CD4-directed nanoblades enable selective genome editing in CD4+ cells and HIV suppression in vitro and in vivo

Authors:
Van Cleemput J, De Cock M, Verbeek R, Burg E, Van den Eeckhout B, Witkowski W, van Snippenberg W, Stylianidou Z, Brugger Galetic E, Delporte M, Bracke K, Gerlo S, Vandekerckhove L.
In:
Source: EMBO Mol Med
Publication Date: (2026)
Issue: :
Research Area:
Cancer Research/Cell Biology
Immunotherapy / Hematology
Basic Research
Molecular Biology
Regenerative medicine
Cells used in publication:
T cell, human stim.
Species: human
Tissue Origin: blood
Platform:
4D-Nucleofector® X-Unit
Experiment

Electroporation with sgRNA-Cas9 ribonucleoproteins
S. pyogenes Cas9 and single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) were purchased from IDT (#1081059). Ten µg Cas9 was mixed with sgRNAs diluted to 30 µM in IDT duplex buffer (IDT, #11-01-03-01) for 30min at room temperature to allow RNP formation. RNP complexes were electroporated in 10^6 primary CD4+ cells resuspended in 20 µl of P3
buffer and supplement (Lonza V4XP-3032) in a 4D nucleofector (Lonza, Basel, Switzerland) using the EH-115 pulse code. Cells were incubated for 10 min at 37°C, then rescued with 100µl of pre warmed antibiotic-free coRPMI medium before diluting in coRPMI containing 1 µg/mL recombinant IL-2 for further cell culture.

Abstract

Current antiretroviral therapies suppress HIV replication but fail to eliminate integrated proviral DNA in long-lived CD4+ cells, precluding a cure. CRISPR-Cas9 offers potential for HIV eradication but efficient and cell-specific delivery into HIV target cells remains a major hurdle. We developed CD4-directed Nanoblades (CD4-NBs), murine leukemia virus-like particles pseudotyped with anti-CD4 nanobodies and a fusogenic glycoprotein VSV Gmut, to selectively deliver Cas9-gRNA ribonucleoproteins into CD4+ cells. CD4-NBs selectively delivered cargo to CD4+ cells in vitro and in vivo, achieving efficient gene disruption in primary CD4+ cells. Dual-guide CD4-NBs targeting conserved HIV tat/rev/env regions disrupted proviral DNA, suppressing HIV infection in CD4+ cells. In HIV-infected, ART-pretreated humanized mice, CD4-NBs significantly reduced plasma viremia. While full tissue reservoir clearance was not achieved, repeated dosing did reduce viral RNA and proviral DNA in bone marrow and lungs,
respectively. As such, this proof-of-concept study supports the promise of CD4-NBs as a minimally invasive, CD4+ cell-targeted gene editing strategy for HIV therapy.