Liver-specific knockout of arginase-1 leads to a profound phenotype similar to inducible whole body arginase-1 deficiency

Arginase-1 (Arg1) converts arginine to urea and ornithine in the distal step of the urea cycle in liver. We previously generated a tamoxifen-inducible Arg1 deficient mouse model (Arg1-Cre) that disrupts Arg1 expression throughout the whole body and leads to lethality ≈ 2 weeks after gene disruption. Here, we evaluate if liver-selective Arg1 loss is sufficient to recapitulate the phenotype observed in global Arg1 knockout mice, as well as to gauge the effectiveness of gene delivery or hepatocyte transplantation to rescue the phenotype. Liver-selective Arg1 deletion was induced by using an adeno-associated viral (AAV)-thyroxine binding globulin (TBG) promoter-Cre recombinase vector administered to Arg1 “floxed” mice; Arg1(fl/fl)). An AAV vector expressing an Arg1-enhanced green fluorescent protein (Arg1-eGFP) transgene was used for gene delivery, while intrasplenic injection of wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 hepatocytes after partial hepatectomy was used for cell delivery to “rescue” tamoxifen-treated Arg1-Cre mice. The results indicate that liver-selective loss of Arg1 (> 90% deficient) leads to a phenotype resembling the whole body knockout of Arg1 with lethality ≈ 3 weeks after Cre-induced gene disruption. Delivery of Arg1-eGFP AAV rescues more than half of Arg1 global knockout male mice (survival > 4 months) but a significant proportion still succumb to the enzyme deficiency even though liver expression and enzyme activity of the fusion protein reach levels observed in WT animals. Significant Arg1 enzyme activity from engrafted WT hepatocytes into knockout livers can be achieved but not sufficient for rescuing the lethal phenotype. This raises a conundrum relating to liver-specific expression of Arg1. On the one hand, loss of expression in this organ appears to be both necessary and sufficient to explain the lethal phenotype of the genetic disorder in mice. On the other hand, gene and cell-directed therapies suggest that rescue of extra-hepatic Arg1 expression may also be necessary for disease correction. Further studies are needed in order to illuminate the detailed mechanisms for pathogenesis of Arg1-deficiency.