Cross-species tropism of AAV.CPP.16 in the respiratory tract and its gene therapies against pulmonary fibrosis and viral infection.

Cell reports. Medicine
Authors
Keywords
Abstract

Efficient gene delivery vectors are crucial for respiratory and lung disease therapies. We report that AAV.CPP.16, an engineered adeno-associated virus (AAV) variant derived from AAV9, efficiently transduces airway and lung cells in mice and non-human primates via intranasal administration. AAV.CPP.16 outperforms AAV6 and AAV9, two wild-type AAVs with demonstrated tropism for respiratory tissues, and efficiently targets key respiratory cell types. It supports gene supplementation and editing therapies in two clinically relevant mouse models of respiratory and lung diseases. A single intranasal dose of AAV.CPP.16 expressing a dual-target, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1-neutralizing protein protected lungs from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, while a similar application of AAV.CPP.16 carrying an "all-in-one" CRISPR-Cas13d system inhibited transcription of the SARS-CoV-2-derived RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (Rdrp) gene. Our findings highlight AAV.CPP.16 as a promising vector for respiratory and lung gene therapy.

Year of Publication
2025
Journal
Cell reports. Medicine
Volume
6
Issue
6
Pages
102144
Date Published
06/2025
ISSN
2666-3791
DOI
10.1016/j.xcrm.2025.102144
PubMed ID
40409263
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