Efficient expansion and CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene correction of patient-derived hepatocytes for treatment of inherited liver diseases

Authors:
Kun Zhang , Ping Wan , Liren Wang , Zhen Wang , Fangzhi Tan , Jie Li , Xiaolong Ma , Jin Cen , Xiang Yuan , Yang Liu , Zhen Sun , Xi Cheng, Yuanhua Liu, Xuhao Liu, Jiazhi Hu , Guisheng Zhong, Dali Li , Qiang Xia , Lijian Hui 
In:
Source: Cell Stem Cell
Publication Date: (2024)
Issue: 24: 00177-2
Cells used in publication:
Hepatocyte, human
Species: human
Tissue Origin: liver
Platform:
4D-Nucleofector® 96-well Systems
Experiment

ProliHHs electroporation

Electroporation was performed when ProliHHs reached the 80%-90% of confluence in a dish. Two days before the electroporation, cells were added AAV2.7m8-donor virus at an MOI (GCs/cell) of 100,000 and then incubated at 37 °C overnight. For preparation of targeted integration in ProliHHs, the procedure was conducted following the manufacturer’s instructions using a Lonza 4D electroporation system. 3ml EHM media (Remove the Penicillin-Streptomycin from the EHM medium to prevent cell death caused by the presence of Penicillin-Streptomycin after electroporation) per well of a 6-well plate was prewarmed. After two days of AAV infection, the cells were digested and counted. The digested cells were washed with PBS and centrifuged at 3×105 ProliHHs in an EP tube. The PBS was then completely removed. After preparing the RNPs following the aforementioned method, the transfection solution for suspension cells was prepared using the Lonza P3 Primary Cell 4D-Nucleofector X Kit S (32RCT, Cat. No. V4XP-3032). 18µl Nucleofector Solution and 4µl Supplement Solution were mixed thoroughly before use. The mixed transfection solution was then added to the cells and the RNPs were added to the cell suspension using a 20µl pipette tip. The cell suspension was gently pipetted to ensure thorough mixing. The cell-mixture was transferred into an electroporation cuvette plate. Electroporation program DS198 was chosen for electroporation. After electroporation, cells were moved out of the electroporation cuvettes and gently supplemented with 37°C prewarmed medium in 6-well plate.

Abstract

Cell-based ex vivo gene therapy in solid organs, especially the liver, has proven technically challenging. Here, we report a feasible strategy for the clinical application of hepatocyte therapy. We first generated high-quality autologous hepatocytes through the large-scale expansion of patient-derived hepatocytes. Moreover, the proliferating patient-derived hepatocytes, together with the AAV2.7m8 variant identified through screening, enabled CRISPR-Cas9-mediated targeted integration efficiently, achieving functional correction of pathogenic mutations in FAH or OTC. Importantly, these edited hepatocytes repopulated the injured mouse liver at high repopulation levels and underwent maturation, successfully treating mice with tyrosinemia following transplantation. Our study combines ex vivo large-scale cell expansion and gene editing in patient-derived transplantable hepatocytes, which holds potential for treating human liver diseases.