Gene Therapy Studies in a Canine Model of X-Linked Severe Combined Immunodeficiency

Since the occurrence of T cell leukemias in the original human γ-retroviral gene therapy trials for X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (XSCID), considerable effort has been devoted to developing safer vectors. This review summarizes gene therapy studies performed in a canine model of XSCID to evaluate the efficacy of γ-retroviral, lentiviral, and foamy viral vectors for treating XSCID and a novel method of vector delivery. These studies demonstrate that durable T cell reconstitution and thymopoiesis with no evidence of any serious adverse events and, in contrast to the human XSCID patients, sustained marking in myeloid cells and B cells with reconstitution of normal humoral immune function can be achieved for up to 5 years without any pretreatment conditioning. The presence of sustained levels of gene-marked T cells, B cells, and more importantly myeloid cells for almost 5 years is highly suggestive of transduction of either multipotent hematopoietic stem cells or very primitive committed progenitors.