Human Hepatocyte Transduction with Adeno-Associated Virus Vector

As the adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors hold unique advantages over other viral vectors, AAV gene therapy has accumulated rapid progress and development. Liver-targeted gene therapy by AAV vectors has been successfully applied in clinical trials for many diseases. Low transduction efficiency and high prevalence of neutralizing antibodies (Nabs), however, are the major obstacles to further translate this therapeutic strategy into clinical trials. Pre-clinical evaluation on hepatocytes could help to elucidate the tropism of AAV serotypes for liver-targeted gene therapy, and could also provide a test model to develop novel AAV mutants with Nabs evasion and high liver tropism. Here, we described the basic laboratory procedure to apply the AAV vector to transduce human hepatocytes in vitro and in vivo with some tips gained from our own experience.