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... correctly, a child can have a genetic disorder. Gene therapy is an experimental technique that uses genes to ... or prevent disease. The most common form of gene therapy involves inserting a normal gene to replace an ...
... or improve your body's ability to fight disease. Gene therapy holds promise for treating a wide range of diseases, such as cancer, cystic fibrosis, heart disease, diabetes, hemophilia and AIDS. Researchers are still studying how and ...
Thorne, Barb; Takeya, Ryan; Vitelli, Francesca; Swanson, Xin
Gene therapy refers to a rapidly growing field of medicine in which genes are introduced into the body to treat or prevent diseases. Although a variety of methods can be used to deliver the genetic materials into the target cells and tissues, modified viral vectors represent one of the more common delivery routes because of its transduction efficiency for therapeutic genes. Since the introduction of gene therapy concept in the 1970s, the field has advanced considerably with notable clinical successes being demonstrated in many clinical indications in which no standard treatment options are currently available. It is anticipated that the clinical success the field observed in recent years can drive requirements for more scalable, robust, cost effective, and regulatory-compliant manufacturing processes. This review provides a brief overview of the current manufacturing technologies for viral vectors production, drawing attention to the common upstream and downstream production process platform that is applicable across various classes of viral vectors and their unique manufacturing challenges as compared to other biologics. In addition, a case study of an industry-scale cGMP production of an AAV-based gene therapy product performed at 2,000 L-scale is presented. The experience and lessons learned from this largest viral gene therapy vector production run conducted to date as discussed and highlighted in this review should contribute to future development of commercial viable scalable processes for vial gene therapies.
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
2005147 CNHK200-hA-a gene-viral therapeutic system and its antitumor effect on lung cancer. WANG Wei-guo(王伟国),et al. Viral & Gene Ther Center, Eastern Hepatobilli Surg Instit 2nd Milit Univ, Shanghai 200438. Chin J Oncol,2005:27(2):69-72. Objective: To develop a novel vector system, which combines the advantages of the gene therapy,
Mammen Biju; Ramakrishnan T; Sudhakar Uma; Vijayalakshmi
Genes are specific sequences of bases that encode instructions to make proteins. When genes are altered so that encoded proteins are unable to carry out their normal functions, genetic disorders can result. Gene therapy is designed to introduce genetic material into cells to compensate for abnormal genes or to make a beneficial protein. This article reviews the fundamentals in gene therapy and its various modes of administration with an insight into the role of gene therapy in Periodontics an...
The purpose of this review is to highlight recent advances in cochlear gene therapy over the past several years. Cochlear gene therapy has undergone tremendous advances over the past decade. Beginning with some groundbreaking work in 2005 documenting hair cell regeneration using virallymediated delivery of the mouse atonal 1 gene, gene therapy is now being explored as a possible treatment for a variety of causes of hearing loss.
David, A. L.; Ashcroft, R
Gene therapy uses genetic material as a drug delivery vehicle to express therapeutic proteins. Placental gene therapy may be useful for correction of two important obstetric conditions, foetal growth restriction and pre-eclampsia in which there is a failure of the physiological trophoblast remodelling of the uterine spiral arteries in early pregnancy. The patient in this scenario is the foetus. Placental gene therapy might be justifiable when: there is reasonable certainty that the foetus wil...
Wirth, Thomas; Parker, Nigel; Ylä-Herttuala, Seppo
Two decades after the initial gene therapy trials and more than 1700 approved clinical trials worldwide we not only have gained much new information and knowledge regarding gene therapy in general, but also learned to understand the concern that has persisted in society. Despite the setbacks gene therapy has faced, success stories have increasingly emerged. Examples for these are the positive recommendation for a gene therapy product (Glybera) by the EMA for approval in the European Union and the positive trials for the treatment of ADA deficiency, SCID-X1 and adrenoleukodystrophy. Nevertheless, our knowledge continues to grow and during the course of time more safety data has become available that helps us to develop better gene therapy approaches. Also, with the increased understanding of molecular medicine, we have been able to develop more specific and efficient gene transfer vectors which are now producing clinical results. In this review, we will take a historical view and highlight some of the milestones that had an important impact on the development of gene therapy. We will also discuss briefly the safety and ethical aspects of gene therapy and address some concerns that have been connected with gene therapy as an important therapeutic modality.
Breger, Ludivine; Wettergren, Erika Elgstrand; Quintino, Luis; Lundberg, Cecilia
Gene therapy represents a promising approach for the treatment of monogenic and multifactorial neurological disorders. It can be used to replace a missing gene and mutated gene or downregulate a causal gene. Despite the versatility of gene therapy, one of the main limitations lies in the irreversibility of the process: once delivered to target cells, the gene of interest is constitutively expressed and cannot be removed. Therefore, efficient, safe and long-term gene modification requires a system allowing fine control of transgene expression.Different systems have been developed over the past decades to regulate transgene expression after in vivo delivery, either at transcriptional or post-translational levels. The purpose of this chapter is to give an overview on current regulatory system used in the context of gene therapy for neurological disorders. Systems using external regulation of transgenes using antibiotics are commonly used to control either gene expression using tetracycline-controlled transcription or protein levels using destabilizing domain technology. Alternatively, specific promoters of genes that are regulated by disease mechanisms, increasing expression as the disease progresses or decreasing expression as disease regresses, are also examined. Overall, this chapter discusses advantages and drawbacks of current molecular methods for regulated gene therapy in the central nervous system.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sudip Indu
Full Text Available Gene therapy "the use of genes as medicine" involves the transfer of a therapeutic or working copy of a gene into specific cells of an individual in order to repair a faulty gene copy. The technique may be used to replace a faulty gene, or to introduce a new gene whose function is to cure or to favorably modify the clinical course of a condition. The objective of gene therapy is to introduce new genetic material into target cells while causing no damage to the surrounding healthy cells and tissues, hence the treatment related morbidity is decreased. The delivery system includes a vector that delivers a therapeutic gene into the patient′s target cell. Functional proteins are created from the therapeutic gene causing the cell to return to a normal stage. The vectors used in gene therapy can be viral and non-viral. Gene therapy, an emerging field of biomedicine, is still at infancy and much research remains to be done before this approach to the treatment of condition will realize its full potential.
Gene Therapy of Cancerous Diseases
Valenčáková, A.; Dziaková, A.; Hatalová, E.
Gene therapy of cancerous diseases provides new means of curing patients with oncologic illnesses. There are several approaches in treating cancer by gene therapy. Most commonly used methods are: cancer immunogene therapy, suicide gene therapy, application of tumor-suppressor genes, antiangiogenic therapy, mesenchymal stem cells used as vectors, gene directed enzyme/prodrug therapy and bacteria used as anti-cancer agents. Cancer gene immunotherapy uses several immunologic agents for the purp...
Hortelano, G; Chang, P L
Hemophilia A and B are X-linked genetic disorders caused by deficiency of the coagulation factors VIII and IX, respectively. Because of the health hazards and costs of current product replacement therapy, much effort is devoted to the development of gene therapy for these disorders. Approaches to gene therapy for the hemophilias include: ex vivo gene therapy in which cells from the intended recipients are explanted, genetically modified to secrete Factor VIII or IX, and reimplanted into the donor; in vivo gene therapy in which Factor VIII or IX encoding vectors are directly injected into the recipient; and non-autologous gene therapy in which universal cell lines engineered to secrete Factor VIII or IX are enclosed in immuno-protective devices before implantation into recipients. Research into these approaches is aided by the many murine and canine models available. While problems of achieving high and sustained levels of factor delivery, and issues related to efficacy, safety and cost are still to be resolved, progress in gene therapy for the hemophilias has been encouraging and is likely to reach human clinical trial in the foreseeable future.
Gene therapy in ophthalmology.
Uthra, Satagopan; Kumaramanickavel, Govindasamy
It has been more than a year since ophthalmologists and scientists under Dr. Robin Ali's team at the Moorsfield Eye Hospital and the Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, successfully treated patients with a severely blinding disease, Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) using gene therapy. This success does not look to be transient, and this achievement in gene replacement therapy clinical trial for LCA has instilled hope in numerous families with patients suffering from this and similar retinal degenerative diseases, for whom restoration of lost vision has remained a distant dream so far. The encouragement that this success has given is expected to also lead to start of clinical trials for other blinding ocular diseases for which gene therapy experiments at the laboratory and animal levels have been successful. This article reviews the various studies that have led to the understanding of gene therapy outcomes in human ocular diseases and attempts to provide a brief sketch of successful clinical trials.
Chuah, M K; Evens, H; VandenDriessche, T
Hemophilia A and B are X-linked monogenic disorders resulting from deficiencies of factor VIII and FIX, respectively. Purified clotting factor concentrates are currently intravenously administered to treat hemophilia, but this treatment is non-curative. Therefore, gene-based therapies for hemophilia have been developed to achieve sustained high levels of clotting factor expression to correct the clinical phenotype. Over the past two decades, different types of viral and non-viral gene delivery systems have been explored for hemophilia gene therapy research with a variety of target cells, particularly hepatocytes, hematopoietic stem cells, skeletal muscle cells, and endothelial cells. Lentiviral and adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based vectors are among the most promising vectors for hemophilia gene therapy. In preclinical hemophilia A and B animal models, the bleeding phenotype was corrected with these vectors. Some of these promising preclinical results prompted clinical translation to patients suffering from a severe hemophilic phenotype. These patients receiving gene therapy with AAV vectors showed long-term expression of therapeutic FIX levels, which is a major step forwards in this field. Nevertheless, the levels were insufficient to prevent trauma or injury-induced bleeding episodes. Another challenge that remains is the possible immune destruction of gene-modified cells by effector T cells, which are directed against the AAV vector antigens. It is therefore important to continuously improve the current gene therapy approaches to ultimately establish a real cure for hemophilia. © 2013 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Anirban Chatterjee
Full Text Available GENES are made of DNA - the code of life. They are made up of two types of base pair from different number of hydrogen bonds AT, GC which can be turned into instruction. Everyone inherits genes from their parents and passes them on in turn to their children. Every person′s genes are different, and the changes in sequence determine the inherited differences between each of us. Some changes, usually in a single gene, may cause serious diseases. Gene therapy is ′the use of genes as medicine′. It involves the transfer of a therapeutic or working gene copy into specific cells of an individual in order to repair a faulty gene copy. Thus it may be used to replace a faulty gene, or to introduce a new gene whose function is to cure or to favorably modify the clinical course of a condition. It has a promising era in the field of periodontics. Gene therapy has been used as a mode of tissue engineering in periodontics. The tissue engineering approach reconstructs the natural target tissue by combining four elements namely: Scaffold, signaling molecules, cells and blood supply and thus can help in the reconstruction of damaged periodontium including cementum, gingival, periodontal ligament and bone.
Chatterjee, Anirban; Singh, Nidhi; Saluja, Mini
GENES are made of DNA - the code of life. They are made up of two types of base pair from different number of hydrogen bonds AT, GC which can be turned into instruction. Everyone inherits genes from their parents and passes them on in turn to their children. Every person's genes are different, and the changes in sequence determine the inherited differences between each of us. Some changes, usually in a single gene, may cause serious diseases. Gene therapy is 'the use of genes as medicine'. It involves the transfer of a therapeutic or working gene copy into specific cells of an individual in order to repair a faulty gene copy. Thus it may be used to replace a faulty gene, or to introduce a new gene whose function is to cure or to favorably modify the clinical course of a condition. It has a promising era in the field of periodontics. Gene therapy has been used as a mode of tissue engineering in periodontics. The tissue engineering approach reconstructs the natural target tissue by combining four elements namely: Scaffold, signaling molecules, cells and blood supply and thus can help in the reconstruction of damaged periodontium including cementum, gingival, periodontal ligament and bone.
Gene therapy for brain tumors.
Bansal, K; Engelhard, H H
"Gene therapy" can be defined as the transfer of genetic material into a patient's cells for therapeutic purposes. To date, a diverse and creative assortment of treatment strategies utilizing gene therapy have been devised, including gene transfer for modulating the immune system, enzyme prodrug ("suicide gene") therapy, oncolytic therapy, replacement/therapeutic gene transfer, and antisense therapy. For malignant glioma, gene-directed prodrug therapy using the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene was the first gene therapy attempted clinically. A variety of different strategies have now been pursued experimentally and in clinical trials. Although, to date, gene therapy for brain tumors has been found to be reasonably safe, concerns still exist regarding issues related to viral delivery, transduction efficiency, potential pathologic response of the brain, and treatment efficacy. Improved viral vectors are being sought, and potential use of gene therapy in combination with other treatments is being investigated.
