were seeded on Matrigel-coated 96-well plates 14 days prior to transduction. Cells were transduced at three MOIs (2E3, 6.67E2, or 2.2E2 vg/cell). Cells were harvested for editing analysis at the AAVS1 locus 7 days post-transduction using NGS following methods described in Example 1. Samples that were not transduced with AAV were included as controls. Wild-type human U6 (hU6 isoform 1) served as the benchmark for comparison. Two replicates were performed, and the results of this experiment are shown in FIGS.8 and 9. [0211] In a third AAV transduction experiment, ~50,000 iNs per well were seeded on Matrigel- coated 96-well plates 14 days prior to transduction. Cells were transduced at the following MOIs: 3E4, 1E3, 3.33E3, and 1.11E3. Cells were harvested for editing analysis at the AAVS1 locus 7 days post-transduction using NGS following methods described in Example 1. Samples that were not transduced with AAV were included as controls. Wild-type human U6 (hU6 isoform 1) served as the benchmark for comparison. One replicate was performed, and the results of this experiment are shown in FIG.10. Results: [0212] Three sets of experiments were performed in iNs to assess various U6 isoforms for use as alternative gRNA promoters. The results from the first AAV transduction experiment are portrayed in the bar plots shown in FIGS.6-7. These data demonstrate that use of AAV constructs containing the alternative U6 promoter isoforms resulted in similar or worse levels of editing compared to the editing level achieved when using AAV constructs containing the benchmark hU6 isoform 1 promoter. The results in FIGS.6-7 further indicate that among the isoforms evaluated in this first experiment, use of the hU6 isoform 5 promoter may be the most promising and comparable to the benchmark hU6 isoform 1 promoter. Each vector also displayed dose-dependent editing at the target AAVS1 locus. [0213] The results from the second AAV transduction experiment are portrayed in the bar plots shown in FIGS.8-9. The data similarly demonstrate that use of AAV constructs containing the
alternative U6 promoter isoforms resulted in similar or worse levels of editing compared to the editing level achieved when using AAV constructs with the benchmark hU6 isoform 1 promoter, recapitulating findings observed in FIGS.6-7. The results continue to indicate the hU6 isoform 5 promoter as a comparable alternative to the benchmark hU6 isoform 1 promoter. The results also suggest use of the following U6 isoforms as comparable alternatives given that the editing levels achieved were comparable to that attained for the benchmark promoter: hU6 isoform 2 and its CpG-reduced forms (CpG-depleted hU6 isoform 2 and CpG-reduced hU6 isoform 2), and hU6 isoform 4 (FIGS.8-9). [0214] The results from the third AAV transduction experiment are portrayed in the bar plots shown in FIG.10. The data similarly show that use of AAV constructs containing the indicated alternative U6 promoter isoforms resulted in comparable or slightly worse levels of editing as that achieved by the benchmark hU6 isoform 1 promoter. The results continue to support hU6 isoform 2 as a promising alternative Pol III promoter; the data also further show that use of the mU6 promoter as a comparable alternative Pol III promoter (FIG.10). [0215] These experiments demonstrate that alternative gRNA promoters, such as the various U6 isoforms evaluated in this example (in addition to the promoters identified and tested in Example 5), can be used to drive expression of the gRNA. Use of these alternative gRNA promoters would help reduce recombination risk during AAV production and packaging (especially if utilized in the context of a dual-guide AAV construct), while also modulate the resulting editing activity and potency of the Cas:gRNA system by differentially regulating the activity of the gRNAs. Furthermore, the identification and use of CpG-depleted U6 isoform promoters as alternative gRNA promoters would help mitigate potential undesired immune activation and enable therapeutic efficacy. Example 5: Assessment of CpG-depleted CasX 515 variants on CasX-mediated editing [0216] Experiments were performed to deplete CpG motifs in the AAV construct encoding for CasX protein 515 and demonstrate that these CpG-depleted CasX 515 variants can edit effectively in vitro. Materials and Methods: Design of CpG-depleted and codon-optimized CasX 515 variants and AAV plasmid cloning: [0217] Nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs in CasX protein 515, as well as the flanking c-MYC NLSes, were rationally designed with codon optimization using various
