{"doi":"10.1101/2025.08.01.668133","title":"Barrier Function of the Extracellular Matrix in AAV Gene Therapy","abstract":"Purpose –: The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a major component of the tissue microenvironment which may pose a barrier to the distribution of AAV in target organs, preventing delivery of therapeutic cargo. We sought to address this potential barrier to AAV gene therapy by furthering our understanding of AAV-ECM interactions. We hypothesized that both the AAV serotype and ECM composition will impact AAV transport and gene delivery. Methods–: AAV2, AAV6, and AAV8 viral vectors were fluorescently labeled to allow for visualization of their diffusion through the ECM. Lung, liver, and small intestinal submucosal dECM hydrogels were formulated as models of the ECM with tissue-specific biomolecular content. We then characterized AAV and nanoparticle diffusion within decellularized ECM using fluorescent video microscopy and multiple particle tracking. Additionally, we evaluated AAV transduction in dECM-incorporated 2D and 3D spheroid tissue culture models. Results –: models was significantly reduced in both a 2D and 3D setting. Conclusions–: These results suggest binding of AAV to the ECM may decrease their therapeutic effect in target tissues throughout the body. The barrier function of the ECM should be considered in development of AAV for gene therapy applications.","journal":"bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)","year":2025,"id":558674,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":1,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9676,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":1055644,"name":"Devorah Cahn","orcid":null,"position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":295924,"name":"Sahana Kumar","orcid":"0000-0002-3295-3346","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":238244,"name":"Matthew T. Wolf","orcid":"0000-0002-0328-2475","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":332709,"name":"Gregg A. Duncan","orcid":"0000-0002-6811-1327","position":4,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1178715,"name":"Yahya Cheema","orcid":"0000-0002-0430-3629","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":35,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:55:30.312295Z","pmid":"40766515","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}