Defects in T-cell-mediated immunity to influenza virus in murine Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome are corrected by oncoretroviral vector-mediated gene transfer into repopulating hematopoietic cells

Abstract

The Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is an X-linked disorder characterized by immune dysfunction, thrombocytopenia, and eczema. We used a murine model created by knockout of the WAS protein gene (WASP) to evaluate the potential of gene therapy for WAS. Lethally irradiated, male WASP- animals that received transplants of mixtures of wild type (WT) and WASP- bone marrow cells demonstrated enrichment of WT cells in the lymphoid and myeloid lineages with a progressive increase in the proportion of WT T-lymphoid and B-lymphoid cells. WASP- mice had a defective secondary T-cell response to influenza virus which was normalized in animals that received transplants of 35% or more WT cells. The WASP gen..