publicly available algorithms. As a result, the amino acid sequence of the encoding sequence of CpG-depleted CasX 515 with flanking c-MYC NLSes would be the same as the amino acid sequence of the corresponding encoding sequence of native CasX 515 with flanking c-MYC NLSes. Table 15 provides the sequences of CpG-depleted and codon-optimized variants of CasX 515 with flanking c-MYC NLSes, as well as the corresponding non-CpG depleted CasX 515 with flanking c-MYC NLSes. Table 15: Sequences of CpG-depleted and codon-optimized variants of CasX 515 with flanking c-MYC NLSes
[0218] All resulting sequences of the CpG-depleted and codon-optimized variants of CasX 515 with flanking c-MYC NLSes were cloned into a base AAV plasmid (sequences shown in Table 16). gRNA scaffold 235 and spacer 31.63, which targets the AAVS1 locus, were used for the experiments discussed in this example. The resulting AAV constructs were generated using standard molecular cloning techniques. Cloned and sequence-validated plasmid constructs were midi-prepped for subsequent nucleofection and AAV vector production. Table 16: Sequences encoding for a base AAV plasmid into which CpG-depleted variants of CasX 515 in Table 15 were cloned
Transfection of HEK293 cells in vitro: [0219] ~50,000 HEK293 cells per well were seeded on 24-well plates; two days later, cells were transfected with AAV plasmids containing sequences for a non-CpG-depleted (CpG+) CasX 515 (Table 15) or a version 1 of a CpG-depleted and codon-optimized CasX 515 variant (CpG- v1; Table 15) following standard methods using lipofectamine. Two days later, cells were harvested to extract total protein lysate for western blotting analysis. Quantification of protein concentration and western blotting were performed using standard procedures. Three technical replicates were performed (Replicates 1-3) for the western blot. The results of this experiment are shown in FIG.11. Untransfected cells served as an experimental control. AAV production and titering: [0220] AAV production was performed using methods described in Example 1. AAV titering was performed by ddPCR using a primer-probe set specific to bGH, an indicator of the AAV transgene. AAV transduction of iNs (induced neurons) in vitro:
[0221] For one experiment, ~30,000 iNs per well were seeded Matrigel-coated 96-well plates 7 days prior to transduction. Cells were transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system, a non-CpG-depleted CasX 515 (CpG+; Table 15) or version 1 of the CpG-depleted and codon-optimized CasX 515 variant (CpG- v1; Table 15) and codon-optimized variants of CasX 515, at an MOI of 1E4 vg/cell.7 days post-transduction, cells were harvested for gDNA extraction for editing analysis at the AAVS1 locus using NGS following methods as described in Example 1. One replicate was performed this experiment, and the results are shown in Table 17. AAV transduction of HEK293 cells in vitro: [0222] In a second experiment, ~5,000 HEK293 cells per well are seeded on 96-well plates two days prior to transduction. AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system, containing various CpG- depleted and codon-optimized variants of CasX 515, are diluted in neuronal plating media and added to cells. Cells are transduced at four MOIs (1E4, 3E3, 1E3, or 3.7E2 vg/cell). Five days post-transduction, cells are harvested for gDNA extraction for editing analysis at the AAVS1 locus using NGS following methods described in Example 1. Results: [0223] In one experiment, HEK293 cells were transiently transfected with AAV plasmids containing a CpG+ CasX 515 sequence or CpG- v1 CasX 515 sequence. Four days post- transfection, CasX expression and editing activity at the AAVS1 locus were evaluated by western blotting and NGS respectively. The results of the western blotting analysis are portrayed in FIG. 11, showing CasX protein levels in transfected HEK293 cells, with a total protein stain blot (bottom blot) serving as the loading control. Cells transfected with the AAV plasmid containing a CpG+ CasX 515 sequence are labeled as “CpG+ CasX 515” (lane 1), while cells transfected with the construct harboring a CpG- CasX 515 sequence are labelled as “CpG- CasX 515_A” (lane 2) and “CpG- CasX 515_B” (lane 3). Untransfected HEK293 cells are labelled “No plasmid control” (lane 4). The results in FIG.11 show that expressing the AAV plasmid containing either the CpG- or CpG+ CasX 515 sequence resulted in CasX expression. Editing activity at the AAVS1 locus was also assessed in human iNs; the results show that use of the AAV plasmid with either CpG- v1 or CpG+ CasX 515 sequence resulting in editing at the target locus (Table 17). Table 17: Results of the editing assay at the AAVS1 locus when using AAV plasmid containing either CpG- or CpG+ CasX 515