Delivery Systems in Gene Therapy
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Liu Hu; Anas El-Aneed; Cui Guohui
1 Gene therapy Gene therapy includes the treatment of both genetically based and infectious diseases by introducing genetic materials which have therapeutic effects[1~3]. In its simplest terms, a wild type gene (which is non-functional in the cell leading to disease development) is introduced into the somatic cell lacking this gene to restore the normal gene function in this cell. Many gene therapy strategies, however, utilize genes to destroy specific cells.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Satagopan Uthra
Full Text Available It has been more than a year since ophthalmologists and scientists under Dr. Robin Ali′s team at the Moorsfield Eye Hospital and the Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, successfully treated patients with a severely blinding disease, Leber′s congenital amaurosis (LCA using gene therapy. This success does not look to be transient, and this achievement in gene replacement therapy clinical trial for LCA has instilled hope in numerous families with patients suffering from this and similar retinal degenerative diseases, for whom restoration of lost vision has remained a distant dream so far. The encouragement that this success has given is expected to also lead to start of clinical trials for other blinding ocular diseases for which gene therapy experiments at the laboratory and animal levels have been successful. This article reviews the various studies that have led to the understanding of gene therapy outcomes in human ocular diseases and attempts to provide a brief sketch of successful clinical trials.
Gene therapy for skin diseases.
Gorell, Emily; Nguyen, Ngon; Lane, Alfred; Siprashvili, Zurab
The skin possesses qualities that make it desirable for gene therapy, and studies have focused on gene therapy for multiple cutaneous diseases. Gene therapy uses a vector to introduce genetic material into cells to alter gene expression, negating a pathological process. This can be accomplished with a variety of viral vectors or nonviral administrations. Although results are promising, there are several potential pitfalls that must be addressed to improve the safety profile to make gene therapy widely available clinically.
Gene therapy for mucopolysaccharidosis
Ponder, Katherine P; Haskins, Mark E
Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS) are due to deficiencies in activities of lysosomal enzymes that degrade glycosaminoglycans. Some attempts at gene therapy for MPS in animal models have involved intravenous injection of vectors derived from an adeno-associated virus (AAV), adenovirus, retrovirus or a plasmid, which primarily results in expression in liver and secretion of the relevant enzyme into blood. Most vectors can correct disease in liver and spleen, although correction in other organs including the brain requires high enzyme activity in the blood. Alternative approaches are to transduce hematopoietic stem cells, or to inject a vector locally into difficult-to-reach sites such as the brain. Gene therapy holds great promise for providing a long-lasting therapeutic effect for MPS if safety issues can be resolved. PMID:17727324
Gene Therapy for Skin Diseases
The skin possesses qualities that make it desirable for gene therapy, and studies have focused on gene therapy for multiple cutaneous diseases. Gene therapy uses a vector to introduce genetic material into cells to alter gene expression, negating a pathological process. This can be accomplished with a variety of viral vectors or nonviral administrations. Although results are promising, there are several potential pitfalls that must be addressed to improve the safety profile to make gene thera...
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kenneth Lundstrom
Full Text Available Alphaviruses are enveloped single stranded RNA viruses, which as gene therapy vectors provide high-level transient gene expression. Semliki Forest virus (SFV, Sindbis virus (SIN and Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis (VEE virus have been engineered as efficient replication-deficient and -competent expression vectors. Alphavirus vectors have frequently been used as vehicles for tumor vaccine generation. Moreover, SFV and SIN vectors have been applied for intratumoral injections in animals implanted with tumor xenografts. SIN vectors have demonstrated natural tumor targeting, which might permit systemic vector administration. Another approach for systemic delivery of SFV has been to encapsulate replication-deficient viral particles in liposomes, which can provide passive targeting to tumors and allow repeated administration without host immune responses. This approach has demonstrated safe delivery of encapsulated SFV particles to melanoma and kidney carcinoma patients in a phase I trial. Finally, the prominent neurotropism of alphaviruses make them attractive for the treatment of CNS-related diseases.
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Ruben Hernandez-Alcoceba; Bruno Sangro; Jesus Prieto
The application of gene transfer technologies to the treatment of cancer has led to the development of new experimental approaches like gene directed enzyme/prodrug therapy (GDEPT), inhibition of oncogenes and restoration of tumor-suppressor genes. In addition,gene therapy has a big impact on other fields like cancer immunotherapy, anti-angiogenic therapy and virotherapy.These strategies are being evaluated for the treatment of primary and metastatic liver cancer and some of them have reached clinical phases. We present a review on the basis and the actual status of gene therapy approaches applied to liver cancer.
Human Gene Therapy: Genes without Frontiers?
Simon, Eric J.
Describes the latest advancements and setbacks in human gene therapy to provide reference material for biology teachers to use in their science classes. Focuses on basic concepts such as recombinant DNA technology, and provides examples of human gene therapy such as severe combined immunodeficiency syndrome, familial hypercholesterolemia, and…
Immunotherapy and gene therapy.
Simpson, Elizabeth
The Immunotherapy and Gene Therapy meeting of the Academy of Medical Sciences reviewed the state-of-the-art and translational prospects for therapeutic interventions aimed at killing tumor cells, correcting genetic defects and developing vaccines for chronic infections. Crucial basic science concepts and information about dendritic cells, the structure and function of T-cell receptors, and manipulation of the immune response by cytokine antagonists and peptides were presented. This information underpins vaccine design and delivery, as well as attempts to immunomodulate autoimmune disease. Results from studies using anticancer DNA vaccines, which include appropriate signals for both the innate and adaptive immune response, were presented in several talks. The vaccines incorporated helper epitopes and cancer target epitopes such as immunoglobulin idiotypes (for lymphomas and myelomas), melanoma-associated antigens (for melanoma and other solid tumors) and minor histocompatibility antigens (for leukemia). The results of using vaccines employing similar principles and designed to reduce viral load in HIV/AIDS patients were also presented. The introduction of suicide genes incorporating the bacterial enzyme nitroreductase gene (ntr) targeted at tumor cells prior to administration of the prodrug CB-1954, converted by ntr into a toxic alkylating agent, was discussed against the background of clinical trials and improved suicide gene design. The introduction into hematopoietic stem cells of missing genes for the common gamma-chain, deficiency of which causes severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), used similar retroviral transduction. The outcome of treating six SCID patients in the UK, and ten in France was successful immune reconstitution in the majority of patients, but in two of the French cases a complication of lymphoproliferative disease due to insertional mutagenesis was observed. The adoptive transfer of T-cells specific for minor histocompatibility antigens (for
Gene therapy in gastric cancer
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Xu Chang-tai; Guo Xue-gang; Pan Bo-rong
@@ 1 Introduction We have reviewed the gene therapy in gastrointestinal diseases[1]. Gastric cancer is common in China[2~20] ,and its early diagnosis andtreatment are still difficult up to now[13~36]. The expression of anexogenous gene introduced by gene therapy into patients with gliomascan be monitored non- invasively by positron- emission tomography[4]. In recent years, gene study in cancer is a hotspot, and great progress hasbeen achieved[33~41].
Nanoparticles for retinal gene therapy.
Conley, Shannon M; Naash, Muna I
Ocular gene therapy is becoming a well-established field. Viral gene therapies for the treatment of Leber's congentinal amaurosis (LCA) are in clinical trials, and many other gene therapy approaches are being rapidly developed for application to diverse ophthalmic pathologies. Of late, development of non-viral gene therapies has been an area of intense focus and one technology, polymer-compacted DNA nanoparticles, is especially promising. However, development of pharmaceutically and clinically viable therapeutics depends not only on having an effective and safe vector but also on a practical treatment strategy. Inherited retinal pathologies are caused by mutations in over 220 genes, some of which contain over 200 individual disease-causing mutations, which are individually very rare. This review will focus on both the progress and future of nanoparticles and also on what will be required to make them relevant ocular pharmaceutics. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Gene therapy for gastric diseases.
Fumoto, Shintaro; Nishi, Junya; Nakamura, Junzo; Nishida, Koyo
Gene therapy for gastric cancer and gastric ulcer is a rationalized strategy since various genes correlate with these diseases. Since gene expressions in non-target tissues/cells cause side effects, a selective gene delivery system targeted to the stomach and/or cancer must be developed. The route of vector transfer (direct injection, systemic, intraperitoneal, gastric serosal surface and oral administration) is an important issue which can determine efficacy and safety. Strategies for cancer...
Approaches for skeletal gene therapy.
Niyibizi, Christopher; Wallach, Corey J; Mi, Zhibao; Robbins, Paul D
The role of gene therapy in the treatment of musculoskeletal disorders continues to be an active area of research. As the etiology of many musculoskeletal diseases becomes increasingly understood, advances in cellular and gene therapy maybe applied to their potential treatment This review focuses on current investigational strategies to treat osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). OI is a varied group of genetic disorders that result in the diminished integrity of connective tissues as a result of alterations in the genes that encode for either the pro alpha1 or pro alpha2 component of type I collagen. Because most forms of OI result from dominant negative mutations, isolated gene replacement therapy is not a logical treatment option. The combined use of genetic manipulation and cellular transplantation, however, may provide a means to overcome this obstacle. This article describes the recent laboratory and clinical advances in cell therapy, highlights potential techniques being investigated to suppress the expression of the mutant allele with antisense gene therapy, and attempts to deliver collagen genes to bone cells. The challenges that the investigators face in their quest for the skeletal gene therapy are also discussed.
Journey from Jumping Genes to Gene Therapy.
Whartenby, Katharine A
Gene therapy for cancer is a still evolving approach that resulted from a long history of studies into genetic modification of organisms. The fascination with manipulating gene products has spanned hundreds if not thousands of years, beginning with observations of the hereditary nature of traits in plants and culminating to date in the alteration of genetic makeup in humans via modern technology. From early discoveries noting the potential for natural mobility of genetic material to the culmination of clinical trials in a variety of disease, gene transfer has had an eventful and sometimes tumultuous course. Within the present review is a brief history of the biology of gene transfer, how it came to be applied to genetic diseases, and its early applications to cancer therapies. Some of the different types of methods used to modify cells, the theories behind the approaches, and some of the limitations encountered along the way are reviewed.
Mohan, Rajiv R; Sharma, Ajay; Netto, Marcelo V; Sinha, Sunilima; Wilson, Steven E
Technological advances in the field of gene therapy has prompted more than three hundred phase I and phase II gene-based clinical trials for the treatment of cancer, AIDS, macular degeneration, cardiovascular, and other monogenic diseases. Besides treating diseases, gene transfer technology has been utilized for the development of preventive and therapeutic vaccines for malaria, tuberculosis, hepatitis A, B and C viruses, AIDS, and influenza. The potential therapeutic applications of gene transfer technology are enormous. The cornea is an excellent candidate for gene therapy because of its accessibility and immune-privileged nature. In the last two decades, various viral vectors, such as adeno, adeno-associated, retro, lenti, and herpes simplex, as well as non-viral methods, were examined for introducing DNA into corneal cells in vitro, in vivo and ex vivo. Most of these studies used fluorescent or non-fluorescent marker genes to track the level and duration of transgene expression in corneal cells. However, limited studies were directed to evaluate prospects of gene-based interventions for corneal diseases or disorders such as allograft rejection, laser-induced post-operative haze, herpes simplex keratitis, and wound healing in animal models. We will review the successes and obstacles impeding gene therapy approaches used for delivering genes into the cornea.
Delivery systems for gene therapy
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shrikant Mali
Full Text Available The structure of DNA was unraveled by Watson and Crick in 1953, and two decades later Arber, Nathans and Smith discovered DNA restriction enzymes, which led to the rapid growth in the field of recombinant DNA technology. From expressing cloned genes in bacteria to expressing foreign DNA in transgenic animals, DNA is now slated to be used as a therapeutic agent to replace defective genes in patients suffering from genetic disorders or to kill tumor cells in cancer patients. Gene therapy provides modern medicine with new perspectives that were unthinkable two decades ago. Progress in molecular biology and especially, molecular medicine is now changing the basics of clinical medicine. A variety of viral and non-viral possibilities are available for basic and clinical research. This review summarizes the delivery routes and methods for gene transfer used in gene therapy.
Gene therapy in ocular diseases
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Singh Vijay
Full Text Available Gene therapy is a novel form of drug delivery that enlists the synthetic machinery of the patient′s cells to produce a therapeutic agent. Genes may be delivered into cells in vitro or in vivo utilising viral or non-viral vectors. Recent technical advances have led to the demonstration of the molecular basis of various ocular diseases. Ocular disorders with the greatest potential for benefit of gene therapy include hereditary diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa, tumours such as retinoblastoma or melanoma, and acquired proliferative and neovascular retinal disorders. Gene transfer into ocular tissues has been demonstrated with growing functional success and may develop into a new therapeutic tool for clinical ophthalmology in future.
Ethics of Gene Therapy Debated.
Borman, Stu
Presented are the highlights of a press conference featuring biomedical ethicist LeRoy Walters of Georgetown University and attorney Andrew Kimbrell of the Foundation on Economic Trends. The opposing points of view of these two speakers serve to outline the pros and cons of the gene therapy issue. (CW)
Gene therapy and respiratory neuroplasticity.
