AAV8-mediated Gene Transfer of Interleukin-4 to Endogenous β-Cells Prevents the Onset of Diabetes in NOD Mice

We have demonstrated the ability to deliver and express genes specifically in beta-cells for at least 6 months, using a murine insulin promoter (mIP) in a double-stranded, self-complementary AAV vector (dsAAV8-mIP). In this study, we evaluated the effects of dsAAV8-mIP-mediated delivery of interleukin 4 (mIL-4) to endogenous beta-cells in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice. In 4-week-old NOD mice, the extent of gene transfer and expression in endogenous beta-cells after ip delivery of dsAAV8-mIP-enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP) was comparable to normal BALB/C mice. Further, after IP delivery of dsAAV8-mIP-IL4, expression of mIL-4 was detected in islets isolated from the treated mice and cultured. AAV8-mIP-mediated gene expression of mIL-4 in endogenous beta- cells of 4- and 8-week-old NOD mice prevented the onset of hyperglycemia in NOD mice and reduced the severity of insulitis. Moreover, expression of mIL-4 also maintained the level of CD4(+)CD25(+)FoxP3(+) cells, and adoptive transfer of splenocytes from nondiabetic dsAAV8-mIP-IL-4 mice to NODscid mice was able to block the diabetes induced by splenocytes co-adoptively transferred from nondiabetic dsAAV-mIP-eGFP mice. Taken together, these results demonstrate that local expression of mIL-4 in islets prevents islet destruction and blocks autoimmunity, partly through regulation of T-cell function.