[0224] The experiments demonstrate that depleting CpG motifs in the AAV construct encoding for CasX protein 515 resulted in sufficient CasX expression to induce effective editing at the target locus in vitro. Incorporating CpG-depleted AAV elements into the AAV genome would potentially reduce the risk of immunogenicity post-delivery of AAVs into target cells and tissues. Example 6: Additional assessment of the effects of using CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds on CasX-mediated editing activity [0225] As discussed above, unmethylated CpG motifs act as PAMPs that potently trigger undesired immune activation; therefore, nucleotide substitutions to replace native CpG motifs in the AAV constructs, including that encoding for guide scaffold variants 235 and 316, were designed and generated. Here, experiments were performed to evaluate further the effects of using these resulting CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds on CasX-mediated editing activity. Materials and Methods: [0226] The CpG-reduced or depleted scaffolds 320-341 were evaluated in three in vitro experiments described below; the sequences of scaffolds 320-341 are listed in Table 10. In addition, two newly engineered gRNA scaffolds, scaffold 382 and 392 (sequences listed in Table 18), were also assessed. As benchmark comparisons, scaffold 174, 235, and 316 (sequences listed in Table 9 and Table 18) were also included for evaluation. Table 18: Sequences of additional gRNA scaffolds tested in this example
[0227] AAV constructs were designed and generated as previously described in Example 1. The CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds were tested in two different AAV backbones.
Specifically, for the experiment involving lipofection of HEK293 cells as described below, scaffolds 235 and 320-341 were tested in AAV vectors that were CpG-depleted, with the exception of AAV2 ITRs, as previously described in Example 1. Briefly, the CpG-depleted AAV backbone construct encoded for CpG-depleted versions of the following elements: U1A promoter, CasX 491, bGH poly(A) signal sequence, and U6 promoter. For the experiment involving AAV transduction of human induced neurons (iNs) and HEK293 cells as described below, scaffolds 174, 235, 316, 320-341, 382, and 392 were tested in an AAV backbone that was not CpG-depleted (see Table 19 for sequences). Furthermore, spacer 7.37 targeting the B2M locus was used in two experiments described below involving HEK293 cells: lipofection and AAV transduction. Spacer 31.63 targeting the AAVS1 locus was used in an experiment described below involving human iNs. Table 20 below lists the AAV constructs that were tested in the context of a non-CpG-depleted AAV vector and the experimental conditions in which these constructs were assessed. Table 19: Sequences encoding for a base AAV plasmid into which gRNA scaffolds in Table 18 were cloned
Table 20: List of AAV constructs and scaffold variants tested in a non-CpG-depleted AAV vector (see Table 19 for sequences) and the experimental conditions in which these constructs were assessed
[0228] AAV production was performed using methods described in Example 1. For the experiment involving lipofection of HEK293 cells as described below, AAV titering was performed following similar methods as described in Example 1. For the two experiments involving AAV transduction of human iNs or HEK293 cells as described below, AAV titering was performed by ddPCR. Cell-based assays evaluating the effects of using CpG-depleted or reduced gRNA scaffolds on editing activity: [0229] In one experiment, ~20,000 HEK293 cells per well were seeded in 96-well plates 24 hours prior to transfection. Seeded cells were then transfected with CpG-depleted AAV plasmids containing various versions of the guide scaffold (scaffolds 320-341).5 days post transfection, cells were harvested for B2M protein expression analysis via HLA immunostaining following by flow cytometry, following methods described in Example 1. A CpG-depleted AAV plasmid with scaffold variant 235 served as an experimental control. An AAV plasmid with a CMV promoter driving mCherry expression was used as a transfection control, and a ~41% transfection rate was observed. The results from this experiment are shown in FIG.12. [0230] In a second experiment, ~20,000 iNs per well were seeded on Matrigel-coated 96-well plates 7 days prior to transduction. AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system, containing various versions of the guide scaffold (AAV construct ID #262-274; see Table 20), were diluted in neuronal plating media and added to cells 7 days post-plating. Cells were transduced at three MOIs (3E4, 1E4 or 3E3 vg/cell).7 days post-transduction, cells were gDNA extraction for editing analysis at the AAVS1 locus using NGS following methods described in Example 1. The results from this experiment are shown in FIGS.13A-13C. [0231] In a third experiment, ~10,000 HEK293 cells per well were seeded in 96-well plates 24 hours prior to transfection. Seeded cells were then transduced with AAVs expressing the CasX:gRNA system, containing various versions of the guide scaffold (AAV construct ID #275- 289; see Table 20). Cells were transduced at three MOIs (1E4, 3E3, or 1E3 vg/cell).5 days post-
