Christian Mueller

Christian Mueller
University of Massachusetts Medical School | UMMS · Department of Pediatrics

Ph.D, Sc.M.

About

167
Publications
36,596
Reads
How we measure 'reads'
A 'read' is counted each time someone views a publication summary (such as the title, abstract, and list of authors), clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the full-text. Learn more
5,276
Citations
Additional affiliations
August 2007 - present
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Position
  • Professor (Assistant)
August 2007 - present
University of Massachusetts Medical School
Position
  • Professor (Assistant)

Publications

Publications (167)
Article
Full-text available
A non-coding hexanucleotide repeat expansion in the C9ORF72 gene is the most common mutation associated with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). To investigate the pathological role of C9ORF72 in these diseases, we generated a line of mice carrying a bacterial artificial chromosome containing exons 1 to 6...
Article
Recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors have shown promise for the treatment of several diseases; however, immune-mediated elimination of transduced cells has been suggested to limit and account for a loss of efficacy. To determine whether rAAV vector expression can persist long term, we administered rAAV vectors expressing normal, M-type...
Article
Full-text available
α-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency can exhibit two pathologic states: a lung disease that is primarily due to the loss of AAT's antiprotease function, and a liver disease resulting from a toxic gain-of-function of the PiZ-AAT (Z-AAT) mutant protein. We have developed several recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors that incorporate microRNA...
Article
Full-text available
Cystic fibrosis (CF), the most common fatal monogenic disease in the United States, results from mutations in CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), a chloride channel. The mechanisms by which CFTR mutations cause lung disease in CF are not fully defined but may include altered ion and water transport across the airway epithelium and aberra...
Article
Full-text available
Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD) is characterized by both chronic lung disease due to loss of wild-type AAT (M-AAT) antiprotease function and liver disease due to toxicity from delayed secretion, polymerization, and aggregation of misfolded mutant AAT (Z-AAT). The ideal gene therapy for AATD should therefore comprise both endogenous Z-AAT supp...
Article
Full-text available
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons, causing progressive muscle weakness and respiratory failure. The presence of an expanded hexanucleotide repeat in chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 (C9ORF72) is the most frequent mutation causing familial ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). To d...
Article
Full-text available
A GGGGCC24+ hexanucleotide repeat expansion (HRE) in the C9ORF72 gene is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), fatal neurodegenerative diseases with no cure or approved treatments that substantially slow disease progression or extend survival. Mechanistic underpinnings of neuronal de...
Preprint
Full-text available
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects motor neurons, causing progressive muscle weakness and respiratory failure. The presence of an expanded hexanucleotide repeat in chromosome 9 open reading frame 72 ( C9ORF72 ) accounts for most cases of familial ALS and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). To determine...
Preprint
Full-text available
A hexanucleotide repeat expansion (HRE) consisting of GGGGCC 24+ in the C9ORF72 gene is the most common genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD). Both are fatal neurodegenerative diseases with no current approved treatments that significantly slow disease progression or extend life expectancy. Several h...
Article
Full-text available
Alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency (AATD) is the most common genetic cause and risk factor for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, but the field lacks a large animal model that allows for longitudinal assessment of pulmonary function. We hypothesized that ferrets would model human AATD-related lung and hepatic disease. AAT-knockout (AAT-KO) an...
Article
Full-text available
Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) is an inherited neurological disorder caused by deficiency of hexosaminidase A (HexA). Here, we describe an adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy expanded-access trial in two patients with infantile TSD (IND 18225) with safety as the primary endpoint and no secondary endpoints. Patient TSD-001 was treated at 30 months wi...
Article
Full-text available
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most common form of neurodegenerative movement disorder, associated with profound loss of dopaminergic neurons from the basal ganglia. Though loss of dopaminergic neuron cell bodies from the substantia nigra pars compacta is a well-studied feature, atrophy and loss of their axons within the nigrostriatal tract is als...
Article
Full-text available
Significance α1-Antitrypsin deficiency is one of the most common genetic diseases. Homozygous and heterozygous carriers of the Z allele of α1-antitrypsin are susceptible to developing liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. In mouse and human samples expressing the Z allele of α1-antitrypsin, we found both miR-34b and miR-34c are up-regulated by activation o...
