Study of Gene Therapy Using a Lentiviral Vector to Treat X-linked Chronic Granulomatous Disease

The therapeutic product to be evaluated is autologous CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) modified by ex vivo transduction using the pCCLchimGP91WPRE lentiviral vector (G1XCGD Modified Autologous BM CD34 cells) containing the human CGD gene. The G1XCGD lentiviral vector is a 3rd generation self-inactivating lentiviral vector which directs gp91phox expression from a codon-optimized form of the CYBB gene preferentially to myeloid cells, with a modified WPRE (PRE4). G1XCGD is an integrative, 3rd generation replication-defective, self-inactivating (SIN) HIV-derived Lentiviral (LV) vector, with a mutated Woodchuck hepatitis virus Posttranscriptional Regulatory Element (WPRE) sequence. A LV vector derived from HIV-1 has been chosen with respect to LV natural properties: they are genetically stable, permanently integrate into the genome of transduced cells and provide long-term gene expression in vitro and in vivo. The transduction of Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSC) with such LV can be achieved after limited pre-activation of the cells in short-term cultures with cytokines, in conditions that are compatible with the preservation of the self-renewing capacities of these cells. These properties make these LV suitable for ex-vivo gene therapy strategies using HSC. G1XCGD provirus includes a chimeric promoter designed to regulate the transgene expression in myeloid cells and a transgene called GP91 (also known as CYBB), which is a codon-optimized cDNA sequence of the human CYBB gene also known as GP91-PHOX or NOX2 gene. The promoter is a synthetic chimeric element created by the fusion of c-Fes and Cathepsin G minimal 5'-flanking regions. Cathepsin G is a serine protease stored in the azurophil granules of neutrophil granulocytes. Part of the chimeric promoter contains binding sites for myeloid transcription factors C/EBP and PU.1 from the upstream region of the transcription start site of the Cathepsin G gene. The other part of the chimeric promoter is a human c-Fes sequence that has been added to enhance the Cathepsin G promoter activity in granulocytic cells. The resulting chimeric promoter is able to i) regulate the expression of the GP91 transgene in myeloid cells in a specific manner, and ii) to effectively restore NADPH-oxidase activity in granulocytes, as reported by Santilli et al. (Santilli et al., 2011) and confirmed in preclinical studies conducted with the G1XCGD vector. The GP91 transgene codes for the 570 amino-acid cytochrome b-245, a 91 kD beta polypeptide that is also known as the NADPH-oxidase catalytic subunit gp91-phox, or cytochrome b-245 heavy chain, or gp91-phox protein.