Ex vivo gene delivery of IL-1Ra and soluble TNF receptor confers a distal synergistic therapeutic effect in antigen-induced arthritis

Intra-articular expression of antagonists of interleukin-1β (Il-1β) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in arthritic rabbit knee and mouse ankle joints by direct adenoviral-mediated intra-articular delivery results in amelioration of disease pathology in both the treated and contralateral untreated joints. Previous experiments suggests that direct adenoviral infection of resident antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and subsequent traveling of these cells to other sites of inflammation and lymph nodes might be responsible for this "contralateral effect." To determine whether genetic modification of APCs is required for the contralateral effect, we have used an ex vivo approach utilizing genetically modified fibroblasts to express IL-1 receptor antogonist protein (IL-1Ra) and soluble TNF-α receptor (sTNFR) locally in arthritic joints. Retroviral vectors carrying IL-1Ra, sTNFR-lg, or both genes together were used to stably infect autologous rabbit fibroblasts that were then injected intra-articularly into arthritic rabbit knee joints. The intra-articular delivery of either Il-1Ra- or sTNFR-lg-expressing fibroblasts was anti-inflammatory and chondro-protective in both the injected and noninjected contralateral joints. In addition, we demonstrate that the co-delivery of both antogonists in combination results in a synergistic effect in disease emelioration in both the treated and nontreated joints. These ex vivo results suggest that trafficking of vector-modified inflammatory cells is not the main mechanism responsible for the observed distal spread of the therapeutic effect. Moreover, the results demonstrate that local, ex vivo gene therapy for arthritis could be effective in blocking pathologies within untreated, distant arthritic joints.