Characterisation of secretion of engineered adeno-associated viruses (AAV)

The aim of this project is to investigate host cell-AAV (adeno-associated virus) interactions that can be optimized to intensify AAV manufacture of difficult to express serotypes. AAV is a small parvovirus composed of a capsid, which can be engineered to act as a vector delivery system for gene therapy or to enable in vivo expression of biologics. The development of efficient manufacturing processes capable of producing AAV at scale is still in its infancy. One challenge is the apparent serotype-dependent poor expression in human cell lines. Using multi-omics approaches, this project seeks to better understand the fundamental mechanisms involved in AAV secretion, especially where secretion is impaired. Identification of proteins that change their expression and/or location in cells expressing easy/hard to express AAV serotypes is of vital importance in generating cell lines for clinical supply of delivery systems for gene therapy and immunotherapy.