Mantilla, Carlos B
Breathing is a life-sustaining behavior that in mammals is accomplished by activation of dedicated muscles responsible for inspiratory and expiratory forces acting on the lung and chest wall. Motor control is exerted by specialized pools of motoneurons in the medulla and spinal cord innervated by projections from multiple centers primarily in the brainstem that act in concert to generate both the rhythm and pattern of ventilation. Perturbations that prevent the accomplishment of the full range of motor behaviors by respiratory muscles commonly result in significant morbidity and increased mortality. Recent developments in gene therapy and novel targeting strategies have contributed to deeper understanding of the organization of respiratory motor systems. Gene therapy has received widespread attention and substantial progress has been made in recent years with the advent of improved tools for vector design. Genes can be delivered via a variety of plasmids, synthetic or viral vectors and cell therapies. In recent years, adeno-associated viruses (AAV) have become one of the most commonly used vector systems, primarily because of the extensive characterization conducted to date and the versatility in targeting strategies. Recent studies highlight the power of using AAV to selectively and effectively transduce respiratory motoneurons and muscle fibers with promising therapeutic effects. This brief review summarizes current evidence for the use of gene therapy in respiratory disorders with a primary focus on interventions that address motor control and neuroplasticity, including regeneration, in the respiratory system.
Gene Therapy for Bone Engineering
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Elizabeth eRosado Balmayor
Full Text Available Bone has an intrinsic healing capacity that may be exceeded when the fracture gap is too big or unstable. In that moment, osteogenic measures needs to be taken by physicians. It is important to combine cells, scaffolds and growth factors and the correct mechanical conditions. Growth factors are clinically administered as recombinant proteins. They are, however, expensive and needed in high supraphysiological doses. Moreover, their half-life is short when administered to the fracture. Therefore, gene therapy may be an alternative. Cells can constantly produce the protein of interest in the correct folding, with the physiological glycosylation and in the needed amounts. Genes can be delivered in vivo or ex vivo by viral or non-viral methods. Adenovirus is mostly used. For the non-viral methods, hydrogels and recently sonoporation seem to be promising means. This review will give an overview of recent advancements in gene therapy approaches for bone regeneration strategies.
Gene therapy: Myth or reality?
Fischer, Alain
Gene therapy has become a reality, although still a fragile one. Clinical benefit has been achieved over the last 17years in a limited number of medical conditions for which pathophysiological studies determined that they were favorable settings. They include inherited disorders of the immune system, leukodystrophies, possibly hemoglobinopathies, hemophilia B, and retinal dystrophies. Advances in the treatment of B-cell leukemias and lymphomas have also been achieved. Advances in vector development and possible usage of gene editing may lead to significant advances over the next years. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier SAS.
Gene based therapies for kidney regeneration
Janssen, Manoe J; Arcolino, Fanny O; Schoor, Perry; Kok, Robbert Jan; Mastrobattista, Enrico
In this review we provide an overview of the expanding molecular toolbox that is available for gene based therapies and how these therapies can be used for a large variety of kidney diseases. Gene based therapies range from restoring gene function in genetic kidney diseases to steering complex molec
Gene therapy for gastric cancer: A review
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Chao Zhang; Zhan-Kui Liu
Gastric cancer is common in China, and its early diagnosis and treatment are difficult. In recent years great progress has been achieved in gene therapy, and a wide array of gene therapy systems for gastric cancer has been investigated. The present article deals with the general principles of gene therapy and then focuses on how these principles may be applied to gastric cancer.
Gene therapy on demand: site specific regulation of gene therapy.
Jazwa, Agnieszka; Florczyk, Urszula; Jozkowicz, Alicja; Dulak, Jozef
Since 1990 when the first clinical gene therapy trial was conducted, much attention and considerable promise have been given to this form of treatment. Gene therapy has been used with success in patients suffering from severe combined immunodeficiency syndromes (X-SCID and ADA-deficiency), Leber's congenital amaurosis, hemophilia, β-thalassemia and adrenoleukodystrophy. Last year, the first therapeutic vector (Glybera) for treatment of lipoprotein lipase deficiency has been registered in the European Union. Nevertheless, there are still several numerous issues that need to be improved to make this technique more safe, effective and easily accessible for patients. Introduction of the therapeutic gene to the given cells should provide the level of expression which will restore the production of therapeutic protein to normal values or will provide therapeutic efficacy despite not fully physiological expression. However, in numerous diseases the expression of therapeutic genes has to be kept at certain level for some time, and then might be required to be switched off to be activated again when worsening of the symptoms may aggravate the risk of disease relapse. In such cases the promoters which are regulated by local conditions may be more required. In this article the special emphasis is to discuss the strategies of regulation of gene expression by endogenous stimuli. Particularly, the hypoxia- or miRNA-regulated vectors offer the possibilities of tight but, at the same time, condition-dependent and cell-specific expression. Such means have been already tested in certain pathophysiological conditions. This creates the chance for the translational approaches required for development of effective treatments of so far incurable diseases.
Gene therapy for heart failure.
Greenberg, Barry
Novel strategies are needed to treat the growing population of heart failure patients. While new drug and device based therapies have improved outcomes over the past several decades, heart failure patients continue to experience amongst the lowest quality of life of any chronic disease, high likelihood of being hospitalized and marked reduction in survival. Better understanding of many of the basic mechanisms involved in the development of heart failure has helped identify abnormalities that could potentially be targeted by gene transfer. Despite success in experimental animal models, translating gene transfer strategies from the laboratory to the clinic remains at an early stage. This review provides an introduction to gene transfer as a therapy for treating heart failure, describes some of the many factors that need to be addressed in order for it to be successful and discusses some of the recent studies that have been carried out in heart failure patients. Insights from these studies highlight both the enormous promise of gene transfer and the obstacles that still need to be overcome for this treatment approach to be successful. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Phoenix rising: gene therapy makes a comeback
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Maria P.Limberis
Despite the first application of gene therapy in 1990,gene therapy has until recently failed to meet the huge expectations set forth by researchers,clinicians,and patients,thus dampening enthusiasm for an imminent cure for many life-threatening genetic diseases.Nonetheless,in recent years we have witnessed a strong comeback for gene therapy,with clinical successes in young and adult subjects suffering from inherited forms of blindness or from X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency disease.In this review,various gene therapy vectors progressing into clinical development and pivotal advances in gene therapy trials will be discussed.
Advancement and prospects of tumor gene therapy
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Chao Zhang; Qing-Tao Wang; He Liu; Zhen-Zhu Zhang; Wen-Lin Huang
Gene therapy is one of the most attractive fields in tumor therapy. In past decades, significant progress has been achieved. Various approaches, such as viral and non-viral vectors and physical methods, have been developed to make gene delivery safer and more efficient. Several therapeutic strategies have evolved, including gene-based (tumor suppressor genes, suicide genes, antiangiogenic genes, cytokine and oxidative stress-based genes) and RNA-based (antisense oligonucieotides and RNA interference) approaches. In addition, immune response-based strategies (dendritic cell- and T cell-based therapy) are also under investigation in tumor gene therapy. This review highlights the progress and recent developments in gene delivery systems, therapeutic strategies, and possible clinical directions for gene therapy.
In Part I of this Review, we introduced recent advances in gene delivery technologies and explained how they have powered some of the current human gene therapy applications. In Part II, we expand the discussion on gene therapy applications, focusing on some of the most exciting clinical uses. To help readers to grasp the essence and to better organize the diverse applications, we categorize them under four gene therapy strategies: (1) gene replacement therapy for monogenic diseases, (2) gene...
Gene therapy for prostate cancer.
LENUS (Irish Health Repository)
Tangney, Mark
Cancer remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Despite advances in understanding, detection, and treatment, it accounts for almost one-fourth of all deaths per year in Western countries. Prostate cancer is currently the most commonly diagnosed noncutaneous cancer in men in Europe and the United States, accounting for 15% of all cancers in men. As life expectancy of individuals increases, it is expected that there will also be an increase in the incidence and mortality of prostate cancer. Prostate cancer may be inoperable at initial presentation, unresponsive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, or recur following appropriate treatment. At the time of presentation, patients may already have metastases in their tissues. Preventing tumor recurrence requires systemic therapy; however, current modalities are limited by toxicity or lack of efficacy. For patients with such metastatic cancers, the development of alternative therapies is essential. Gene therapy is a realistic prospect for the treatment of prostate and other cancers, and involves the delivery of genetic information to the patient to facilitate the production of therapeutic proteins. Therapeutics can act directly (eg, by inducing tumor cells to produce cytotoxic agents) or indirectly by upregulating the immune system to efficiently target tumor cells or by destroying the tumor\\'s vasculature. However, technological difficulties must be addressed before an efficient and safe gene medicine is achieved (primarily by developing a means of delivering genes to the target cells or tissue safely and efficiently). A wealth of research has been carried out over the past 20 years, involving various strategies for the treatment of prostate cancer at preclinical and clinical trial levels. The therapeutic efficacy observed with many of these approaches in patients indicates that these treatment modalities will serve as an important component of urological malignancy treatment in the clinic, either in isolation or
Gene therapy for obesity: progress and prospects.
Gao, Mingming; Liu, Dexi
Advances in understanding the molecular basis of obesity and obesity-associated diseases have made gene therapy a vital approach in coping with this world-wide epidemic. Gene therapy for obesity aims to increase or decrease gene product in favor of lipolysis and energy expenditure, leading toward fat reduction and loss of body weight. It involves successful delivery and expression of therapeutic genes in appropriate cells. The ultimate goal of gene therapy is to restore and maintain energy homeostasis. Here we summarize progress made in recent years in identifying genes responsible for obesity and present examples where the gene therapy approach has been applied to treating or preventing obesity. Discussion on advantages and limitations of gene therapy strategies employed is provided. The intent of this review is to inspire further studies toward the development of new strategies for successful treatment of obesity and obesity-associated diseases.
Updates on current advances in gene therapy.
Tani, Jowy; Faustine; Sufian, Jomiany Tani
Gene therapy is the attempt to treat diseases by means of genetic manipulation. Numerous challenges remain to be overcome before it becomes available as a safe and effective treatment option. Retroviruses and adenoviruses are among the most commonly used viral vectors in trials. The retrovirus introduces the gene it carries into the target cell genome while the adenovirus introduces the gene into the target cell nucleus without incorporating it into the target cell genome. Other viral vectors such as adeno-associated viruses, pseudotyped viruses and herpes simplex viruses, are also gaining popularity. Proposed non-viral methods for gene transfer include physical methods and the employment of chemical vectors (lipoplexes, polyplexes and inorganic nanoparticles). Recent studies have investigated potential applications of gene therapy in correcting genetic diseases, treating malignant disorders and for treatment of other diseases. Trials on gene therapy for SCID and Leber's congenital amaurosis have achieved considerable success, but the widely publicized adverse reaction in X-linked SCID patient receiving gene therapy raised concerns for safety profile of gene therapy. For that, several methods of improving safety and efficacy of gene therapy have been proposed. At present, the three main gene therapy strategies for treatment of cancer are application to oncolytic viruses, suicide-gene therapy and gene-based immunotherapy. Gendicine, the first approved anticancer drugs based on the use of gene therapy principle, is based on the use of oncolytic viruses. More evidence for wider clinical applications of gene therapy are expected as more gene therapy studies progress from the preclinical phase to clinical trial.
Gene transfer therapy in vascular diseases.
McKay, M J; Gaballa, M A
Somatic gene therapy of vascular diseases is a promising new field in modern medicine. Recent advancements in gene transfer technology have greatly evolved our understanding of the pathophysiologic role of candidate disease genes. With this knowledge, the expression of selective gene products provides the means to test the therapeutic use of gene therapy in a multitude of medical conditions. In addition, with the completion of genome sequencing programs, gene transfer can be used also to study the biologic function of novel genes in vivo. Novel genes are delivered to targeted tissue via several different vehicles. These vectors include adenoviruses, retroviruses, plasmids, plasmid/liposomes, and oligonucleotides. However, each one of these vectors has inherent limitations. Further investigations into developing delivery systems that not only allow for efficient, targeted gene transfer, but also are stable and nonimmunogenic, will optimize the clinical application of gene therapy in vascular diseases. This review further discusses the available mode of gene delivery and examines six major areas in vascular gene therapy, namely prevention of restenosis, thrombosis, hypertension, atherosclerosis, peripheral vascular disease in congestive heart failure, and ischemia. Although we highlight some of the recent advances in the use of gene therapy in treating vascular disease discovered primarily during the past two years, many excellent studies published during that period are not included in this review due to space limitations. The following is a selective review of practical uses of gene transfer therapy in vascular diseases. This review primarily covers work performed in the last 2 years. For earlier work, the reader may refer to several excellent review articles. For instance, Belalcazer et al. (6) reviewed general aspects of somatic gene therapy and the different vehicles used for the delivery of therapeutic genes. Gene therapy in restenosis and stimulation of
Gene Therapy In Oral Cancer : An Overview
The treatment and prevention of oral cancer is one of the major hurdles in the field ofcancer. Gene therapy is one of the recent advances in this field to tackle this hurdle with promisingprospects. This overview introduces the reader into the basic idea of gene therapy, types of genetherapy and the various modes of introduction of therapeutic gene into the cancer affected cell.
