Dataset Information

Adeno-associated virus capsid assembly is divergent and stochastic.

ABSTRACT: Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are increasingly used as gene therapy vectors. AAVs package their genome in a non-enveloped T = 1 icosahedral capsid of ~3.8 megaDalton, consisting of 60 subunits of 3 distinct viral proteins (VPs), which vary only in their N-terminus. While all three VPs play a role in cell-entry and transduction, their precise stoichiometry and structural organization in the capsid has remained elusive. Here we investigate the composition of several AAV serotypes by high-resolution native mass spectrometry. Our data reveal that the capsids assemble stochastically, leading to a highly heterogeneous population of capsids of variable composition, whereby even the single-most abundant VP stoichiometry represents only a small percentage of the total AAV population. We estimate that virtually every AAV capsid in a particular preparation has a unique composition. The systematic scoring of the simulations against experimental native MS data offers a sensitive new method to characterize these therapeutically important heterogeneous capsids.

SUBMITTER: Worner TP

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7955066 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Adeno-associated virus capsid assembly is divergent and stochastic.

Wörner Tobias P TP Bennett Antonette A Habka Sana S Snijder Joost J Friese Olga O Powers Thomas T Agbandje-McKenna Mavis M Heck Albert J R AJR

Nature communications 20210312 1

Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are increasingly used as gene therapy vectors. AAVs package their genome in a non-enveloped T = 1 icosahedral capsid of ~3.8 megaDalton, consisting of 60 subunits of 3 distinct viral proteins (VPs), which vary only in their N-terminus. While all three VPs play a role in cell-entry and transduction, their precise stoichiometry and structural organization in the capsid has remained elusive. Here we investigate the composition of several AAV serotypes by high-resolut ...[more]

PMID: 33712599

Similar Datasets

Project description:The HI loop is a prominent domain on the adeno-associated virus (AAV) capsid surface that extends from each viral protein (VP) subunit overlapping the neighboring fivefold VP. Despite the highly conserved nature of the residues at the fivefold pore, the HI loops surrounding this critical region vary significantly in amino acid sequence between the AAV serotypes. In order to understand the role of this unique capsid domain, we ablated side chain interactions between the HI loop and the underlying EF loop in the neighboring VP subunit by generating a collection of deletion, insertion, and substitution mutants. A mutant lacking the HI loop was unable to assemble particles, while a substitution mutant (10 glycine residues) assembled particles but was unable to package viral genomes. Substitution mutants carrying corresponding regions from AAV1, AAV4, AAV5, and AAV8 yielded (i) particles with titers and infectivity identical to those of AAV2 (AAV2 HI1 and HI8), (ii) particles with a decreased virus titer (1 log) but normal infectivity (HI4), and (iii) particles that synthesized VPs but were unable to assemble into intact capsids (HI5). AAV5 HI is shorter than all other HI loops by one amino acid. Replacing the missing residue (threonine) in AAV2 HI5 resulted in a moderate particle assembly rescue. In addition, we replaced the HI loop with peptides varying in length and amino acid sequence. This region tolerated seven-amino-acid peptide substitutions unless they spanned a conserved phenylalanine at amino acid position 661. Mutation of this highly conserved phenylalanine to a glycine resulted in a modest decrease in virus titer but a substantial decrease (1 log order) in infectivity. Subsequently, confocal studies revealed that AAV2 F661G is incapable of efficiently completing a key step in the infectious pathway nuclear entry, hinting at a possible perturbation of VP1 phospholipase activity. Molecular modeling studies with the F661G mutant suggest that disruption of interactions between F661 and an underlying P373 residue in the EF loop of the neighboring subunit might adversely affect incorporation of the VP1 subunit at the fivefold axis. Western blot analysis confirmed inefficient incorporation of VP1, as well as a proteolytically processed VP1 subunit that could account for the markedly reduced infectivity. In summary, our studies show that the HI loop, while flexible in amino acid sequence, is critical for AAV capsid assembly, proper VP1 subunit incorporation, and viral genome packaging, all of which implies a potential role for this unique surface domain in viral infectivity.

Project description:The adeno-associated virus (AAV) serves as a broadly used vector system for in vivo gene delivery. The process of AAV capsid assembly remains poorly understood. The viral cofactor assembly-activating protein (AAP) is required for maximum AAV production and has multiple roles in capsid assembly, namely, trafficking of the structural proteins (VP) to the nuclear site of assembly, promoting the stability of VP against multiple degradation pathways, and facilitating stable interactions between VP monomers. The N-terminal 60 amino acids of AAP (AAPN) are essential for these functions. Presumably, AAP must physically interact with VP to execute its multiple functions, but the molecular nature of the AAP-VP interaction is not well understood. Here, we query how structurally related AAVs functionally engage AAP from AAV serotype 2 (AAP2) toward virion assembly. These studies led to the identification of key residues on the lumenal capsid surface that are important for AAP-VP and for VP-VP interactions. Replacing a cluster of glutamic acid residues with a glutamine-rich motif on the conserved VP beta-barrel structure of variants incompatible with AAP2 creates a gain-of-function mutant compatible with AAP2. Conversely, mutating positively charged residues within the hydrophobic region of AAP2 and conserved core domains within AAPN creates a gain-of-function AAP2 mutant that rescues assembly of the incompatible variant. Our results suggest a model for capsid assembly where surface charge/neutrality dictates an interaction between AAPN and the lumenal VP surface to nucleate capsid assembly.IMPORTANCE Efforts to engineer the AAV capsid to gain desirable properties for gene therapy (e.g., tropism, reduced immunogenicity, and higher potency) require that capsid modifications do not affect particle assembly. The relationship between VP and the cofactor that facilitates its assembly, AAP, is central to both assembly preservation and vector production. Understanding the requirements for this compatibility can inform manufacturing strategies to maximize production and reduce costs. Additionally, library-based approaches that simultaneously examine a large number of capsid variants would benefit from a universally functional AAP, which could hedge against overlooking variants with potentially valuable phenotypes that were lost during vector library production due to incompatibility with the cognate AAP. Studying interactions between the structural and nonstructural components of AAV enhances our fundamental knowledge of capsid assembly mechanisms and the protein-protein interactions required for productive assembly of the icosahedral capsid.

Dataset Information

Adeno-associated virus capsid assembly is divergent and stochastic.

Publications

Adeno-associated virus capsid assembly is divergent and stochastic.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets