Department of Biotechnology
inStem (Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine)

Erythroid lineage-specific lentiviral RNAi vectors suitable for molecular functional studies and therapeutic applications.

Publication Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

August 18, 2022

Journal

Scientific reports

Volume/Issue

12/1

ISSN

2045-2322

Numerous genes exert multifaceted roles in hematopoiesis. Therefore, we generated novel lineage-specific RNA interference (RNAi) lentiviral vectors, H23B-Ery-Lin-shRNA and H234B-Ery-Lin-shRNA, to probe the functions of these genes in erythroid cells without affecting other hematopoietic lineages. The lineage specificity of these vectors was confirmed by transducing multiple hematopoietic cells to express a fluorescent protein. Unlike the previously reported erythroid lineage RNAi vector, our vectors were designed for cloning the short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) for any gene, and they also provide superior knockdown of the target gene expression with a single shRNA integration per cell. High-level lineage-specific downregulation of BCL11A and ZBTB7A, two well-characterized transcriptional repressors of HBG in adult erythroid cells, was achieved with substantial induction of fetal hemoglobin with a single-copy lentiviral vector integration. Transduction of primary healthy donor CD34 cells with these vectors resulted in >80% reduction in the target protein levels and up to 40% elevation in the γ-chain levels in the differentiated erythroid cells. Xenotransplantation of the human CD34 cells transduced with H23B-Ery-Lin-shBCL11A LV in immunocompromised mice showed ~ 60% reduction in BCL11A protein expression with ~ 40% elevation of γ-chain levels in the erythroid cells derived from the transduced CD34 cells. Overall, the novel erythroid lineage-specific lentiviral RNAi vectors described in this study provide a high-level knockdown of target gene expression in the erythroid cells, making them suitable for their use in gene therapy for hemoglobinopathies. Additionally, the design of these vectors also makes them ideal for high-throughput RNAi screening for studying normal and pathological erythropoiesis.

Alternate Journal

Sci Rep

PubMed ID

35982069

PubMed Central ID

PMC9388678

Authors

Abhirup Bagchi
Nivedhitha Devaraju
Karthik Chambayil
Vignesh Rajendiran
Vigneshwaran Venkatesan
Nilofer Sayed
Aswin Anand Pai
Aneesha Nath
Ernest David
Yukio Nakamura
Poonkuzhali Balasubramanian
Alok Srivastava
Saravanabhavan Thangavel
Kumarasamypet M Mohankumar
Shaji R Velayudhan

Keywords

Lentivirus
DNA-Binding Proteins
Cell Line, Tumor
Genetic Vectors
Animals
RNA Interference
Cell Lineage
Transduction, Genetic
RNA, Small Interfering
Mice
Transcription Factors
Humans