Targeting Herpetic Keratitis by Gene Therapy
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Hossein Mostafa Elbadawy
Full Text Available Ocular gene therapy is rapidly becoming a reality. By November 2012, approximately 28 clinical trials were approved to assess novel gene therapy agents. Viral infections such as herpetic keratitis caused by herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1 can cause serious complications that may lead to blindness. Recurrence of the disease is likely and cornea transplantation, therefore, might not be the ideal therapeutic solution. This paper will focus on the current situation of ocular gene therapy research against herpetic keratitis, including the use of viral and nonviral vectors, routes of delivery of therapeutic genes, new techniques, and key research strategies. Whereas the correction of inherited diseases was the initial goal of the field of gene therapy, here we discuss transgene expression, gene replacement, silencing, or clipping. Gene therapy of herpetic keratitis previously reported in the literature is screened emphasizing candidate gene therapy targets. Commonly adopted strategies are discussed to assess the relative advantages of the protective therapy using antiviral drugs and the common gene therapy against long-term HSV-1 ocular infections signs, inflammation and neovascularization. Successful gene therapy can provide innovative physiological and pharmaceutical solutions against herpetic keratitis.
Gene Therapy for Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis
AD______________ AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-14-1-0498 TITLE: Gene Therapy for Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Steven C...COVERED 30Sept 2014 - 29 Sept 2015 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER Gene Therapy for Posttraumatic Osteoarthritis 5b. GRANT NUMBER...Osteoarthritis (OA) Gene Therapy Equine Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV) Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist (IL-1Ra) Post-traumatic OA (PTOA) Self
Gene based therapies for kidney regeneration.
Janssen, Manoe J; Arcolino, Fanny O; Schoor, Perry; Kok, Robbert Jan; Mastrobattista, Enrico
In this review we provide an overview of the expanding molecular toolbox that is available for gene based therapies and how these therapies can be used for a large variety of kidney diseases. Gene based therapies range from restoring gene function in genetic kidney diseases to steering complex molecular pathways in chronic kidney disorders, and can provide a treatment or cure for diseases that otherwise may not be targeted. This approach involves the delivery of recombinant DNA sequences harboring therapeutic genes to improve cell function and thereby promote kidney regeneration. Depending on the therapy, the recombinant DNA will express a gene that directly plays a role in the function of the cell (gene addition), that regulates the expression of an endogenous gene (gene regulation), or that even changes the DNA sequence of endogenous genes (gene editing). Some interventions involve permanent changes in the genome whereas others are only temporary and leave no trace. Efficient and safe delivery are important steps for all gene based therapies and also depend on the mode of action of the therapeutic gene. Here we provide examples on how the different methods can be used to treat various diseases, which technologies are now emerging (such as gene repair through CRISPR/Cas9) and what the opportunities, perspectives, potential and the limitations of these therapies are for the treatment of kidney diseases.
Gene therapy oversight: lessons for nanobiotechnology.
Wolf, Susan M; Gupta, Rishi; Kohlhepp, Peter
Oversight of human gene transfer research ("gene therapy") presents an important model with potential application to oversight of nanobiology research on human participants. Gene therapy oversight adds centralized federal review at the National Institutes of Health's Office of Biotechnology Activities and its Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee to standard oversight of human subjects research at the researcher's institution (by the Institutional Review Board and, for some research, the Institutional Biosafety Committee) and at the federal level by the Office for Human Research Protections. The Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research oversees human gene transfer research in parallel, including approval of protocols and regulation of products. This article traces the evolution of this dual oversight system; describes how the system is already addressing nanobiotechnology in gene transfer: evaluates gene therapy oversight based on public opinion, the literature, and preliminary expert elicitation; and offers lessons of the gene therapy oversight experience for oversight of nanobiotechnology.
Gene Therapy Shows Promise for Aggressive Lymphoma
... page: https://medlineplus.gov/news/fullstory_163824.html Gene Therapy Shows Promise for Aggressive Lymphoma Over one-third ... TUESDAY, Feb. 28, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- An experimental gene therapy for aggressive non-Hodgkin lymphoma beat back more ...
Gene therapy prospects--intranasal delivery of therapeutic genes.
Podolska, Karolina; Stachurska, Anna; Hajdukiewicz, Karolina; Małecki, Maciej
Gene therapy is recognized to be a novel method for the treatment of various disorders. Gene therapy strategies involve gene manipulation on broad biological processes responsible for the spreading of diseases. Cancer, monogenic diseases, vascular and infectious diseases are the main targets of gene therapy. In order to obtain valuable experimental and clinical results, sufficient gene transfer methods are required. Therapeutic genes can be administered into target tissues via gene carriers commonly defined as vectors. The retroviral, adenoviral and adeno-associated virus based vectors are most frequently used in the clinic. So far, gene preparations may be administered directly into target organs or by intravenous, intramuscular, intratumor or intranasal injections. It is common knowledge that the number of gene therapy clinical trials has rapidly increased. However, some limitations such as transfection efficiency and stable and long-term gene expression are still not resolved. Consequently, great effort is focused on the evaluation of new strategies of gene delivery. There are many expectations associated with intranasal delivery of gene preparations for the treatment of diseases. Intranasal delivery of therapeutic genes is regarded as one of the most promising forms of pulmonary gene therapy research. Gene therapy based on inhalation of gene preparations offers an alternative way for the treatment of patients suffering from such lung diseases as cystic fibrosis, alpha-1-antitrypsin defect, or cancer. Experimental and first clinical trials based on plasmid vectors or recombinant viruses have revealed that gene preparations can effectively deliver therapeutic or marker genes to the cells of the respiratory tract. The noninvasive intranasal delivery of gene preparations or conventional drugs seems to be very encouraging, although basic scientific research still has to continue.
Reporter Gene Imaging in Therapy and Diagnosis
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Pritha Ray, Abhijit De
Full Text Available Noninvasive molecular imaging using reporter genes is a relatively recent field in biomedical imaging that holds great promises for disease diagnosis and therapy. As modern medicine is moving towards personalized medicine, targeted biomolecule based therapies is gaining popularity that requires careful and systematic validation. Reporter genes have emerged as important generalizable tools to overcome the shortcomings of direct evaluation of individual biomolecules and are being applied in various fields such as cell therapy, stem cell therapy, immune therapy, viral gene delivery through optical, radionuclide, magnetic resonance imaging techniques. New approaches to image protein-protein interaction, protein phosphorylation, protein folding that are crucial parameters for theranostic study using reporter genes are being developed. All these new technologies and relevant preclinical and clinical researches will determine the success of early detection and personalized therapy in the future.
Gene therapy for stroke: 2006 overview.
Chu, Yi; Miller, Jordan D; Heistad, Donald D
Gene therapy is a promising approach for treatment of stroke and other cerebrovascular diseases, although it may take many years to realize. Gene therapy could occur prior to a stroke (eg, to stabilize atherosclerotic plaques) and/or following a stroke (eg, to prevent vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage or reduce injury to neurons by ischemic insult). We have transferred the gene coding for vasoactive calcitonin gene-related peptide via cerebrospinal fluid, and demonstrated attenuation of vasospasm after SAH. Transfer of neuroprotective genes or small interfering RNA for neurotoxic genes has good potential for ischemic stroke. In this brief report, we review recent developments in experimental gene therapy for stroke. Fundamental advances, including development of safer, more specific gene transfer vectors, are discussed.
Gene Therapy In Oral Cancer : An Overview
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Kanaram Choudhary
Full Text Available The treatment and prevention of oral cancer is one of the major hurdles in the field ofcancer. Gene therapy is one of the recent advances in this field to tackle this hurdle with promisingprospects. This overview introduces the reader into the basic idea of gene therapy, types of genetherapy and the various modes of introduction of therapeutic gene into the cancer affected cell.
Adenoviral Vectors for Hemophilia Gene Therapy
Brunetti-Pierri, N; Ng, Philip
Hemophilia is an inherited blood clotting disorder resulting from deficiency of blood coagulation factors. Current standard of care for hemophilia patients is frequent intravenous infusions of the missing coagulation factor. Gene therapy for hemophilia involves the introduction of a normal copy of the deficient coagulation factor gene thereby potentially offering a definitive cure for the bleeding disorder. A variety of approaches have been pursued for hemophilia gene therapy and this review ...
Recent advances in fetal gene therapy.
Buckley, Suzanne M K; Rahim, Ahad A; Chan, Jerry K Y; David, Anna L; Peebles, Donald M; Coutelle, Charles; Waddingtont, Simon N
Over the first decade of this new millennium gene therapy has demonstrated clear clinical benefits in several diseases for which conventional medicine offers no treatment. Clinical trials of gene therapy for single gene disorders have recruited predominantly young patients since older subjects may have suffered irrevocablepathological changes or may not be available because the disease is lethal relatively early in life. The concept of fetal gene therapy is an extension of this principle in that diseases in which irreversible changes occur at or beforebirth can be prevented by gene supplementation or repair in the fetus or associated maternal tissues. This article ccnsiders the enthusiasm and skepticism held for fetal gene therapy and its potential for clinical application. It coversa spectrum of candidate diseases for fetal gene therapy including Pompe disease, Gaucher disease, thalassemia, congenital protein C deficiency and cystic fibrosis. It outlines successful and not-so-successful examples of fetal gene therapy in animal models. Finally the application and potential of fetal gene transfer as a fundamental research tool for developmental biology and generation of somatic transgenic animals is surveyed.
An overview of gene therapy in head and neck cancer
Gene therapy is a new treatment modality in which new gene is introduced or existing gene is manipulated to cause cancer cell death or slow the growth of the tumor. In this review, we have discussed the different treatment approaches for cancer gene therapy; gene addition therapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy using oncolytic viruses, antisense ribonucleic acid (RNA) and RNA interference-based gene therapy. Clinical trials to date in head and neck cancer have shown evidence of gene transduction...
Gene therapy in India: A focus
Indian Academy of Sciences (India)
Sarvani Chodisetty; Everette Jacob Remington Nelson
Gene therapy refers to the treatment of genetic diseases using normal copies of the defective genes. It has the potential to cure any genetic disease with long-lasting therapeutic benefits. It remained an enigma for a long period of time, which was followed by a series of setbacks in the late 1990s. Gene therapy has re-emerged as a therapeutic option with reports of success from recent clinical studies. The United States and Europe has been pioneers in this field for over two decades. Recently, reports of gene therapy have started coming in from Asian countries like China, Japan and Korea. This review focuses on the current status of gene therapy in India.
Gene therapy in peripheral nerve reconstruction approaches.
Haastert, Kirsten; Grothe, Claudia
Gene transfer to a transected peripheral nerve or avulsed nerve root is discussed to be helpful where neurosurgical peripheral nerve reconstruction alone will not result in full recovery of function. Axonal regeneration is supposed to be facilitated by this new therapeutic approach via delivery of specific regeneration promoting molecules as well as survival proteins for the injured sensory and motor neurons. Therefore gene therapy aims in long-term and site-specific delivery of those neurotrophic factors. This paper reviews methods and perspectives for gene therapy to promote functional recovery of severely injured and thereafter reconstructed peripheral nerves. Experimental in vivo and ex vivo gene therapy approaches are reported by different groups. In vivo gene therapy generally uses direct injection of cDNA vectors to injured peripheral nerves. Ex vivo gene therapy is based on the isolation of autologous cells followed by genetic modification of these cells in vitro and re-transplantation of the modified cells to the patient as part of tissue engineered nerve transplants. Vectors of different origin are published to be suitable for peripheral nerve gene therapy and this review discusses the different strategies with regard to their efficiency in gene transfer, their risks and their potential relevance for clinical application.
Nanocarriers in gene therapy: a review.
Xu, Hongpan; Li, Zhiyang; Si, Jin
With its rapid development in the past few decades, gene therapy has shown potential for use as a standard clinical intervention for the treatment of several conditions, including cancers, infectious diseases, cardiovascular disorders, inner ear disorders, dermatological, ophthalmologic, and neurological pathologies. Current gene therapy is not limited to the delivery of DNA only. Other therapeutic nucleic acid materials such as small interfering RNA, antisense oligonucleotides, or microRNA have also been included into the protocols of gene therapy. The correct choice of vector is a key factor in the success of gene therapy, where both viral and non-viral vectors are commonly used. Viral vectors are associated with some severe side effects (e.g., immunologenicity and carcinogenicity). They show poor target cell specificity, are unable to transfer large-sized genes, and are costly. Therefore, non-viral vectors, especially nanocarriers, have become a realistic alternative to viral vectors for achieving better efficacy in gene therapy. Different types of nanocarriers such as liposomes, metallic and polymeric nanoparticles, dendrimers, gelatins, and quantum dots/rods have been developed, and each shows distinct characteristics. Nevertheless, a variety of new challenges should be properly addressed for ensuring the success of nanocarriers in clinical applications. In this review article, we first discuss the advances and applications of nanocarriers in gene therapy, and then describe the drawbacks and existing challenges of the emerging gene delivery methods based on the use of nanomaterials.
