Erica Secor, Jun Wang, Zelong Dou, Jiansen Yan, Camilla Majano, Matthew Woodman, Oscar Ruiz, Joud Al Azaat, Duncan Crosby, Racel Cela, Sarah Pownder, Julie B Engiles, Donna Palmer, Mingming Jiang, Carolina Leynes, Ismail Yaman, Mira Jeong, Gerhard Sponder, Stanislav Plutziki, Lisa Yuva, Surabi Veeraragavan, Russell S Ray, Joshua D Wythe, Benjamin R Arenkiel, Rui Chen, Kim C Worley, RE-JOIN Consortium, Philip Ng, Masataka Suzuki, Kilian Guse, Yangjin Bae, Nele A Haelterman, Heidi Reesink, Brendan Lee
UNLABELLED: Osteoarthritis is a leading cause of chronic pain and disability, which lacks disease-modifying treatment. Given the complex multi-tissue and multifactorial drivers behind disease progression, effective treatments will require simultaneously targeting several mechanisms underlying joint degeneration and pain. Here, we developed and evaluated a combinatorial gene therapy, consisting of a high-capacity adenoviral vector carrying two therapeutic genes to target distinct pathological mechanisms: inflammation (IL-1Ra) and chondrocyte health (PRG4). Intra-articular delivery of this treatment improved functional, structural, and pain outcomes in murine and equine osteoarthritis models. In addition, treatment normalized inflammatory environments in joint tissues, as well as in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) known to harbor joint-innervating sensory neurons. Moreover, gene therapy reversed OA-induced molecular signatures of neural hyperexcitability, suggesting amelioration of peripheral sensitization. Collectively, these findings support combinatorial gene therapy as a promising treatment for osteoarthritis, while identifying neuroinflammatory signatures for correction of disease progression and pain.
ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY: A single intra-articular injection of a combinatorial gene therapy slows OA progression and reduces pain in small and large animal models.