Long-term and significant correction of brain lesions in adult mucopolysaccharidosis type VII mice using recombinant AAV vectors

Most lysosomal storage diseases, including mucopolysaccharidosis, affect the central nervous system (CNS). They often induce severe and progressive mental retardation. Replacement therapy by purified enzyme infusions is a promising approach for the treatment of peripheral organs but without effect on CNS pathology because the enzyme cannot cross the blood-brain barrier. Intracranial injection of recombinant adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors offers an alternative for sustained local enzyme delivery from genetically engineered cells. We stereotactically injected an AAV vector containing the human beta -glucuronidase cDNA into the striatum of adult mice severely affected by mucopolysaccharidosis type VII at the time of treatment. Six weeks later, beta -glucuronidase activity in the injected hemisphere was comparable to that of heterozygous mice, which have a normal phenotype. Areas staining positive for enzyme activity enlarged with time, representing more than 10% of the hemisphere volume by 16 weeks. A complete reversion of lysosomal storage lesions was evident in these areas, as well as in most neurons located in surrounding negative areas and in the noninjected hemisphere. Thus, a single intracerebral injection of AAV vectors could achieve a broad and sustained lysosomal enzyme delivery, allowing for stable reversion of storage lesions in a significant fraction of the adult brain.