Immuno-gene therapy in hepatocarcinoma
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
@@Hepatocarcinoma is a disease that threatens human health. To date,the known etiology of hepatocarcinomahas not been narrowed down to just one factor. It is possible that there are their own causes in different areas.Thus, there are no absolute, but relative therapy to cure all kinds of hepatocarcinoma. Presently,there exists other treatment for the hepatocarcinoma which cannot be operated by surgery, such as cryosurgery,photodynamic therapy,immunotherapy,interventional radiotherapy and targeting therapy. With the development of molecular biology ,gene therapy offers new possibilities in the treatment of genetic diseases,tumors,AIDS and other gene defect disease.
Biodegradable nanoparticles for gene therapy technology
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Hosseinkhani, Hossein, E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com; He, Wen-Jie [National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech), Graduate Institute of Biomedical Engineering (China); Chiang, Chiao-Hsi [School of Pharmacy, National Defense Medical Center (China); Hong, Po-Da [National Taiwan University of Science and Technology (Taiwan Tech), Graduate Institute of Biomedical Engineering (China); Yu, Dah-Shyong [Nanomedicine Research Center, National Defense Medical Center (China); Domb, Abraham J. [The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Institute of Drug Research, School of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology and The Alex Grass Center for Drug Design and Synthesis (Israel); Ou, Keng-Liang [College of Oral Medicine, Taipei Medical University, Research Center for Biomedical Devices and Prototyping Production (China)
Rapid propagations in materials technology together with biology have initiated great hopes in the possibility of treating many diseases by gene therapy technology. Viral and non-viral gene carriers are currently applied for gene delivery. Non-viral technology is safe and effective for the delivery of genetic materials to cells and tissues. Non-viral systems are based on plasmid expression containing a gene encoding a therapeutic protein and synthetic biodegradable nanoparticles as a safe carrier of gene. Biodegradable nanoparticles have shown great interest in drug and gene delivery systems as they are easy to be synthesized and have no side effect in cells and tissues. This review provides a critical view of applications of biodegradable nanoparticles on gene therapy technology to enhance the localization of in vitro and in vivo and improve the function of administered genes.
State-of-the-art human gene therapy: part II. Gene therapy strategies and clinical applications.
Wang, Dan; Gao, Guangping
In Part I of this Review (Wang and Gao, 2014), we introduced recent advances in gene delivery technologies and explained how they have powered some of the current human gene therapy applications. In Part II, we expand the discussion on gene therapy applications, focusing on some of the most exciting clinical uses. To help readers to grasp the essence and to better organize the diverse applications, we categorize them under four gene therapy strategies: (1) gene replacement therapy for monogenic diseases, (2) gene addition for complex disorders and infectious diseases, (3) gene expression alteration targeting RNA, and (4) gene editing to introduce targeted changes in host genome. Human gene therapy started with the simple idea that replacing a faulty gene with a functional copy can cure a disease. It has been a long and bumpy road to finally translate this seemingly straightforward concept into reality. As many disease mechanisms unraveled, gene therapists have employed a gene addition strategy backed by a deep knowledge of what goes wrong in diseases and how to harness host cellular machinery to battle against diseases. Breakthroughs in other biotechnologies, such as RNA interference and genome editing by chimeric nucleases, have the potential to be integrated into gene therapy. Although clinical trials utilizing these new technologies are currently sparse, these innovations are expected to greatly broaden the scope of gene therapy in the near future.
Advances in gene therapy for heart failure.
Fish, Kenneth M; Ishikawa, Kiyotake
Chronic heart failure is expected to increase its social and economic burden as a consequence of improved survival in patients with acute cardiac events. Cardiac gene therapy holds significant promise in heart failure treatment for patients with currently very limited or no treatment options. The introduction of adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene vector changed the paradigm of cardiac gene therapy, and now it is the primary vector of choice for chronic heart failure gene therapy in clinical and preclinical studies. Recently, there has been significant progress towards clinical translation in this field spearheaded by AAV-1 mediated sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase (SERCA2a) gene therapy targeting chronic advanced heart failure patients. Meanwhile, several independent laboratories are reporting successful gene therapy approaches in clinically relevant large animal models of heart failure and some of these approaches are expected to enter clinical trials in the near future. This review will focus on gene therapy approaches targeting heart failure that is in clinical trials and those close to its initial clinical trial application.
Gene Therapy and Children (For Parents)
... prone to serious infection), sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, hemophilia, and those with familial hypercholesterolemia (extremely high levels of serum cholesterol). Gene therapy does have risks and limitations. The viruses and ...
Gene Therapy and Children (For Parents)
... prone to serious infection), sickle cell anemia, thalassemia, hemophilia, and those with familial hypercholesterolemia (extremely high levels of serum cholesterol). Gene therapy does have risks and limitations. The viruses and ...
American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy
... agencies, foundations, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Mission: To advance knowledge, awareness, and education leading to the discovery and clinical application of gene and cell therapies to alleviate human disease. Vision: ASGCT will serve ...
Gene Therapy: Potential, Pros, Cons and Ethics
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Ananth Nanjunda Rao
Full Text Available Genetic technology poses risks along with its rewards, just as any technology has in the past. To stop its development and forfeit the benefits gene therapy could offer would be a far greater mistake than forging ahead could ever be. People must always try to be responsible with their new technology, but gene therapy has the potential to be the future of medicine and its possibilities must be explored.
Strategies in Gene Therapy for Glioblastoma
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive form of brain cancer, with a dismal prognosis and extremely low percentage of survivors. Novel therapies are in dire need to improve the clinical management of these tumors and extend patient survival. Genetic therapies for GBM have been postulated and attempted for the past twenty years, with variable degrees of success in pre-clinical models and clinical trials. Here we review the most common approaches to treat GBM by gene therapy, including strate...
Strategies in Gene Therapy for Glioblastoma
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mariano S. Viapiano
Full Text Available Glioblastoma (GBM is the most aggressive form of brain cancer, with a dismal prognosis and extremely low percentage of survivors. Novel therapies are in dire need to improve the clinical management of these tumors and extend patient survival. Genetic therapies for GBM have been postulated and attempted for the past twenty years, with variable degrees of success in pre-clinical models and clinical trials. Here we review the most common approaches to treat GBM by gene therapy, including strategies to deliver tumor-suppressor genes, suicide genes, immunomodulatory cytokines to improve immune response, and conditionally-replicating oncolytic viruses. The review focuses on the strategies used for gene delivery, including the most common and widely used vehicles (i.e., replicating and non-replicating viruses as well as novel therapeutic approaches such as stem cell-mediated therapy and nanotechnologies used for gene delivery. We present an overview of these strategies, their targets, different advantages, and challenges for success. Finally, we discuss the potential of gene therapy-based strategies to effectively attack such a complex genetic target as GBM, alone or in combination with conventional therapy.
Strategies in Gene Therapy for Glioblastoma
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Kwiatkowska, Aneta; Nandhu, Mohan S.; Behera, Prajna; Chiocca, E. Antonio; Viapiano, Mariano S., E-mail: email@example.com [Department of Neurosurgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115 (United States)
Glioblastoma (GBM) is the most aggressive form of brain cancer, with a dismal prognosis and extremely low percentage of survivors. Novel therapies are in dire need to improve the clinical management of these tumors and extend patient survival. Genetic therapies for GBM have been postulated and attempted for the past twenty years, with variable degrees of success in pre-clinical models and clinical trials. Here we review the most common approaches to treat GBM by gene therapy, including strategies to deliver tumor-suppressor genes, suicide genes, immunomodulatory cytokines to improve immune response, and conditionally-replicating oncolytic viruses. The review focuses on the strategies used for gene delivery, including the most common and widely used vehicles (i.e., replicating and non-replicating viruses) as well as novel therapeutic approaches such as stem cell-mediated therapy and nanotechnologies used for gene delivery. We present an overview of these strategies, their targets, different advantages, and challenges for success. Finally, we discuss the potential of gene therapy-based strategies to effectively attack such a complex genetic target as GBM, alone or in combination with conventional therapy.
Gene therapy for primary immunodeficiencies: Part 1.
Cavazzana-Calvo, Marina; Fischer, Alain; Hacein-Bey-Abina, Salima; Aiuti, Alessandro
Over 60 patients affected by SCID due to IL2RG deficiency (SCID-X1) or adenosine deaminase (ADA)-SCID have received hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy in the past 15 years using gammaretroviral vectors, resulting in immune reconstitution and clinical benefit in the majority of them. However, the occurrence of insertional oncogenesis in the SCID-X1 trials has led to the development of new clinical trials based on integrating vectors with improved safety design as well as investigation on new technologies for highly efficient gene targeting and site-specific gene editing. Here we will present the experience and perspectives of gene therapy for SCID-X1 and ADA-SCID and discuss the pros and cons of gene therapy in comparison to allogeneic transplantation.
Targeted cancer gene therapy : the flexibility of adenoviral gene therapy vectors
Rots, MG; Curiel, DT; Gerritsen, WR; Haisma, HJ
Recombinant adenoviral vectors are promising reagents for therapeutic interventions in humans, including gene therapy for biologically complex diseases like cancer and cardiovascular diseases. In this regard, the major advantage of adenoviral vectors is their superior in vivo gene transfer efficienc
Current gene therapy for stomach carcinoma
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Chang-Tai Xu; Lian-Tian Huang; Bo-Rong Pan
astric cancer is common in China [1-42],and its early diagnosis and treatment in advanced stage are difficult [31-50].In recent years ,gene study in cancer is a hotspot ,and great progress has been achieved [41-80] .Cancer gene therapy has shifted from the imagination into the laboratory and clinical trials.
Human gene therapy and imaging: cardiology
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Wu, Joseph C. [Stanford University School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Stanford, CA (United States); Yla-Herttuala, Seppo [University of Kuopio, A.I.Virtanen Institute, Kuopio (Finland)
This review discusses the basics of cardiovascular gene therapy, the results of recent human clinical trials, and the rapid progress in imaging techniques in cardiology. Improved understanding of the molecular and genetic basis of coronary heart disease has made gene therapy a potential new alternative for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Experimental studies have established the proof-of-principle that gene transfer to the cardiovascular system can achieve therapeutic effects. First human clinical trials provided initial evidence of feasibility and safety of cardiovascular gene therapy. However, phase II/III clinical trials have so far been rather disappointing and one of the major problems in cardiovascular gene therapy has been the inability to verify gene expression in the target tissue. New imaging techniques could significantly contribute to the development of better gene therapeutic approaches. Although the exact choice of imaging modality will depend on the biological question asked, further improvement in image resolution and detection sensitivity will be needed for all modalities as we move from imaging of organs and tissues to imaging of cells and genes. (orig.)
Gene therapy for rheumatoid arthritis: recent advances.
Woods, James M; Sitabkhan, Yasmin; Koch, Alisa E
The treatment of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in the last decade has made enormous advances with the use of biological therapies. However, these therapies have serious limitations such as the expense, side-effects, and the requirement for repeated injections, each of which can potentially be obviated by gene therapy. A gene therapy approach for the treatment of RA has the potential to stably deliver a gene product or multiple products in a target-specific, disease-inducible manner. There are many studies investigating gene therapy in RA, the majority of which have been designed to test proof-of-principle in an animal model. With an abundance of animal studies that have established much promise, the field is now at the early stage of moving towards human trials, where patient benefit needs to overshadow associated risks, especially since RA is publicly perceived as a non-life-threatening disease. Here, we provide an overview that focuses on advances in the application of gene therapy to RA over the last five years, including: novel targets and approaches; the viral and non-viral applications most likely to succeed in the clinic; advances in our understanding of the contralateral effect; the latest successes with anti-inflammatory cytokines; and a review of advancements towards clinical trials.
Prospects for retinal gene replacement therapy.
Smith, Alexander J; Bainbridge, James W; Ali, Robin R
Inherited retinal degeneration, which includes conditions such as retinitis pigmentosa and Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), affects approximately 1/3000 of the population in the Western world. It is characterized by loss of vision and results from mutations in any one of >100 different genes. There are currently no effective treatments, but many of the genes have now been identified and their functions elucidated, providing a major impetus to develop gene-based treatments. Preliminary results from three clinical trials indicate that the treatment of a form of LCA by gene therapy can be safe and effective. Here, we discuss the potential for treating other forms of retinal degeneration by gene therapy, focusing on the gene defects that are likely to be the most amenable to treatment.
