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Gene therapy might fall short in achieving a complete reversion of the β-thalassemic phenotype due to current limitations in vector design and myeloablative regimen. Following gene transfer, all or a large proportion of erythroid cells might express suboptimal levels of β-globin, impairing the therapeutic potential of the treatment. Our aim was to evaluate whether, in absence of complete reversion of the β-globin phenotype upon gene transfer, it is possible to use fetal hemoglobin induction to eliminate the residual α-globin aggregates and achieve normal levels of hemoglobin. Transgenic K562 cell lines and erythroid precursor cells from β(0)39-thalassemia patients were employed. Gene therapy was performed with the lentiviral vector T9W. Induction of fetal hemoglobin was obtained using mithramycin. Levels of mRNA and hemoglobins were determined by qRT-PCR and HPLC. First, we analyzed the effect of mithramycin on K562 transgenic cell lines harboring different copies of a lentiviral vector carrying the human β-globin gene, showing that γ-globin mRNA expression and HbF production can be induced in the presence of high levels of β-globin gene expression and HbA accumulation. We then treated erythroid progenitor cells from β-thalassemic patients with T9W, which expresses the human β-globin gene and mithramycin separately or in combination. When transduction with our lentiviral vector is insufficient to completely eliminate the unpaired α-globin chains, combination of β-globin gene transfer therapy together with fetal hemoglobin induction might be very efficacious to remove the excess of α-globin proteins in thalassemic erythroid progenitor cells.

A combined approach for β-thalassemia based on gene therapy-mediated adult hemoglobin (HbA) production and fetal hemoglobin (HbF) induction