Post-Transplant Administration of G-CSF Impedes Engraftment of Gene Edited Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells by Exacerbating the p53-Mediated DNA Damage Response

Araki, D.; Chen, V.; Redekar, N.; Salisbury-Ruf, C.; Luo, Y.; Liu, P.; Li, Y.; Smith, R.; Dagur, P.; Combs, C.; Larochelle, A.

doi:10.1101/2023.06.29.547089

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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2023.06.29.547089

Post-Transplant Administration of G-CSF Impedes Engraftment of Gene Edited Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells by Exacerbating the p53-Mediated DNA Damage Response

Araki, D.·Chen, V.·Redekar, N.·Salisbury-Ruf, C.·Luo, Y.·Liu, P.·Li, Y.·Smith, R.·Dagur, P.·Combs, C.·Larochelle, A.

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Abstract

Granulocyte colony stimulating factor (G-CSF) is commonly used as adjunct treatment to hasten recovery from neutropenia following chemotherapy and autologous transplantation of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) for malignant disorders. However, the utility of G-CSF administration after ex vivo gene therapy procedures targeting human HSPCs has not been thoroughly evaluated. Here, we provide evidence that post-transplant administration of G-CSF impedes engraftment of CRISPR-Cas9 gene edited human HSPCs in xenograft models. G-CSF acts by exacerbating the p53-mediated DNA damage response triggered by Cas9- mediated DNA double-stranded breaks. Transient p53 inhibition in culture attenuates the negative impact of G-CSF on gene edited HSPC function. In contrast, post-transplant administration of G-CSF does not impair the repopulating properties of unmanipulated human HSPCs or HSPCs genetically engineered by transduction with lentiviral vectors. The potential for post-transplant G-CSF administration to aggravate HSPC toxicity associated with CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing should be considered in the design of ex vivo autologous HSPC gene editing clinical trials. Graphical Abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=121 SRC="FIGDIR/small/547089v1_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (38K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1dae519org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1f6ddacorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@535cbaorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@ecbeaf_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG

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Araki, D., Chen, V., Redekar, N., Salisbury-Ruf, C., Luo, Y., Liu, P., Li, Y., Smith, R., Dagur, P., Combs, C., Larochelle, A.. 2023-06-30. Post-Transplant Administration of G-CSF Impedes Engraftment of Gene Edited Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells by Exacerbating the p53-Mediated DNA Damage Response. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.06.29.547089

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