Alphavirus vectors for cancer gene therapy (review).
Yamanaka, Ryuya
Alphaviruses have several characteristics that make them attractive as gene therapy vectors such as transient and high-level expression of a heterologous gene. Alphavirus vectors, Semliki Forest virus (SFV), Sindbis virus (SIN) and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEE) have been developed as gene expression vectors. Alphaviruses are positive-strand RNA viruses that can mediate efficient cytoplasmic gene expression in mammalian cells. The alphavirus RNA replication machinery has been engineered for high level heterologous gene expression. Since an RNA virus vector cannot integrate into chromosomal DNA, concerns about cell transformation are reduced. Alphavirus vectors demonstrate promise for the safe tumor-killing and tumor-specific immune responses. Recombinant alphavirus RNA replicons may facilitate gene therapy of cancer.
An overview of gene therapy in head and neck cancer.
Bali, Amit; Bali, Deepika; Sharma, Ashutosh
Gene therapy is a new treatment modality in which new gene is introduced or existing gene is manipulated to cause cancer cell death or slow the growth of the tumor. In this review, we have discussed the different treatment approaches for cancer gene therapy; gene addition therapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy using oncolytic viruses, antisense ribonucleic acid (RNA) and RNA interference-based gene therapy. Clinical trials to date in head and neck cancer have shown evidence of gene transduction and expression, mediation of apoptosis and clinical response including pathological complete responses. The objective of this article is to provide an overview of the current available gene therapies for head and neck cancer.
Leber's Congenital Amaurosis and Gene Therapy.
Takkar, Brijesh; Bansal, Pooja; Venkatesh, Pradeep
Retinal blindness is an important cause of pediatric visual loss. Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) is one of these causes, often wrongly included in the spectrum of retinitis pigmentosa. The disease has become the center of research after initial reports of success in management with gene therapy. This review discusses in brief the clinical presentation and investigative modalities used in LCA. Further, the road to gene discovery and details of currently applied gene therapy are presented. LCA is one of the first successfully managed human diseases and offers an entirely new dimension in ocular therapeutics.
Gene therapy to treat cardiac arrhythmias.
Bongianino, Rossana; Priori, Silvia G
Gene therapy to treat electrical dysfunction of the heart is an appealing strategy because of the limited therapeutic options available to manage the most-severe cardiac arrhythmias, such as ventricular tachycardia, ventricular fibrillation, and asystole. However, cardiac genetic manipulation is challenging, given the complex mechanisms underlying arrhythmias. Nevertheless, the growing understanding of the molecular basis of these diseases, and the development of sophisticated vectors and delivery strategies, are providing researchers with adequate means to target specific genes and pathways involved in disorders of heart rhythm. Data from preclinical studies have demonstrated that gene therapy can be successfully used to modify the arrhythmogenic substrate and prevent life-threatening arrhythmias. Therefore, gene therapy might plausibly become a treatment option for patients with difficult-to-manage acquired arrhythmias and for those with inherited arrhythmias. In this Review, we summarize the preclinical studies into gene therapy for acquired and inherited arrhythmias of the atria or ventricles. We also provide an overview of the technical advances in the design of constructs and viral vectors to increase the efficiency and safety of gene therapy and to improve selective delivery to target organs.
An overview on gene therapy programs.
Romano, Gaetano
The 11th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Gene Therapy focused on clinical trials for the treatment of various pathological conditions, preclinical studies, use of gene transfer technology for genetic immunization purposes and problems related to the improvement of vector design. In this respect, a major emphasis was placed on safety issues, such as insertional mutagenesis and host immune responses to gene delivery systems.
Why commercialization of gene therapy stalled; examining the life cycles of gene therapy technologies.
Ledley, F D; McNamee, L M; Uzdil, V; Morgan, I W
This report examines the commercialization of gene therapy in the context of innovation theories that posit a relationship between the maturation of a technology through its life cycle and prospects for successful product development. We show that the field of gene therapy has matured steadily since the 1980s, with the congruent accumulation of >35 000 papers, >16 000 US patents, >1800 clinical trials and >$4.3 billion in capital investment in gene therapy companies. Gene therapy technologies comprise a series of dissimilar approaches for gene delivery, each of which has introduced a distinct product architecture. Using bibliometric methods, we quantify the maturation of each technology through a characteristic life cycle S-curve, from a Nascent stage, through a Growing stage of exponential advance, toward an Established stage and projected limit. Capital investment in gene therapy is shown to have occurred predominantly in Nascent stage technologies and to be negatively correlated with maturity. Gene therapy technologies are now achieving the level of maturity that innovation research and biotechnology experience suggest may be requisite for efficient product development. Asynchrony between the maturation of gene therapy technologies and capital investment in development-focused business models may have stalled the commercialization of gene therapy.
Employment of Salmonella in Cancer Gene Therapy.
Lee, Che-Hsin
One of the primary limitations of cancer gene therapy is lack of selectivity of the therapeutic gene to tumor cells. Current efforts are focused on discovering and developing tumor-targeting vectors that selectively target only cancer cells but spare normal cells to improve the therapeutic index. The use of preferentially tumor-targeting bacteria as vectors is one of the innovative approaches for the treatment of cancer. This is based on the observation that some obligate or facultative-anaerobic bacteria are capable of multiplying selectively in tumors and inhibiting their growth. In this study, we exploited attenuated Salmonella as a tumoricidal agent and a vector to deliver genes for tumor-targeted gene therapy. Attenuated Salmonella, carrying a eukaryotic expression plasmid encoding an anti-angiogenic gene, was used to evaluate its' ability for tumor targeting and gene delivery in murine tumor models. We also investigated the use of a polymer to modify or shield Salmonella from the pre-existing immune response in the host in order to improve gene delivery to the tumor. These results suggest that tumor-targeted gene therapy using Salmonella carrying a therapeutic gene, which exerts tumoricidal and anti-angiogenic activities, represents a promising strategy for the treatment of tumors.
Nonviral gene therapy approaches to hemophilia.
Gómez-Vargas, Andrew; Hortelano, Gonzalo
The goal of hemophilia gene therapy is to obtain long-term therapeutic levels of factor VIII (FVIII) or factor IX (FIX) without stimulating an immune response against the transgene product or the vector. The success of gene therapy is largely dependent on the development of appropriate gene delivery vectors. Both viral vectors and nonviral vectors have been considered for the development of hemophilia gene therapy. In general, viral vectors are far more efficient than nonviral gene delivery approaches and resulted in long-term therapeutic levels of FVIII or FIX in preclinical animal models. However, there are several reasons why a nonviral treatment would still be desirable, particularly because some viral vectors are associated with inflammatory reactions, that render transgene expression transient, or with an increased risk of insertional oncogenesis when random integrating vectors are used. Nonviral vectors may obviate some of these concerns. Since nonviral vectors are typically assembled in cell-free systems from well-defined components, they have significant manufacturing advantages over viral vectors. The continued development of improved nonviral gene delivery approaches offers new perspectives for gene therapy of chronic diseases including hemophilia.
Gene therapy of cancer and development of therapeutic target gene
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Kim, Chang Min; Kwon, Hee Chung
We applied HSV-tk/GCV strategy to orthotopic rat hepatoma model and showed anticancer effects of hepatoma. The increased expression of Lac Z gene after adenovirus-mediated gene delivery throughout hepatic artery was thought that is increased the possibility of gene therapy for curing hepatoma. With the construction of kGLP-laboratory, it is possible to produce a good quantity and quality of adenovirus in lage-scale production and purification of adenovirus vector. Also, the analysis of hepatoma related genes by PCR-LOH could be used for the diagnosis of patients and the development of therapeutic gene.
Current status of haemophilia gene therapy.
High, K H; Nathwani, A; Spencer, T; Lillicrap, D
After many reports of successful gene therapy studies in small and large animal models of haemophilia, we have, at last, seen the first signs of success in human patients. These very encouraging results have been achieved with the use of adeno-associated viral (AAV) vectors in patients with severe haemophilia B. Following on from these initial promising studies, there are now three ongoing trials of AAV-mediated gene transfer in haemophilia B all aiming to express the factor IX gene from the liver. Nevertheless, as discussed in the first section of this article, there are still a number of significant hurdles to overcome if haemophilia B gene therapy is to become more widely available. The second section of this article deals with the challenges relating to factor VIII gene transfer. While the recent results in haemophilia B are extremely encouraging, there is, as yet, no similar data for factor VIII gene therapy. It is widely accepted that this therapeutic target will be significantly more problematic for a variety of reasons including accommodating the larger factor VIII cDNA, achieving adequate levels of transgene expression and preventing the far more frequent complication of antifactor VIII immunity. In the final section of the article, the alternative approach of lentiviral vector-mediated gene transfer is discussed. While AAV-mediated approaches to transgene delivery have led the way in clinical haemophilia gene therapy, there are still a number of potential advantages of using an alternative delivery vehicle including the fact that ex vivo host cell transduction will avoid the likelihood of immune responses to the vector. Overall, these are exciting times for haemophilia gene therapy with the likelihood of further clinical successes in the near future. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Vectors for gene therapy of skin diseases.
Pfützner, Wolfgang
The success of gene therapy mainly depends on the gene vector (GV) responsible for the efficient transport of genetic information. The qualities of a GV have a profound influence on the method of application, the efficiency of gene transfer in the target tissue, the amount and persistence of gene expression and the potential side effects and safety risks. Clinical gene therapy studies over the past 20 years have contributed to the development and testing of different GV systems, some of which also show great potential for the treatment of skin diseases. In this review the structures, methods of application, characteristics, clinical uses and possibilities for optimization of these GV will be discussed with regard to their cutaneous applications.
Therapeutic genes for anti-HIV/AIDS gene therapy.
Bovolenta, Chiara; Porcellini, Simona; Alberici, Luca
The multiple therapeutic approaches developed so far to cope HIV-1 infection, such as anti-retroviral drugs, germicides and several attempts of therapeutic vaccination have provided significant amelioration in terms of life-quality and survival rate of AIDS patients. Nevertheless, no approach has demonstrated efficacy in eradicating this lethal, if untreated, infection. The curative power of gene therapy has been proven for the treatment of monogenic immunodeficiensies, where permanent gene modification of host cells is sufficient to correct the defect for life-time. No doubt, a similar concept is not applicable for gene therapy of infectious immunodeficiensies as AIDS, where there is not a single gene to be corrected; rather engineered cells must gain immunotherapeutic or antiviral features to grant either short- or long-term efficacy mostly by acquisition of antiviral genes or payloads. Anti-HIV/AIDS gene therapy is one of the most promising strategy, although challenging, to eradicate HIV-1 infection. In fact, genetic modification of hematopoietic stem cells with one or multiple therapeutic genes is expected to originate blood cell progenies resistant to viral infection and thereby able to prevail on infected unprotected cells. Ultimately, protected cells will re-establish a functional immune system able to control HIV-1 replication. More than hundred gene therapy clinical trials against AIDS employing different viral vectors and transgenes have been approved or are currently ongoing worldwide. This review will overview anti-HIV-1 infection gene therapy field evaluating strength and weakness of the transgenes and payloads used in the past and of those potentially exploitable in the future.
Recent advances in gene therapy for thalassemia
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
J V Raja
Full Text Available Thalassemias are genetically transmitted disorders. Depending upon whether the genetic defects or deletion lies in transmission of α or β globin chain gene, thalassemias are classified into α and β-thalassemias. Thus, thalassemias could be cured by introducing or correcting a gene into the hematopoietic compartment or a single stem cell. Initial attempts at gene transfer have proved unsuccessful due to limitations of available gene transfer vectors. The present review described the newer approaches to overcome these limitations, includes the introduction of lentiviral vectors. New approaches have also focused on targeting the specific mutation in the globin genes, correcting the DNA sequence or manipulating the development in DNA translocation and splicing to restore globin chain synthesis. This review mainly discusses the gene therapy strategies for the thalassemias, including the use of lentiviral vectors, generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS cells, gene targeting, splice-switching and stop codon readthrough.
Recent advances in gene therapy for thalassemia.
Raja, J V; Rachchh, M A; Gokani, R H
Thalassemias are genetically transmitted disorders. Depending upon whether the genetic defects or deletion lies in transmission of α or β globin chain gene, thalassemias are classified into α and β-thalassemias. Thus, thalassemias could be cured by introducing or correcting a gene into the hematopoietic compartment or a single stem cell. Initial attempts at gene transfer have proved unsuccessful due to limitations of available gene transfer vectors. The present review described the newer approaches to overcome these limitations, includes the introduction of lentiviral vectors. New approaches have also focused on targeting the specific mutation in the globin genes, correcting the DNA sequence or manipulating the development in DNA translocation and splicing to restore globin chain synthesis. This review mainly discusses the gene therapy strategies for the thalassemias, including the use of lentiviral vectors, generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, gene targeting, splice-switching and stop codon readthrough.
