In vivo base editing of Angptl3 via lipid nanoparticles to treat cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally and is exacerbated by elevated blood levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TGs). Existing approaches for decreasing blood lipid levels rely on daily medications, leading to poor patient adherence....

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jennifer Khirallah, Hanan Bloomer, Douglas Wich, Changfeng Huang, J. Noah Workman, Yamin Li, Gregory A. Newby, David R. Liu, Qiaobing Xu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-06-01
Series:Molecular Therapy: Nucleic Acids
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S216225312500040X
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850228410062733312
author Jennifer Khirallah
Hanan Bloomer
Douglas Wich
Changfeng Huang
J. Noah Workman
Yamin Li
Gregory A. Newby
David R. Liu
Qiaobing Xu
author_facet Jennifer Khirallah
Hanan Bloomer
Douglas Wich
Changfeng Huang
J. Noah Workman
Yamin Li
Gregory A. Newby
David R. Liu
Qiaobing Xu
author_sort Jennifer Khirallah
collection DOAJ
description Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally and is exacerbated by elevated blood levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TGs). Existing approaches for decreasing blood lipid levels rely on daily medications, leading to poor patient adherence. Gene therapy represents a promising ''one and done'' strategy to durably reduce blood lipid levels. ANGPTL3 has emerged as a potential target for gene therapy, as naturally occurring loss-of-function variants are cardioprotective. Here, we use lipid nanoparticles to package and deliver CRISPR adenine base editors (ABEs), which enable gene knockout without requiring potentially harmful DNA double-strand breaks. We package ABE mRNA and a synthetic guide RNA targeted to disrupt an important splice site in Angptl3, which we administered to mice intravenously. We achieved over 60% base editing in the liver and durable reductions in serum ANGPTL3, LDL-C, and TGs for at least 100 days. Notably, blood lipid levels remained low when mice were challenged with a high-fat high-cholesterol diet up to 191 days after therapy. These results provide a foundation for a potential one-and-done treatment for CVD.
format Article
id doaj-art-8ab596a629af4976a80add59a561dbf6
institution OA Journals
issn 2162-2531
language English
publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Elsevier
record_format Article
series Molecular Therapy: Nucleic Acids
spelling doaj-art-8ab596a629af4976a80add59a561dbf62025-08-20T02:04:33ZengElsevierMolecular Therapy: Nucleic Acids2162-25312025-06-0136210248610.1016/j.omtn.2025.102486In vivo base editing of Angptl3 via lipid nanoparticles to treat cardiovascular diseaseJennifer Khirallah0Hanan Bloomer1Douglas Wich2Changfeng Huang3J. Noah Workman4Yamin Li5Gregory A. Newby6David R. Liu7Qiaobing Xu8Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA; School of Medicine and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USADepartment of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USADepartment of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USADepartment of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Corresponding author: Gregory A. Newby, Department of Genetic Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA.Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA; Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA; Corresponding author: David R. Liu, Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA; School of Medicine and Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Tufts University, Boston, MA 02111, USA; Corresponding author: Qiaobing Xu, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA.Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally and is exacerbated by elevated blood levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglycerides (TGs). Existing approaches for decreasing blood lipid levels rely on daily medications, leading to poor patient adherence. Gene therapy represents a promising ''one and done'' strategy to durably reduce blood lipid levels. ANGPTL3 has emerged as a potential target for gene therapy, as naturally occurring loss-of-function variants are cardioprotective. Here, we use lipid nanoparticles to package and deliver CRISPR adenine base editors (ABEs), which enable gene knockout without requiring potentially harmful DNA double-strand breaks. We package ABE mRNA and a synthetic guide RNA targeted to disrupt an important splice site in Angptl3, which we administered to mice intravenously. We achieved over 60% base editing in the liver and durable reductions in serum ANGPTL3, LDL-C, and TGs for at least 100 days. Notably, blood lipid levels remained low when mice were challenged with a high-fat high-cholesterol diet up to 191 days after therapy. These results provide a foundation for a potential one-and-done treatment for CVD.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S216225312500040XMT: RNA/DNA EditingCRISPR-Cas9base editinggene editingangiopoietin-like protein-3cardiovascular disease
spellingShingle Jennifer Khirallah
Hanan Bloomer
Douglas Wich
Changfeng Huang
J. Noah Workman
Yamin Li
Gregory A. Newby
David R. Liu
Qiaobing Xu
In vivo base editing of Angptl3 via lipid nanoparticles to treat cardiovascular disease
Molecular Therapy: Nucleic Acids
MT: RNA/DNA Editing
CRISPR-Cas9
base editing
gene editing
angiopoietin-like protein-3
cardiovascular disease
title In vivo base editing of Angptl3 via lipid nanoparticles to treat cardiovascular disease
title_full In vivo base editing of Angptl3 via lipid nanoparticles to treat cardiovascular disease
title_fullStr In vivo base editing of Angptl3 via lipid nanoparticles to treat cardiovascular disease
title_full_unstemmed In vivo base editing of Angptl3 via lipid nanoparticles to treat cardiovascular disease
title_short In vivo base editing of Angptl3 via lipid nanoparticles to treat cardiovascular disease
title_sort in vivo base editing of angptl3 via lipid nanoparticles to treat cardiovascular disease
topic MT: RNA/DNA Editing
CRISPR-Cas9
base editing
gene editing
angiopoietin-like protein-3
cardiovascular disease
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S216225312500040X
work_keys_str_mv AT jenniferkhirallah invivobaseeditingofangptl3vialipidnanoparticlestotreatcardiovasculardisease
AT hananbloomer invivobaseeditingofangptl3vialipidnanoparticlestotreatcardiovasculardisease
AT douglaswich invivobaseeditingofangptl3vialipidnanoparticlestotreatcardiovasculardisease
AT changfenghuang invivobaseeditingofangptl3vialipidnanoparticlestotreatcardiovasculardisease
AT jnoahworkman invivobaseeditingofangptl3vialipidnanoparticlestotreatcardiovasculardisease
AT yaminli invivobaseeditingofangptl3vialipidnanoparticlestotreatcardiovasculardisease
AT gregoryanewby invivobaseeditingofangptl3vialipidnanoparticlestotreatcardiovasculardisease
AT davidrliu invivobaseeditingofangptl3vialipidnanoparticlestotreatcardiovasculardisease
AT qiaobingxu invivobaseeditingofangptl3vialipidnanoparticlestotreatcardiovasculardisease