ATP7B Gene Therapy of Autologous Reprogrammed Hepatocytes Alleviates Copper Accumulation in a Murine Model of Wilson's Disease

Purpose:Wilson's disease (WD) is a rare hereditary disorder due to ATP7B gene mutation, causing pathologic copper storage mainly in the liver and neurological systems. Hepatocyte transplantation showed therapeutic potential, however, this strategy is often hindered by a shortage of quality donor cells and by allogeneic immune rejection. Here we evaluate the function and efficacy of autologous reprogrammed, ATP7B gene-restored hepatocytes using a murine model of WD Mathods and Results: By reprogramming hepatocytes from ATP7B-/- mice with small molecules, sufficient liver progenitor cells (LPCs) are harvested. After lentivirus-mediated miniATP7B gene transfection and re-differentiation, functional LPC-ATP7B-Heps are developed. RNA-seq data show that compared with LPC-GFP-Heps with enrichment of genes mainly in pathways of oxidative stress and cell apoptosis, in LPC-ATP7B-Heps under high copper stress pathways for copper ion binding and cell proliferation are enriched. LPC-ATP7B-Heps transplantation into ATP7B-/- mice alleviates deposition of excess liver copper with its associated inflammation and fibrosis, comparable to those observed using normal primary hepatocytes at four months after transplantation. Conclusion: We establish the autologous reprogrammed, ATP7B gene restored LPC-ATP7B-Heps and further transplantation demonstrate alleviated copper accumulation in WD mice. Overall design: 3 groups of mRNA profiles of reporgrammed, ATP7B or GFP lentivirus transfected hepatocytes from ATP7B-/- mice and reprogrammed, GFP transfected hepatocytes from wildtype mice. All cells underwent copper stress in vitro.