transduction, cells were harvested for B2M protein expression analysis via HLA immunostaining following by flow cytometry, following methods described in Example 1. The results from this experiment are shown in FIGS.14A-14C. Results: [0232] Experiments were performed to evaluate further the effects of using CpG-reduced or depleted gRNA scaffolds on CasX-mediated editing activity. In the first experiment (N=1), HEK293 cells were lipofected with CpG-depleted AAV plasmids containing various versions of the gRNA scaffold (scaffolds 320-341). B2M protein expression was subsequently analyzed, and the results of the assay are shown in FIG.12. The data demonstrate that use of scaffolds 320-341 did not improve editing activity at the target B2M locus, since use of these scaffolds produced a lower percentage of cells with B2M- relative to the level achieved when using an AAV construct containing scaffold 235. These results do not recapitulate the results described in Example 1 (see FIGS.5A-5D). [0233] In the second experiment (N=1), human iNs were transduced with AAV particles expressing the CasX:gRNA system, containing various versions of the guide scaffold (AAV construct ID #262-274). Editing at the AAVS1 locus was analyzed, and the results of the assay are shown in FIGS.13A-13C. The data demonstrate that of the scaffold variants tested, use of scaffold variant 329 and 382 appeared to improve editing at the AAVS1 locus when compared to use of scaffold 235, especially at MOI of 1E4 and 3E3 vg/cell. Furthermore, the effects on editing activity were observed in a dose-dependent manner. [0234] In the third experiment (N=1), HEK293 cells were transduced with AAV particles expressing the CasX:gRNA system, containing various versions of the guide scaffold (AAV construct ID #275-289). B2M protein expression was subsequently analyzed, and the results of the assay are shown in FIGS.14A-14C. The data demonstrate that of the scaffold variants tested, use of scaffolds 316, 392 and 332 appeared to improve editing at the B2M locus when compared to use of scaffold 235 overall. Specifically, at the higher MOI of 1E4 and 3E3 vg/cell, slightly improved editing was observed with use of scaffolds 316, 392, and 332 (FIGS.14A-14B), while a stronger editing improvement was observed at the lower MOI of 1E3 vg/cell (FIG.14C). Notably, scaffold 332 and 392 both include CG > GC mutations in the pseudoknot stem (region 1; FIGS.1A-1B), effectively reducing the overall number of CpGs when compared to scaffold 235, thereby potentially contributing to the increase in editing activity. Furthermore, scaffolds 316 and 332 both have a truncated extended stem when compared to scaffold 235, removing the
bubble and the CG dinucleotide (region 3; FIGS.1A-1B), thereby also potentially contributing to the observed increase in editing activity. Further experiments are performed, especially at lower MOIs, to unravel the intricacies of the effects of individual CpG mutations on editing potency. [0235] The results from the experiments described here demonstrate that use of guide scaffolds with different levels of CpG depletion can result in varying levels of editing mediated by the CasX:gRNA system, and that the resulting editing levels can vary by method of delivery (e.g., plasmid transfection vs. AAV transduction).
Claims
CLAIMS What is claimed is: 1. A polynucleotide comprising a CpG-reduced regulatory element, comprising no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
2. The polynucleotide of claim 1, comprising a plurality of CpG-reduced regulatory elements, each comprising no more than about no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
3. The polynucleotide of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is devoid of CpG dinucleotides.
4. The polynucleotide of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element.
5. The polynucleotide of claim 4, wherein the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a promoter, a terminator, an enhancer, and a silencer.
6. The polynucleotide of claim 5, wherein the promoter is an RNA polymerase III promoter or an RNA polymerase II promoter.
7. The polynucleotide of claim 5, wherein the promoter is a UbC promoter, a U1a promoter, a U6 promoter, or an isoform thereof.
8. The polynucleotide of claim 5, wherein the promoter comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15 as set forth in Table 2, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
9. The polynucleotide of any one of claims 4-8, comprising a protein-encoding sequence or an RNA-encoding sequence under the control of the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element.
