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Therapeutic potential of adenovirus-encoding brain-derived neurotrophic factor for spina bifida aperta by intra-amniotic delivery in a rat model

Abstract

Spina bifida aperta is a type of neural tube defect (NTD). Although prenatal fetal surgery has been an available and effective treatment for it, the neurological functional recovery is still need to be enhanced. Our previous results revealed that deficiencies of sensory, motor, and parasympathetic neurons were primary anomalies that occurred with the spinal malformation. Therefore, we emphasized that nerve regeneration is critical for NTD therapy. We delivered an adenoviral construct containing genes inserted for green fluorescent protein and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Ad-GFP-BDNF) into the amniotic fluid to investigate its prenatal therapeutic potential for rat fetuses with spina bifida aperta. Using immunofluorescence, TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling staining, and real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis, we assessed cell apoptosis in the defective spinal cord and Brn3a positive neuron survival in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG); a protein array was used to investigate the microenvironmental changes of the amniotic fluid. We found that most of the overexpressed BDNF was present on the lesions of the spina bifida fetuses, the number of apoptosis cells in Ad-GFP-BDNF-transfected spinal cords were reduced, mRNA levels of Bcl2/Bax were upregulated and Casp3 were downregulated compared with the controls, the proportion of Brn3a positive neurons in DRG were increased by activating the BDNF/TrkB/Akt signaling pathway, and most of the significant changes in cytokines in the amniotic fluid were related to the biological processes of regulation of apoptotic process and generation of neurons. These results suggest that intra-amniotic Ad-GFP-BDNF gene delivery might have potential as a supplementary approach to treat congenital malformations of neural tubes.

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Fig. 1: Characterization of adenovirally expressed GFP and BDNF.
Fig. 2: Improvement of apoptosis in spinal cords of fetuses with spina bifida aperta.
Fig. 3: The percentage of Brn3a+ neurons in DRG increased.
Fig. 4: Amniotic fluid microenvironment changes after Ad-GFP-BDNF injection.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in this published article and its supplementary information files.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program (2016YFC1000505), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant numbers: 81871219, 81671469, 81901565, 84601292), the Scientific Research Fund of Liaoning Provincial Education Department (LQNK201710).

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Ma, W., Wei, X., Gu, H. et al. Therapeutic potential of adenovirus-encoding brain-derived neurotrophic factor for spina bifida aperta by intra-amniotic delivery in a rat model. Gene Ther 27, 567–578 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41434-020-0131-2

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