Targeted and efficient AAV therapy for neuroblastoma via direct capsid-antibody coupling

Adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors are widely used in gene therapy for their versatility and safety, but their broad tropism limits cell-specific applications such as targeting primary or metastatic tumor cells. To address this, we developed AAV-STITCH, a strategy using SpyTag technology to covalently attach polypeptides to the AAV capsid. This allows precise, dose-dependent coupling of an anti-GD2 ScFv to a galactose-binding-deficient AAV9-W503A capsid, redirecting tropism specifically to GD2-expressing neuroblastoma (NB) cells. In pseudometastatic xenograft mouse models, AAV-STITCHαGD2 selectively transduced NB tumor cells without transduction of healthy tissues. Furthermore, delivery of a suicide gene via AAV-STITCHαGD2 suppressed tumor growth and extended survival in mice with subcutaneous and pseudometastatic NB xenografts. These findings establish the feasibility of engineering AAVs with cell-type-specific transduction properties, providing a powerful and adaptable platform for the selective elimination of NB tumor cells. This technology marks a meaningful advance toward next-generation, targeted cancer therapies with strong clinical potential.