Granted Patent B2

US 12,251,450 · App. 17/002,262 · Granted Mar 18, 2025

Inventors: Sangeeta Bhatia (Cambridge, MA); Charles Rice (New York, NY); Feng Zhang (Cambridge, MA); David Benjamin Turitz Cox (Cambridge, MA); Vyas Ramanan (Cambridge, MA); Robert Schwartz (Cambridge, MA); Amir Shlomai (New York, NY)

Assignees: THE BROAD INSTITUTE, INC.; MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY; THE ROCKEFELLER UNIVERSITY

A61K48/005A61K38/465C12N9/22C12N15/01C12N15/102C12N15/113C12N15/63G06Q50/01H04L51/52H04L65/1069H04L67/306H04L67/53C07K2319/09C12N2310/20C12N2740/16043C12N2750/14143

Abstract

Claims (28)

1. A method of treating a hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, comprising administering an effective amount of a CRISPR-Cas system to a mammal, wherein the CRISPR-Cas system comprises

(i) a CRISPR protein or a polynucleotide encoding a CRISPR protein, and

(ii) two or more CRISPR-Cas system polynucleotides each targeting a different target HBV sequence comprised both in an HBV covalently closed circular DNA cccDNA) and in an HBV DNA integrated into the genome of a liver cell wherein the CRISPR-Cas system polynucleotides each comprising:

(a) a guide sequence capable of hybridizing to the target HBV sequence,

(b) a tracr mate sequence capable of hybridizing to a tracr sequence, and

(c) a tracr sequence,

wherein each of the CRISPR-Cas system polynucleotides forms a CRISPR complex with the CRISPR protein in the liver cell and directs sequence-specific binding of the CRISPR complex to the target HBV sequence both in the HBV cccDNA and in the HBV DNA integrated into the genome of liver cell, thereby reducing HBsAg, serum HBV DNA and HBV RNA in vivo in the mammal.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising administering an additional HBV treatment to the mammal.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the additional treatment comprises an epigenetic modifier.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CRISPR protein and/or the CRISPR-Cas system polynucleotides are encoded or comprised within a vector system comprising one or more vectors.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the one or more vectors comprise one or more viral vectors.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the one or more viral vectors comprise one or more lentiviral, adenoviral or adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the CRISPR protein and the CRISPR-Cas system polynucleotides are encoded in a single vector.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the CRISPR-Cas system polynucleotides is a chimeric RNA (chiRNA).

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CRISPR protein is a nuclease.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CRISPR protein comprises one or more mutations in atleast one catalytic domain.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CRISPR protein further comprises two or more nuclear localization sequences (NLSs).

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CRISPR protein comprises one or more mutations in at least one catalytic domain, and wherein the CRISPR protein is fused to a heterologous functional domain.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the heterologous functional domain is a transcriptional activator, a transcriptional repressor, a recombinase, a transposase, a histone remodeler, a demethylase, or a DNA methyltransferase.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the heterologous functional domain is VP64, SID4×, or KRAB.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CRISPR protein further comprises one or more nuclear localization sequences (NLSs) capable of driving the accumulation of the CRISPR protein to a detectible amount in the nucleus of the liver cell.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the CRISPR protein comprises at least one NLS at or near the amino-terminus of the CRISPR protein and/or at least one NLS at or near the carboxy-terminus the CRISPR protein.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CRISPR-Cas system is comprised in a liposome or a lipid particle.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CRISPR protein is Cas9.

19. The method of claim 18 , wherein the CRISPR protein is Staphylococcus aureus Cas9.

20. The method of claim 18 , wherein the CRISPR protein is Streptococcus pyogenes Cas9.

21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mammal is a human subject.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the CRISPR-Cas system comprises at least three CRISPR-Cas system polynucleotides each targeting a different target HBV sequence.

Assignments (8)

Continuity (5)

References Cited (400)