Preprint
Full-text available
Tay-Sachs Disease (TSD) is an inherited neurological disorder caused by deficiency of hexosaminidase A (HexA). Preclinical work demonstrated safety and efficacy of CNS gene therapy using AAVrh8-HEXA/HEXB. Here we describe an expanded access trial in two patients with infantile TSD (IND 18225). Case TSD-001 demonstrated neurodevelopmental regression...
Article
Full-text available
Background: The C9ORF72 hexanucleotide repeat expansion is the most common known genetic cause of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), two fatal age-related neurodegenerative diseases. The C9ORF72 expansion encodes five dipeptide repeat proteins (DPRs) that are produced through a non-canonical translation mechanis...
Article
Two patients with familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and mutations in the gene encoding superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD1) were treated with a single intrathecal infusion of adeno-associated virus encoding a microRNA targeting SOD1. In Patient 1, SOD1 levels in spinal cord tissue as analyzed on autopsy were lower than corresponding levels in u...
Chapter
We recently described the generation of a novel mouse strain that efficiently and readily engrafts human primary hepatocytes to create liver xenografts (Borel et al., Mol Ther, 25: 2477–89, 2017). A transgenic mouse strain expressing a human PiZ allele for the SerpinA1 gene was crossed with the NOD-SCID-gamma chain knockout (NSG) strain to create a...
Article
Full-text available
With the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) approvals for Zolgensma, Luxturna, and Glybera, recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAVs) are considered efficient tools for gene transfer. However, studies in animals and humans demonstrate that intramuscular (IM) AAV delivery can trigger immune responses to AAV...
Article
Full-text available
Sustained silencing of gene expression throughout the brain using small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) has not been achieved. Here we describe an siRNA architecture, divalent siRNA (di-siRNA), that supports potent, sustained gene silencing in the central nervous system (CNS) of mice and nonhuman primates following a single injection into the cerebrospin...
Article
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease with no current cure. Patients with ALS die 3–5 years after diagnosis from respiratory failure. Approximately 5–10% of ALS is familial and 20% of familial ALS is due to mutations in the gene encoding Cu/Zn superoxide‐dismutase 1 (SOD1). The most commonly used ALS mouse model i...
Article
Full-text available
Phase 1 and phase 2 gene therapy trials using intramuscular (IM) administration of a recombinant adeno-associated virus serotype 1 (rAAV1) for replacement of serum alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency have shown long-term (5-year) stable transgene expression at approximately 2% to 3% of therapeutic levels, arguing for the long-term viability of thi...
Chapter
This protocol describes a method of delivering adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors to the intrathecal space of nonhuman primates for CNS-directed gene therapy. It includes the surgical implantation of the catheter, vector infusion, necropsy, laser-capture microdissection of motor neurons, and gene expression analysis. This method allows efficient...
Chapter
Adeno-associated viral vectors have emerged as an important tool for human gene therapy, having demonstrated high transduction efficiency in a broad range of target tissues, a good safety profile in animal models and human clinical trials, and prospective long-lasting gene expression. First discovered 20 years ago, RNA interference (RNAi) has becom...
Article
Full-text available
Rationale: The most prevalent genetic cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is alpha-1 antitrypsin (A1AT) deficiency, a disorder that has yet to be widely modeled in animals because of species-specific differences between rodents and humans. Objectives: To address these challenges, we engineered two A1AT ferret models using zygote gene...
Article
Full-text available
Immunodeficient mice engrafted with human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) support preclinical studies of human pathogens, allograft rejection, and human T‐cell function. However, a major limitation of PBMC engraftment is development of acute xenogeneic graft‐versus‐host disease (GVHD) due to human T‐cell recognition of murine major histo...
Article
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurological disease caused by degeneration of motor neurons leading to rapidly progressive paralysis. About 10% of cases are caused by gain-of-function mutations that are transmitted as dominant traits. A potential therapy for these cases is to suppress the expression of the mutant gene. Here, we inve...
Article
Full-text available
Background: Transgenic sheep are currently the only large animal model of Huntington's disease expressing full-length mutant human huntingtin. These transgenic sheep provide an opportunity to test adeno associated virus (AAV) therapies directly targeting the huntingtin gene. A recent study demonstrated that self-complementary (sc) AAV with artific...
