Non-myeloablative preconditioning with ACK2 (anti-c-kit antibody) is efficient in bone marrow transplantation for murine models of mucopolysaccharidosis type II

•ACK2, an anti c-kit antibody, interacts between c-kit and its ligand stem cell factor.•The preconditioning using ACK2 is applicable to hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.•Such a preconditioning can be applied for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for mucopolysaccharidosis type II.

Mucopolysaccharidosis type II (MPS II) is a lysosomal storage disease caused by the deficient activity of iduronate 2-sulfatase (IDS), which is involved in the lysosomal catabolism of the glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) dermatan and heparan sulfate. Such a deficiency leads to the accumulation of undegraded GAGs in some organs. Although enzyme replacement therapy is available as a treatment of MPS II, there are some limitations, such as the requirement of weekly administration for whole life. To avoid such limitations, hematopoietic cell transplantation (HSCT) is a possible alternative. In fact, some report suggested positive effects of HSCT for MPS II. However, HSCT has also some limitations. Strong conditioning regimens can cause severe side effects. For overcome this obstacle, we studied the efficacy of ACK2, an antibody that blocks KIT, followed by low-dose irradiation as a preconditioning regimen for HSCT using a murine model of MPS II. This protocol achieves 58.7 ± 4.92% donor chimerism at 16 weeks after transplantation in the peripheral blood of recipient mice. GAG levels were significantly reduced in liver, spleen, heart and intestine. These results indicated that ACK2-based preconditioning might be one of the choices for MPS II patients who receive HSCT.