AAV-delivered muscone-induced transgene system for treating chronic diseases in mice via inhalation

Gene therapies provide treatment options for many diseases, but the safe and long-term control of therapeutic transgene expression remains a primary issue for clinical applications. Here, we develop a muscone-induced transgene system packaged into adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors (AAV_MUSE) based on a G protein-coupled murine olfactory receptor (MOR215-1) and a synthetic cAMP-responsive promoter (P_CRE). Upon exposure to the trigger, muscone binds to MOR215-1 and activates the cAMP signaling pathway to initiate transgene expression. AAV_MUSE enables remote, muscone dose- and exposure-time-dependent control of luciferase expression in the livers or lungs of mice for at least 20 weeks. Moreover, we apply this AAV_MUSE to treat two chronic inflammatory diseases: nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and allergic asthma, showing that inhalation of muscone—after only one injection of AAV_MUSE—can achieve long-term controllable expression of therapeutic proteins (ΔhFGF21 or ΔmIL-4). Our odorant-molecule-controlled system can advance gene-based precision therapies for human diseases.