Translational approach for gene therapy in epilepsy
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Ledri, Litsa Nikitidou; Melin, Esbjörn; Christiansen, Søren H.
Although novel treatment strategies based on the gene therapy approach for epilepsy has been encouraging, there is still a gap in demonstrating a proof-of-concept in a clinically relevant animal model and study design. In the present study, a conceptually novel framework reflecting a plausible...... clinical trial for gene therapy of temporal lobe epilepsy was explored: We investigated (i) whether the post intrahippocampal kainate-induced status epilepticus (SE) model of chronic epilepsy in rats could be clinically relevant; and (ii) whether a translationally designed neuropeptide Y (NPY)/Y2 receptor......-based gene therapy approach targeting only the seizure-generating focus unilaterally can decrease seizure frequency in this chronic model of epilepsy.Our data suggest that the intrahippocampal kainate model resembles the disease development of human chronic mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (mTLE): (i...
Gene Therapy and its applications in Dentistry
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Sharma Lakhanpal Manisha
Full Text Available This era of advanced technology is marked by progress in identifying and understanding the molecular and cellular cause of a disease. With the conventional methods of treatment failing to render satisfactory results, gene therapy is not only being used for the cure of inherited diseases but also the acquired ones. The broad spectrum of gene therapy includes its application in the treatment of oral cancer and precancerous conditions and lesions, treatment of salivary gland diseases, bone repair, autoimmune diseases, DNA vaccination, etc. The aim of this article is to throw light on the history, methodology, applications and future of gene therapy as it would change the nature and face of dentistry in the coming years.
Gene therapy for inherited retinal degenerations.
Dalkara, Deniz; Sahel, José-Alain
Gene therapy is quickly becoming a reality applicable in the clinic for inherited retinal diseases. Progress over the past decade has moved proof-of-concept gene therapies from bench to bedside. The remarkable success in safety and efficacy, in the phase I/II clinical trials for the form of the severe childhood-onset blindness, Leber's Congenital Amaurosis (LCA) type II (due to mutations in the RPE65 gene) generated significant interest and opened up possibilities for a new era of retinal gene therapies. Success in these clinical trials was due to combining the favorable features of both the retina as a target organ and adeno-associated virus (AAV) as a vector. The retina offers several advantages for gene therapy approaches. It is an anatomically defined structure that is readily accessible for therapy and has some degree of immune privilege, making it suitable for application of viral vectors. AAV, on the other hand, is a non-pathogenic helper dependent virus that has little immunogenicity. This viral vector transduces quiescent cells efficiently and thanks to its small size diffuses well in the interneural matrix, making it suitable for applications in neural tissue. Building on this initial clinical success with LCA II, we have now many opportunities to extend this proof-of-concept to other retinal diseases. This article will discuss what are some of the most imminent targets for such therapies and what are the challenges that we face in moving these therapies to the clinic. Copyright © 2014 Académie des sciences. Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.
[Gene therapy in the Czech Republic].
Vonka, V
Gene therapy represents one of the most promising applications of molecular biology and genetic engineering in medicine. At present its introduction meets series of problems which are of technical, methodological and ethical nature. Although the research in the field of gene therapy in the Czech Republic is on a good level, there is little hope that its achievements will be tested in clinical trials in the near future. In the Czech Republic a law enabling the use of preparations based on the newest biotechnologies in human medicine is missing. Similarly, a production unit capable of preparing the new gene-based drugs according to the Good Manufactory Praxis is not available and the State Institute for Control of Drugs has not any working group fully qualified for their control. The paper proposes actions aimed at solving the present unfavourable situation. The fact that the interest of clinicians in gene therapy is rapidly growing, and that there are signs of increasing interest of public in its achievements, gives good prospects for the introduction of gene therapy into medical praxis in this country in the not very distant future.
Gene Therapy for Fracture Repair
case, the external catheter hub is visible (D), though the internal tubing cannot be visualized by X-Ray. 11 MLV-based vector with BMP-2/4...catheter) injection. Top: A fluoroscope was used to visualize a radio- opaque contrast dye during a percutaneous injection from the lateral aspect...analysis was performed using ImaGene software (BioDiscovery, El Segundo, CA), that used an internal statistical analysis of the signal intensity of
Gene Therapy for Childhood Neurofibromatosis
of cells heterozygous for the neurofibromin ( NF1 ) gene. Cells with two functional alleles of NF1 did not support tumor growth. The treatment...objective was therefore to increase the level of expression from the one active copy of NF1 to complement the haploinsufficiency in the cells of the tumor... NF1 ), artificial transcription factor, TALE DNA-binding protein, bacterial delivery vector 16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF
The Use of Viral Vectors in Gene Transfer Therapy
Dziaková, A.; Valenčáková, A.; Hatalová, E.; J. Kalinová
Gene therapy is strategy based on using genes as pharmaceuticals. Gene therapy is a treatment that involves altering the genes inside body's cells to stop disease. Genes contain DNA- the code controlling body form and function. Genes that do not work properly can cause disease. Gene therapy replaces a faulty gene or adds a new gene in an attempt to cure disease or improve the ability of the body to fight disease. Gene therapy holds promise for treating a wide range of diseases, including canc...
Newer Gene Editing Technologies toward HIV Gene Therapy
Despite the great success of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in ameliorating the course of HIV infection, alternative therapeutic approaches are being pursued because of practical problems associated with life-long therapy. The eradication of HIV in the so-called "Berlin patient" who received a bone marrow transplant from a CCR5-negative donor has rekindled interest in genome engineering strategies to achieve the same effect. Precise gene editing within the cells is now a realist...
Genome editing for human gene therapy.
Meissner, Torsten B; Mandal, Pankaj K; Ferreira, Leonardo M R; Rossi, Derrick J; Cowan, Chad A
The rapid advancement of genome-editing techniques holds much promise for the field of human gene therapy. From bacteria to model organisms and human cells, genome editing tools such as zinc-finger nucleases (ZNFs), TALENs, and CRISPR/Cas9 have been successfully used to manipulate the respective genomes with unprecedented precision. With regard to human gene therapy, it is of great interest to test the feasibility of genome editing in primary human hematopoietic cells that could potentially be used to treat a variety of human genetic disorders such as hemoglobinopathies, primary immunodeficiencies, and cancer. In this chapter, we explore the use of the CRISPR/Cas9 system for the efficient ablation of genes in two clinically relevant primary human cell types, CD4+ T cells and CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. By using two guide RNAs directed at a single locus, we achieve highly efficient and predictable deletions that ablate gene function. The use of a Cas9-2A-GFP fusion protein allows FACS-based enrichment of the transfected cells. The ease of designing, constructing, and testing guide RNAs makes this dual guide strategy an attractive approach for the efficient deletion of clinically relevant genes in primary human hematopoietic stem and effector cells and enables the use of CRISPR/Cas9 for gene therapy.
[Developments in gene delivery vectors for ocular gene therapy].
Khabou, Hanen; Dalkara, Deniz
Gene therapy is quickly becoming a reality applicable in the clinic for inherited retinal diseases. Its remarkable success in safety and efficacy, in clinical trials for Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) type II generated significant interest and opened up possibilities for a new era of retinal gene therapies. Success in these clinical trials was mainly due to the favorable characteristics of the retina as a target organ. The eye offers several advantages as it is readily accessible and has some degree of immune privilege making it suitable for application of viral vectors. The viral vectors most frequently used for retinal gene delivery are lentivirus, adenovirus and adeno-associated virus (AAV). Here we will discuss the use of these viral vectors in retinal gene delivery with a strong focus on favorable properties of AAV. Thanks to its small size, AAV diffuses well in the inter-neural matrix making it suitable for applications in neural retina. Building on this initial clinical success with LCA II, we have now many opportunities to extend this proof-of-concept to other retinal diseases using AAV as a vector. This article will discuss what are some of the most imminent cellular targets for such therapies and the AAV toolkit that has been built to target these cells successfully. We will also discuss some of the challenges that we face in translating AAV-based gene therapies to the clinic. © 2015 médecine/sciences – Inserm.
Clinical adenoviral gene therapy for prostate cancer.
Schenk, Ellen; Essand, Magnus; Bangma, Chris H; Barber, Chris; Behr, Jean-Paul; Briggs, Simon; Carlisle, Robert; Cheng, Wing-Shing; Danielsson, Angelika; Dautzenberg, Iris J C; Dzojic, Helena; Erbacher, Patrick; Fisher, Kerry; Frazier, April; Georgopoulos, Lindsay J; Hoeben, Rob; Kochanek, Stefan; Koppers-Lalic, Daniela; Kraaij, Robert; Kreppel, Florian; Lindholm, Leif; Magnusson, Maria; Maitland, Norman; Neuberg, Patrick; Nilsson, Berith; Ogris, Manfred; Remy, Jean-Serge; Scaife, Michelle; Schooten, Erik; Seymour, Len; Totterman, Thomas; Uil, Taco G; Ulbrich, Karel; Veldhoven-Zweistra, Joke L M; de Vrij, Jeroen; van Weerden, Wytske; Wagner, Ernst; Willemsen, Ralph
Prostate cancer is at present the most common malignancy in men in the Western world. When localized to the prostate, this disease can be treated by curative therapy such as surgery and radiotherapy. However, a substantial number of patients experience a recurrence, resulting in spreading of tumor cells to other parts of the body. In this advanced stage of the disease only palliative treatment is available. Therefore, there is a clear clinical need for new treatment modalities that can, on the one hand, enhance the cure rate of primary therapy for localized prostate cancer and, on the other hand, improve the treatment of metastasized disease. Gene therapy is now being explored in the clinic as a treatment option for the various stages of prostate cancer. Current clinical experiences are based predominantly on trials with adenoviral vectors. As the first of a trilogy of reviews on the state of the art and future prospects of gene therapy in prostate cancer, this review focuses on the clinical experiences and progress of adenovirus-mediated gene therapy for this disease.
Ribozyme uses in retinal gene therapy.
Hauswirth, W W; Lewin, A S
In this chapter we discuss the design, delivery and preclinical testing of mutation-specific ribozymes for the treatment of dominantly inherited retinal disease. We focus particular attention on the initial screening of ribozymes in vitro, because the activity of RNA enzymes in cell-free systems can be used to predict their suitability for animal experiments. Current techniques for delivering genes of interest to cells of the retina using viral vectors are then briefly surveyed emphasizing vector properties that best match to the needs of a ribozyme-based therapy. Using these considerations, analysis of ribozyme gene therapy for an autosomal dominant RP-like disease in a rodent model is outlined emphasizing the desirability of combining biochemical, morphological and electrophysiological measures of therapy. Finally, we describe alternative, perhaps more general, ribozyme approaches that have yet to be tested in the context of retinal disease.
Switching on the lights for gene therapy.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Alexandra Winkeler
Full Text Available Strategies for non-invasive and quantitative imaging of gene expression in vivo have been developed over the past decade. Non-invasive assessment of the dynamics of gene regulation is of interest for the detection of endogenous disease-specific biological alterations (e.g., signal transduction and for monitoring the induction and regulation of therapeutic genes (e.g., gene therapy. To demonstrate that non-invasive imaging of regulated expression of any type of gene after in vivo transduction by versatile vectors is feasible, we generated regulatable herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1 amplicon vectors carrying hormone (mifepristone or antibiotic (tetracycline regulated promoters driving the proportional co-expression of two marker genes. Regulated gene expression was monitored by fluorescence microscopy in culture and by positron emission tomography (PET or bioluminescence (BLI in vivo. The induction levels evaluated in glioma models varied depending on the dose of inductor. With fluorescence microscopy and BLI being the tools for assessing gene expression in culture and animal models, and with PET being the technology for possible application in humans, the generated vectors may serve to non-invasively monitor the dynamics of any gene of interest which is proportionally co-expressed with the respective imaging marker gene in research applications aiming towards translation into clinical application.
Gene therapy in glaucoma-3: Therapeutic approaches.
Mahdy, Mohamed Abdel-Monem Soliman
Despite new and improving diagnostic and therapeutic options for glaucoma, blindness from glaucoma is increasing and glaucoma remains a major public health problem. The role of heredity in ocular disease including glaucoma is attracting greater attention as the knowledge and recent advances of Human Genome Project and the HapMap Project have made genetic analysis of many human disorders possible.Glaucoma offers a variety of potential targets for gene therapy. All risk factors for glaucoma and their underlying causes are potentially susceptible to modulation by gene transfer. As genetic defects responsible for glaucoma are identified and the biochemical mechanisms underlying the disease are recognized, new methods of therapy can be developed. Genetic tests are indicated for treatment, diagnosis, prognosis, counseling, and research purposes; however, there is significant overlap among them. One of the important genetic tests for glaucoma is OcuGene. Therefore, it is of utmost importance for the glaucoma specialists to be familiar with and understand the basic molecular mechanisms, genes responsible for glaucoma, and the ways of genetic treatment.Recently, several promising genetic therapeutic approaches had been investigated. Some are either used to stop apoptosis and halt further glaucomatous damage, wound healing modulating effect or long lasting intraocular pressure lowering effects than the conventional commercially available antiglaucoma medications. METHOD OF LITERATURE SEARCH: The literature was searched on the Medline database using the PubMed interface. The key words for search were glaucoma, gene therapy, and genetic diagnosis of glaucoma.
