Engineering Microglia for Neural Cell Therapy LETHBRIDGE BRAINIACS:

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1 Engineering Microglia for Neural Cell Therapy LETHBRIDGE BRAINIACS: Dennis Bettenson Harland Brandon Evan Caton Rachael Chan Billy Cowitz Aubrey Demchuk Graeme Glaister Rhys Hakstol Suneet Kharey Kelsey O Brien Dustin Smith Zak Stinson Scott Wong Hans-Joachim Wieden

2 Background How many of you know someone who has been affected by: Traumatic Stroke Brain Injury (TBI)

3 Background 1.5 million people experience a TBI each year in the USA and 800,000 suffer from a stroke Incidence of TBI is higher than multiple sclerosis (MS), spinal cord injury, HIV/AIDS, and breast cancer combined Combined health care costs of stroke & TBI estimated to be $110 billion in the USA alone

4 Policy and Practice Dr. Toni Winder, M.D. (Neurologist specializing in ischemic stroke) Dr. Randall Barley, Ph.D. (Experimental Surgery) Patient K.B. (Recovering Stroke Patient)

5 Insert 1min video highlight of interviews Policy and Practice

6 Background Cell Death Neurons

7 Background Microglia

8 Astrocytes Background

9 Reactive Astrocytes Background

10 Background

11 Background Guo et al. (2013) - direct reprogramming of reactive astrocytes to functional neurons using a single transcription factor, NeuroD1 BRAAAINS BUT viral-mediated gene therapy in human patients is controversial!

12 Background Non-invasive Non-integrating Non-immunogenic Specific

13 Background Alvarez-Erviti et al. (2011) exosomes are an effective, noninvasive delivery mechanism for mrna knockdown therapy NJU China s 2013 igem team MIT s 2013 igem team

14 Project Overview Engineer microglia ( nomadocytes ) as non-immunogenic carriers of neural tissue-specific therapeutic genes Exosomes Damaged Neurons Microglia Reactive Astrocytes

15 Project Overview Synthetic plasmid delivery system to target a neural reprogramming message (NeuroD1) to reactive astrocytes Exosome Therapeutic Plasmid Plasmid Delivery System

16 Project Overview This message will promote functional recovery after a TBI or stroke

17 Project Design Exosomal plasmid transport system: Exosome DNA-Binding Domain Target Sequence Rabies Virus Glycoprotein (RVG) Lamp2B

18 Project Design Nuclear targeting in recipient astrocyte: Exosome Protease Cut Site Nuclear Localization Signal (NLS)

19 Project Design Therapeutic plasmid: Exosome NeuroD1 Astrocyte-Specific Promoter RNA-OUT Sequence

20 Policy and Practice A post-antibiotic era in which common infections and minor injuries can kill far from being an apocalyptic fantasy, is instead a very real possibility for the 21st Century. WHO, 2014 Misuse of antibiotics Potential for transfer of cassette to patient s microbiome

21 Project Design Antibiotic free plasmid selection - RNA-IN/OUT Native to E. coli Insertion Element 10 Riboregulation of translation Hybridization occludes ribosome binding site Complementarity of RNA-OUT loop sequence and RNA-IN confers specificity RNA-IN RNA-OUT

22 Project Design 3 G C G A A C C U A C 5

23 Project Design 3 G C G A A C C U A C 5

24 Project Design Const. RNA-OUT Plasmid v pbad ccdb Genome

25 Results Antibiotic free plasmid selection - RNA-IN/OUT: pbad T4 Lysis Cassette pbad-rna-in-lysis RNA-OUT

26 Results Exosome DNA-Binding Domain Clover

27 Results

28 Results Predicted structure of RVG-Lamp2B-Clover exosomal protein:

29 Results Expression of RVG-Lamp2B-Clover exosomal protein in cell culture: A B C D A. HEK control B. HEK + pcdna3.0-clover C. HEK + pcdna3.0-rvg- Lamp2B-Clover D. Murine microglia + pcdna3.0-lamp2b- Clover 20µm