10. The polynucleotide of any one of claims 1-3, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element.
11. The polynucleotide of claim 10, wherein the CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a poly(A) signal sequence, an intron, a nuclear localization signal (NLS), and a self-cleaving sequence.
12. The polynucleotide of claim 11, wherein the poly(A) signal sequence comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17 as set forth in Table 4, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
13. The polynucleotide of any one of claims 10-12, wherein the CpG-reduced post- transcription regulatory element is configured to be transcribed together with a protein-encoding sequence.
14. The polynucleotide of claim 9 or 13, wherein the protein-encoding sequence encodes a protein selected from the group consisting of a structural protein, a contractile protein, an enzyme, a hormonal protein, a storage protein, a transport protein, a complement protein, a receptor, an antibody or fragment thereof, an antibody fusion protein, an intracellular signaling protein, a cytokine, a growth factor, an interleukin, a microprotein, an engineered protein scaffold, a transcription factor, a viral interferon antagonist, and an engineered therapeutic protein.
15. The polynucleotide of claim 14, wherein the enzyme is a nuclease.
16. The polynucleotide of claim 15, wherein the nuclease is a CRISPR associated (Cas) protein.
17. The polynucleotide of claim 16, wherein the Cas protein is a Class 2 Type II protein or a Class 2 Type V protein.
18. The polynucleotide of claim 17, wherein the Class 2 Type II protein is Cas9.
19. The polynucleotide of claim 17, wherein the Class 2 Type V protein is selected from the group consisting of Cas12a (Cpf1), Cas12b (C2c1), Cas12c (C2c3), Cas12d (CasY), Cas12e (CasX), Cas12f, Cas12g, Cas12h, Cas12i, Cas12j, Cas12k, Cas14, and Casĭ.
20. The polynucleotide of claim 19, wherein the Class 2 Type V protein is CasX, and the protein-encoding sequence is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 29-35 and 64- 75 as set forth in Table 8 and Table 15, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
21. The polynucleotide of claim 19, wherein the Class 2 Type V protein is CasX, and the encoded CasX protein comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 95-255 and 317-320, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
22. The polynucleotide of claim 9, wherein the RNA-encoding sequence encodes an siRNA, a miRNA, an rRNA, a tRNA, or a gRNA.
23. The polynucleotide of 22, wherein the RNA-encoding sequence encodes a gRNA comprising a scaffold comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38-59 as set forth in Table 10, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
24. The polynucleotide of any one of claims 1-23, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element retains at least about 70%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% of its functional properties compared to a non-CpG-reduced counterpart regulatory element.
25. A polynucleotide comprising a CpG-reduced coding sequence, wherein the sequence comprises no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
26. The polynucleotide of claim 25, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence is devoid of CpG dinucleotides.
27. The polynucleotide of claim 25 or claim 26, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encodes a CasX protein.
28. The polynucleotide of claim 27, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encoding the CasX protein is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 29-35 and 64-75, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
29. The polynucleotide of claim 27, wherein the encoded CasX protein comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 95-255 and 317-320, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
30. The polynucleotide of claim 25 or claim 26, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encodes a gRNA comprising a scaffold.
31. The polynucleotide of 29, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence encoding the gRNA scaffold comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 38- 59, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
32. The polynucleotide of any one of claims 25-31, wherein the polynucleotide further comprises a CpG-reduced regulatory element comprising no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
33. The polynucleotide of claim 32, comprising a plurality of CpG-reduced regulatory elements, each comprising no more than about no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
34. The polynucleotide of claim 32 or claim 33, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is devoid of CpG dinucleotides.
35. The polynucleotide of any one of claims 32-34, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element.
36. The polynucleotide of claim 35, wherein the CpG-reduced transcription regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a promoter, a terminator, an enhancer, and a silencer.
37. The polynucleotide of claim 36, wherein the promoter is an RNA polymerase III promoter or an RNA polymerase II promoter.
38. The polynucleotide of claim 36, wherein the promoter is a UbC promoter, a U1a promoter, or a U6 promoter.
39. The polynucleotide of claim 36, wherein the promoter comprises a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOS: 4-15 as set forth in Table 2, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
40. The polynucleotide of any one of claims 32-34, wherein the CpG-reduced regulatory element is a CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element.