Article
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neurodegenerative disease in which patients normally succumb to the disease within 5 years of onset. Death is usually a result of impaired respiratory function due to loss of motor neurons that control upper airway muscles and/or the diaphragm. The motor neurons that control upper airway muscles and thereby...
Article
Full-text available
CRISPR genome editing holds promise in the treatment of genetic diseases that currently lack effective long-term therapies. Patients with Alpha-1 Antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency develop progressive lung disease due to the loss of AAT's antiprotease function and liver disease due to a toxic gain of function of the common mutant allele. However, it rema...
Article
Full-text available
Significance Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease affects 10% of the worldwide population, and the leading genetic cause is a genetic disease, α-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency. Humans have only one gene that codes for the AAT protein, but mice have up to six, which made it impossible for decades to create a mouse model of the disease. Here we succ...
Article
Full-text available
Huntington's disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease caused by a genetic expansion of the CAG repeat region in the huntingtin (HTT) gene. Studies in HD mouse models have shown that artificial miRNAs can reduce mutant HTT but evidence for their effectiveness and safety in larger animals is lacking. HD transgenic sheep express the full-leng...
Article
Full-text available
Hepatocytes represent an important target for gene therapy and editing of single gene disorders. In α-1 antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency, one missense mutation results in impaired secretion of AAT. In most patients, lung damage occurs due to a lack of AAT-mediated protection of lung elastin from neutrophil elastase. In some patients, accumulation of mi...
Article
Recombinant adeno associated viruses (rAAV) serve as vectors for in vivo gene delivery in both mice and humans, and have broad applicability for the treatment of genetic diseases. Clinical trials with AAV vectors have demonstrated promise and safety in several human diseases. However, the in vivo validation of novel AAV constructs expressing produc...
Article
Full-text available
Characterization of adeno-associated viral vector (AAV) mediated gene delivery to the enteric nervous system (ENS) was recently described in mice and rats. In these proof-of-concept experiments, we show that intravenous injections of clinically relevant AAVs can transduce the ENS in guinea pigs and non-human primates. Neonatal guinea pigs were give...
Chapter
This protocol describes the design, cloning, and in vitro screening of artificial microRNAs (miRNAs) to silence alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT). This method would be of interest to silence AAT in a variety of in vitro or in vivo models, and prevalidated sequences against human AAT are provided. This simple 5-day protocol may more generally be used to des...
Chapter
This methods chapter elaborates on how a direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is used to specifically detect and quantify murine alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT). As a direct ELISA, it lacks some sensitivity as compared to the “sandwich” ELISA method; however, it does reliably differentiate between samples with varying amounts of the mouse AAT...
Chapter
This protocol describes an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to specifically detect Z-alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), the most common protein variant associated with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. This “sandwich” ELISA relies on an anti-Z-AAT specific capture antibody and a HRP-conjugated anti-AAT detection antibody. This method would be of int...
Article
This protocol describes an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to specifically detect Z-alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), the most common protein variant associated with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. This "sandwich" ELISA relies on an anti-Z-AAT specific capture antibody and a HRP-conjugated anti-AAT detection antibody. This method would be of int...
Article
Full-text available
This methods chapter elaborates on how a direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) is used to specifically detect and quantify murine alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT). As a direct ELISA, it lacks some sensitivity as compared to the "sandwich" ELISA method; however, it does reliably differentiate between samples with varying amounts of the mouse AAT...
Article
This protocol describes the design, cloning, and in vitro screening of artificial microRNAs (miRNAs) to silence alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT). This method would be of interest to silence AAT in a variety of in vitro or in vivo models, and prevalidated sequences against human AAT are provided. This simple 5-day protocol may more generally be used to des...
Article
Full-text available
Background Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal and progressive neurodegenerative disorder with identified genetic causes representing a significant minority of all cases. A GGGGCC hexanucleotide repeat expansion (HRE) mutation within the C9ORF72 gene has recently been identified as the most frequent known cause of ALS. The expansion lead...