30 Results Confirmed exosome production in HEK-293 cultures with transmission electron microscopy (TEM): 1 µm

31 Results Confirmed Clover fluorescence is localized to exosomes:

32 Results Developed the NeuroD1 therapeutic plasmid with the inclusion of IRES-Clover: Clover Doublecortin NeuN 20µm

33 Results: Summary Established protocols for exosome isolation and purification Successfully engineered an exosomal targeting system and demonstrated exosomal localization Submitted RNA IN/OUT plasmid selection system, RVG-Lamp2B-Clover and TEV protease parts First steps towards a novel non-invasive cell-based gene therapy approach for human brains

34 Future Directions Isolate primary astrocytes and microglia from mice rather than using immortalized lines Validate exosomal packaging using animal model Generate microglia from patient bone marrow cells

35 Policy and Practice Collaboration with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC): Presented current and past igem projects Demonstrated our commitment to biosafety Feedback on current safety standards Help update igem safety form

36 Insert 30sec video highlight of interviews Policy and Practice

37 Acknowledgements The Public Health Agency of Canada (especially Kathrina Yambao & Kirsten Jacobsen) Fan Mo, Ruzaan du Plooy, Doug Bray, and A. Will Smith (University of Lethbridge) The Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience, and the Kothe, Kovalchuk, McNaughton, Selinger, Gruber and Wieden labs at the University of Lethbridge.

38 Acknowledgements THANK YOU!

39 Thank You! Come check out our artwork in Hall C! It will be auctioned during our annual igem dinner and all proceeds will be going to charity

40 References 1) Alvarez-Erviti, L., Seow, Y., Yin, H., Betts, C., Lakhal, S., & Wood, M.J.A. (2011). Delivery of sirna to the mouse brain by systemic injection of targeted exosomes. Nature Biotechnology, 29, ) Bi, F., Huang, C., Tong, J., Qiu, G., Huang, B., Wu, Q., Li, F., Xu, Z., Bowser, R., Xia, X-G., & Zhou, H. (2013). Reactive astrocytes secrete Icn2 to promote neuron death. PNAS, 110, ) Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Traumatic brain injury in the United States: a report to Congress. Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human Services (US), CDC, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. 4) Finkelstein, E.C., Corso, P.S., & Miller, T.R The Incidence and Economic Burden of Injuries in the United States. New York: Oxford University Press; 5) Go, A.S., et al Heart Disease and Stroke Statistics 2014 Update: A Report from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 129, e28-e292. 6) Guo, Z., Zhang, L., Wu, Z., Chen, Y., Wang, F., & Chen, G. (2014). In vivo direct reprogramming of reactive glial cells into functional neurons after brain injury and in an Alzheimer s disease model. Cell Stem Cell, 14, ) Heidenreich, P.A., et al. (2011). Forecasting the future of cardiovascular disease in the United States: a policy statement from the American Heart Association. Circulation, 123, ) Hinze, A. & Stolzing, A. (2012). Microglia differentiation using a culture system for the expansion of mice non-adherent bone marrow stem cells. Journal of Inflammation, 9, 12. 9) Kelley, L.A. & Sternberg, M.J.E. (2009). Protein structure prediction on the Web: a case study using the Phyre server. Nature Protocols, 4, ) MIT igem Team. (2013). Exosome mediated mammalian cell-cell communication. Retrieved from 11) Northern Brain Injury Association. (2014). Brain Injury Statistics. Retrieved from 12) NJU China igem Team. (2013). Biomissile. Retrieved from 13) Schjørring, S. & Krogfelt, K.A. (2011). Assessment of Bacterial Antibiotic Resistance Transfer in the Gut. International Journal of Microbiology, 2011: ) United States Food and Drug Administration. (1998). Guidance for Industry: Guidance for Human Somatic Cell Therapy and Gene Therapy. Retrieved from CellularandGeneTherapy/ucm htm 15) World Health Organization. (2014). Microbial resistance: global report on surveillance. Retrieved from drugresistance/documents/surveillancereport/en/

41 Project Design No Arabinose pbad ccdb No transcription Cell Survival

42 Project Design Arabinose Unsuccessful Transformation pbad ccdb ccdb

43 Project Design Arabinose Successful Transformation pbad ccdb ccdb ccdb