41. The polynucleotide of claim 40, wherein the CpG-reduced post-transcription regulatory element is selected from the group consisting of a poly(A) signal sequence, an intron, a nuclear localization signal (NLS), and a self-cleaving sequence.
42. The polynucleotide of claim 41, wherein the poly(A) signal sequence comprises the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 17 as set forth in Table 4, or a sequence comprising at least about
70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
43. The polynucleotide of any one of claims 25-42, wherein the CpG-reduced coding sequence retains at least about 70%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% of the ability to result in an expressed gene product compared to a non-CpG-reduced coding sequence.
44. The polynucleotide of any one of claims 1-43, wherein the polynucleotide is configured for inclusion in a recombinant viral vector.
45. A recombinant viral vector comprising the polynucleotide of claim 44.
46. The recombinant viral vector of claim 45, wherein the recombinant viral vector exhibits a reduced immune response in an in vitro mammalian cell assay designed to detect production of one or more markers of an inflammatory response compared to a control recombinant viral vector that has not been modified to reduce CpG dinucleotides, when assayed under comparable conditions.
47. The recombinant viral vector of claim 46, wherein the one or more markers of an inflammatory response are selected from the group consisting of Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9), interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-Į), interferon gamma (IFNȖ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
48. The recombinant viral vector of claim 47, wherein the recombinant viral vector exhibits reduced production of the one or more markers of at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90% compared to the control recombinant viral vector.
49. The recombinant viral vector of claim 45, wherein the recombinant viral vector exhibits a reduced immune response when administered to a subject compared to the immune response of a comparable dose of a control recombinant viral vector that has not been modified to reduce CpG dinucleotides administered to a subject.
50. The recombinant viral vector of claim 49, wherein the reduced immune response in the subject is a reduction of a production of antibodies that specifically bind to the recombinant viral vector, or reduction of a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction to a component thereof.
51. The recombinant viral vector of claim 49, wherein the reduced immune response is determined by measurement of one or more inflammatory markers in the blood of the subject selected from the group consisting of TLR9, interleukin-1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-12, IL-18, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-Į), interferon gamma (IFNȖ), and granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
52. The recombinant viral vector of claim 51, wherein the one or more inflammatory markers are reduced by at least about 10%, at least about 20%, at least about 30%, at least about 40%, at least about 50%, at least about 60%, at least about 80%, or at least about 90%, compared to administration of a comparable dose of the control recombinant viral vector.
53. The recombinant viral vector of any one of claims 45-52, wherein the recombinant viral vector is a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) or a recombinant lentivirus.
54. The recombinant viral vector of claim 53, wherein the rAAV comprises: (a) a 5’ inverted terminal repeat (ITR) comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 20, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 80%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto, and/or (b) a 3’ ITR comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 21, or a sequence comprising at least about 70%, at least about 75%, at least about 80%, at least about 85%, at least about 90%, at least about 95%, at least about 96%, at least about 97%, at least about 98%, or at least about 99% sequence identity thereto.
55. The recombinant viral vector of claim 54, further comprising an AAV capsid protein.
56. A cell comprising the recombinant viral vector of any one of claims 45-55.
57. A method for regulating gene expression in a subject, the method comprising administering a dose of the recombinant viral vector of any one of claims 45-55,
wherein the recombinant viral vector encodes a Cas protein and a gRNA comprising a targeting sequence of 15 to 20 nucleotides complementary to a target nucleic acid of a gene of the subject, wherein upon transduction of a cell of the subject, the Cas protein and gRNA are capable of being expressed, and wherein the gene is modified by the expressed Cas protein.
58. A method for treating a condition in a subject, the method comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective dose of the recombinant viral vector of any one of claims 45-55.
59. A method of reducing CpG dinucleotides in a polynucleotide, comprising: (a) providing a parental polynucleotide; and (b) modifying the parental polynucleotide to generate a CpG-reduced polynucleotide that contains no more than about 10%, no more than about 5%, no more than about 1%, no more than about 0.5%, or no more than about 0.1% CpG dinucleotides.
60. The polynucleotide of any one of claims 1-44 or the recombinant viral vector of any one of claims 45-55, for use in the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of a disease.
61. A kit comprising the polynucleotide of any one of claims 1-44 or the recombinant viral vector of any one of claims 45-55, and a suitable container.
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