Article
Full-text available
Alpha-one antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency is a genetic disease affecting the lungs due to inadequate anti-protease activity in the pulmonary interstitium. On-going human trials use intra-muscular delivery of adeno-associated virus (rAAV1), allowing expressing myofibers to secrete normal (M)AAT protein. In the Phase IIa trial, patients in the highest d...
Article
Full-text available
The PiZ mutation in the alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) gene causes the PiZ mutant protein to be sequestered in the endoplasmic reticulum of hepatocytes, causing significant liver pathology in ~10% of PiZZ homozygous AAT disease patients. Current transgenic mouse models of the disease include the liver-specific over-expression of mutant PiZ protein. Howe...
Article
Full-text available
Huntington’s disease is a devastating, incurable neurodegenerative disease affecting up to 12 per 100,000 patients worldwide. The disease is caused by a mutation in the Huntingtin (Htt) gene. There is interest in reducing mutant Huntingtin by targeting it at the mRNA level but the maximum tolerable dose and long-term effects of such a treatment are...
Article
Full-text available
Recombinant adeno-associated viruses are quickly becoming the preferred viral vector for viral gene delivery for the treatment of a wide variety of genetic disorders. However, since their use in a clinical trial targeting Hemophilia B patients 10 years ago, immune responses to AAV capsid appear to have hampered some of the early clinical gene trans...
Article
Full-text available
Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency is a monogenic disorder resulting in emphysema due principally to the unopposed effects of neutrophil elastase. We previously reported achieving plasma wild-type alpha-1 antitrypsin concentrations at 2.5%–3.8% of the purported therapeutic level at 1 year after a single intramuscular administration of recombinant adeno...
Article
Full-text available
Significance The use of adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated gene therapy to treat monogenic disorders is currently being tested in phase I, II, and III clinical trials. An immune response to the newly introduced gene product remains a potential problem because of the patient’s lack of central and peripheral tolerance to foreign epitopes. In this...
Article
Full-text available
Aspergillus fumigatus causes invasive pulmonary disease in immunocompromised hosts and allergic asthma in atopic individuals. We studied the contribution of lung eosinophils to these fungal diseases. By in vivo intracellular cytokine staining and confocal microscopy, we observed that eosinophils act as local sources of IL-23 and IL-17. Remarkably,...
Data
Different myeloid cell types contribute to IL-17AF production in models of allergic asthma. (DOCX)
Data
In vivo killing of A. fumigatus conidia by inflammatory monocytes and neutrophils in BALB/c and ΔdblGATA-1 mice. (DOCX)
Data
Inflammation of infected lungs. (DOCX)
Data
Eosinophils constitute the main myeloid cell in the lungs that produces IL-23p19 in models of allergic asthma. (DOCX)
Data
Cell subsets responsible for pulmonary IL-17AF production in wild-type and ΔdblGATA-1 mice following acute challenge with A. fumigatus. (DOCX)
Data
Histopathology of infected lungs. (DOCX)
Book
This volume provides protocols that expand on the latest alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT) research. The chapters in this book are divided in to three sections: Part I is dedicated to patient-oriented research; part II discusses animal models; and Part III focuses on in vitro studies. Written in the highly successful Methods in Molecular Biology series for...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Intrathecal (IT) delivery of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector is currently used for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. To date, there is no standardized method to deliver the vector into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Several parameters could impact the transduction efficacy among them the dose, the AAV serotype or the volume of injec...
Article
Full-text available
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal adult-onset neurodegenerative disease that affects upper and lower motor neurons causing progressive muscle weakening. Respiratory failure is ultimately the cause of death approximately 2-5 years after symptom onset. The recent discovery of an expanded hexanucleotide repeat located in chromosome 9 open...
Conference Paper
Full-text available
Recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors are promising tools for gene transfer to the skeletal muscle. However, studies on mouse and large animal models as well as humans demonstrate that intramuscular (IM) rAAV delivery can trigger immune responses to AAV capsid and/or transgene. Recently, IM delivery of rAAV1 in humans induced a toleroge...
Article
Full-text available
Alpha-one antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency is a genetic disease that results in both lung disease and potentially liver failure in affected patients. In un-affected people AAT is produced in the liver and secreted to act as an anti-protease (primarily counteracting the effects of neutrophil elastase) in the lung. On-going human clinical trials have foc...