Progress and Perspectives in the Development of Lentiviral Vector Producer Cells

• Published in: Biotechnology journal 2021-01, Vol.16 (1), p.e2000017-n/a
• Main Authors: Ferreira, Mariana V., Cabral, Elisa T., Coroadinha, Ana Sofia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: gene therapy; Genetic Vectors - genetics; genome editing; HEK293 Cells; Humans; lentiviral vectors; Lentivirus - genetics; packaging cells; producer cells; Reproducibility of Results; Transduction, Genetic; Transfection
• ISSN: 1860-6768; 1860-7314
• DOI: 10.1002/biot.202000017

After two decades of clinical trials, gene therapy demonstrated effectiveness in the treatment of a series of diseases. Currently, several gene therapy products are approved and used in the clinic. Lentiviral vectors (LVs) are one of the most used transfer vehicles to deliver genetic material and the vector of choice to modify hematopoietic cells to correct primary immunodeficiencies, hemoglobinopathies, and leukodystrophies. LVs are also widely used to modify T cells to treat cancers in immunotherapies (e.g., chimeric antigen receptors T cell therapies, CAR‐T). In genome editing, LVs are used to deliver sequence‐specific designer nucleases and DNA templates. The approval LV gene therapy products (e.g., Kymriah, for B‐cell Acute lymphoblastic leukemia treatment; LentiGlobin, for β‐thalassemia treatment) reinforced the need to improve their bioprocess manufacturing. The production has been mostly dependent on transient transfection. Production from stable cell lines facilitate GMP compliant processes, providing an easier scale‐up, reproducibility and cost‐effectiveness. The establishment of stable LV producer cell lines presents, however, several difficulties, with the cytotoxicity of some of the vector proteins being a major challenge. Genome editing technologies pose additional challenges to LV producer cells. Herein the major bottlenecks, recent achievements, and perspectives in the development of LV stable cell lines are revised. Lentiviral vectors (LV) are widely used in gene therapy and genome editing. Their manufacturing is progressing towards the use of stable producer cell lines, inducible or constitutive. Both stable cell lines are genetically engineered to suppress LV cytotoxicity, either temporarily or permanently. This manuscript revises the major bottlenecks, recent achievements, and perspectives in the development of LV stable cell lines.