The gene therapy revolution in ophthalmology
Al-Saikhan, Fahad I.
The advances in gene therapy hold significant promise for the treatment of ophthalmic conditions. Several studies using animal models have been published. Animal models on retinitis pigmentosa, Leber's Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), and Stargardt disease have involved the use of adeno-associated virus (AAV) to deliver functional genes into mice and canines. Mice models have been used to show that a mutation in cGMP phosphodiesterase that results in retinitis pigmentosa can be corrected using rAAV vectors. Additionally, rAAV vectors have been successfully used to deliver ribozyme into mice with a subsequent improvement in autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. By using dog models, researchers have made progress in studying X-linked retinitis pigmentosa which results from a RPGR gene mutation. Mouse and canine models have also been used in the study of LCA. The widely studied form of LCA is LCA2, resulting from a mutation in the gene RPE65. Mice and canines that were injected with normal copies of RPE65 gene showed signs such as improved retinal pigment epithelium transduction, visual acuity, and functional recovery. Studies on Stargardt disease have shown that mutations in the ABCA4 gene can be corrected with AAV vectors, or nanoparticles. Gene therapy for the treatment of red–green color blindness was successful in squirrel monkeys. Plans are at an advanced stage to begin clinical trials. Researchers have also proved that CD59 can be used with AMD. Gene therapy is also able to treat primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) in animal models, and studies show it is economically viable. PMID:24227970
The gene therapy revolution in ophthalmology.
Al-Saikhan, Fahad I
The advances in gene therapy hold significant promise for the treatment of ophthalmic conditions. Several studies using animal models have been published. Animal models on retinitis pigmentosa, Leber's Congenital Amaurosis (LCA), and Stargardt disease have involved the use of adeno-associated virus (AAV) to deliver functional genes into mice and canines. Mice models have been used to show that a mutation in cGMP phosphodiesterase that results in retinitis pigmentosa can be corrected using rAAV vectors. Additionally, rAAV vectors have been successfully used to deliver ribozyme into mice with a subsequent improvement in autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa. By using dog models, researchers have made progress in studying X-linked retinitis pigmentosa which results from a RPGR gene mutation. Mouse and canine models have also been used in the study of LCA. The widely studied form of LCA is LCA2, resulting from a mutation in the gene RPE65. Mice and canines that were injected with normal copies of RPE65 gene showed signs such as improved retinal pigment epithelium transduction, visual acuity, and functional recovery. Studies on Stargardt disease have shown that mutations in the ABCA4 gene can be corrected with AAV vectors, or nanoparticles. Gene therapy for the treatment of red-green color blindness was successful in squirrel monkeys. Plans are at an advanced stage to begin clinical trials. Researchers have also proved that CD59 can be used with AMD. Gene therapy is also able to treat primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) in animal models, and studies show it is economically viable.
Treating Immunodeficiency through HSC Gene Therapy.
Booth, Claire; Gaspar, H Bobby; Thrasher, Adrian J
Haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) gene therapy has been successfully employed as a therapeutic option to treat specific inherited immune deficiencies, including severe combined immune deficiencies (SCID) over the past two decades. Initial clinical trials using first-generation gamma-retroviral vectors to transfer corrective DNA demonstrated clinical benefit for patients, but were associated with leukemogenesis in a number of cases. Safer vectors have since been developed, affording comparable efficacy with an improved biosafety profile. These vectors are now in Phase I/II clinical trials for a number of immune disorders with more preclinical studies underway. Targeted gene editing allowing precise DNA correction via platforms such as ZFNs, TALENs and CRISPR/Cas9 may now offer promising strategies to improve the safety and efficacy of gene therapy in the future.
[Recent advances in gene therapy of uveitis].
Tao, Xue-ying; Yang, Pei-zeng; Lei, Bo
Uveitis is a group of common eye disease and is one of the major causes of blindness worldwide. Corticosteroids and immunosuppressive agents are commonly used for the treatment of uveitis. However, long-term application of these drugs frequently lead to numerous side effects. Recently, with the development of gene transfer techniques, viral vector mediated gene therapy has achieved remarkable success in experimental uveitis. Inhibition of ocular inflammation in animal models is obtained mainly by two ways: first, increase of the expression of different immune modulators including IL-10, IL-1Ra, IL-4 and IFN-alpha, or IL-27p28; secondly, induction of immune tolerance by transferring uveitis related antigens via viral vectors. Uveitis is characterized by long-lasting and recurrent, the unique properties of local administration, long-term effectiveness and minor side effects of gene therapy may provide a novel strategy for the treatment of the devastating uveitis.
Gene therapy for ischemic heart disease.
Malosky, S; Kolansky, D M
Gene therapy techniques are being developed as potential treatments for dyslipidemias, coronary restenosis, and vein graft disease. Retroviral and now adenoviral gene delivery techniques are being studied. A human protocol for the treatment of familial hypercholesterolemia has recently been completed using ex vivo hepatic low-density lipoprotein receptor gene transfer via a retroviral vector. Work in most other areas is currently in the animal model stage. Significant progress has been made in the area of coronary restenosis, particularly in identifying target genes to reduce neointima formation, such as herpesvirus thymidine kinase and the retinoblastoma gene. Work also continues in developing strategies to decrease neointima formation in vein grafts used in coronary bypass surgery and in improving methods of myocardial protection during surgery.
Recent progress in gene therapy for hemophilia.
Chuah, Marinee K; Nair, Nisha; VandenDriessche, Thierry
Hemophilia A and B are X-linked monogenic disorders caused by deficiencies in coagulation factor VIII (FVIII) and factor IX (FIX), respectively. Current treatment for hemophilia involves intravenous infusion of clotting factor concentrates. However, this does not constitute a cure, and the development of gene-based therapies for hemophilia to achieve prolonged high level expression of clotting factors to correct the bleeding diathesis are warranted. Different types of viral and nonviral gene delivery systems and a wide range of different target cells, including hepatocytes, skeletal muscle cells, hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), and endothelial cells, have been explored for hemophilia gene therapy. Adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based and lentiviral vectors are among the most promising vectors for hemophilia gene therapy. Stable correction of the bleeding phenotypes in hemophilia A and B was achieved in murine and canine models, and these promising preclinical studies prompted clinical trials in patients suffering from severe hemophilia. These studies recently resulted in the first demonstration that long-term expression of therapeutic FIX levels could be achieved in patients undergoing gene therapy. Despite this progress, there are still a number of hurdles that need to be overcome. In particular, the FIX levels obtained were insufficient to prevent bleeding induced by trauma or injury. Moreover, the gene-modified cells in these patients can become potential targets for immune destruction by effector T cells, specific for the AAV vector antigens. Consequently, more efficacious approaches are needed to achieve full hemostatic correction and to ultimately establish a cure for hemophilia A and B.
Gene therapy for hemoglobinopathies: progress and challenges.
Dong, Alisa; Rivella, Stefano; Breda, Laura
Hemoglobinopathies are genetic inherited conditions that originate from the lack or malfunction of the hemoglobin (Hb) protein. Sickle cell disease (SCD) and thalassemia are the most common forms of these conditions. The severe anemia combined with complications that arise in the most affected patients raises the necessity for a cure to restore hemoglobin function. The current routine therapies for these conditions, namely transfusion and iron chelation, have significantly improved the quality of life in patients over the years, but still fail to address the underlying cause of the diseases. A curative option, allogeneic bone marrow transplantation is available, but limited by the availability of suitable donors and graft-vs-host disease. Gene therapy offers an alternative approach to cure patients with hemoglobinopathies and aims at the direct recovery of the hemoglobin function via globin gene transfer. In the last 2 decades, gene transfer tools based on lentiviral vector development have been significantly improved and proven curative in several animal models for SCD and thalassemia. As a result, clinical trials are in progress and 1 patient has been successfully treated with this approach. However, there are still frontiers to explore that might improve this approach: the stoichiometry between the transgenic hemoglobin and endogenous hemoglobin with respect to the different globin genetic mutations; donor cell sourcing, such as the use of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs); and the use of safer gene insertion methods to prevent oncogenesis. With this review we will provide insights about (1) the different lentiviral gene therapy approaches in mouse models and human cells; (2) current and planned clinical trials; (3) hurdles to overcome for clinical trials, such as myeloablation toxicity, insertional oncogenesis, and high vector expression; and (4) future perspectives for gene therapy, including safe harbors and iPSCs technology.
Gene therapy: implications for craniofacial regeneration.
Scheller, Erica L; Villa-Diaz, Luis G; Krebsbach, Paul H
Gene therapy in the craniofacial region provides a unique tool for delivery of DNA to coordinate protein production in both time and space. The drive to bring this technology to the clinic is derived from the fact that more than 85% of the global population may at one time require repair or replacement of a craniofacial structure. This need ranges from mild tooth decay and tooth loss to temporomandibular joint disorders and large-scale reconstructive surgery. Our ability to insert foreign DNA into a host cell has been developing since the early uses of gene therapy to alter bacterial properties for waste cleanup in the 1980s followed by successful human clinical trials in the 1990s to treat severe combined immunodeficiency. In the past 20 years, the emerging field of craniofacial tissue engineering has adopted these techniques to enhance regeneration of mineralized tissues, salivary gland, and periodontium and to reduce tumor burden of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Studies are currently pursuing research on both biomaterial-mediated gene delivery and more clinically efficacious, although potentially more hazardous, viral methods. Although hundreds of gene therapy clinical trials have taken place in the past 20 years, we must still work to ensure an ideal safety profile for each gene and delivery method combination. With adequate genotoxicity testing, we can expect gene therapy to augment protein delivery strategies and potentially allow for tissue-specific targeting, delivery of multiple signals, and increased spatial and temporal control with the goal of natural tissue replacement in the craniofacial complex.
Newer Gene Editing Technologies toward HIV Gene Therapy
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Premlata Shankar
Full Text Available Despite the great success of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART in ameliorating the course of HIV infection, alternative therapeutic approaches are being pursued because of practical problems associated with life-long therapy. The eradication of HIV in the so-called "Berlin patient" who received a bone marrow transplant from a CCR5-negative donor has rekindled interest in genome engineering strategies to achieve the same effect. Precise gene editing within the cells is now a realistic possibility with recent advances in understanding the DNA repair mechanisms, DNA interaction with transcription factors and bacterial defense mechanisms. Within the past few years, four novel technologies have emerged that can be engineered for recognition of specific DNA target sequences to enable site-specific gene editing: Homing Endonuclease, ZFN, TALEN, and CRISPR/Cas9 system. The most recent CRISPR/Cas9 system uses a short stretch of complementary RNA bound to Cas9 nuclease to recognize and cleave target DNA, as opposed to the previous technologies that use DNA binding motifs of either zinc finger proteins or transcription activator-like effector molecules fused to an endonuclease to mediate sequence-specific DNA cleavage. Unlike RNA interference, which requires the continued presence of effector moieties to maintain gene silencing, the newer technologies allow permanent disruption of the targeted gene after a single treatment. Here, we review the applications, limitations and future prospects of novel gene-editing strategies for use as HIV therapy.
Newer gene editing technologies toward HIV gene therapy.
Manjunath, N; Yi, Guohua; Dang, Ying; Shankar, Premlata
Despite the great success of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) in ameliorating the course of HIV infection, alternative therapeutic approaches are being pursued because of practical problems associated with life-long therapy. The eradication of HIV in the so-called "Berlin patient" who received a bone marrow transplant from a CCR5-negative donor has rekindled interest in genome engineering strategies to achieve the same effect. Precise gene editing within the cells is now a realistic possibility with recent advances in understanding the DNA repair mechanisms, DNA interaction with transcription factors and bacterial defense mechanisms. Within the past few years, four novel technologies have emerged that can be engineered for recognition of specific DNA target sequences to enable site-specific gene editing: Homing Endonuclease, ZFN, TALEN, and CRISPR/Cas9 system. The most recent CRISPR/Cas9 system uses a short stretch of complementary RNA bound to Cas9 nuclease to recognize and cleave target DNA, as opposed to the previous technologies that use DNA binding motifs of either zinc finger proteins or transcription activator-like effector molecules fused to an endonuclease to mediate sequence-specific DNA cleavage. Unlike RNA interference, which requires the continued presence of effector moieties to maintain gene silencing, the newer technologies allow permanent disruption of the targeted gene after a single treatment. Here, we review the applications, limitations and future prospects of novel gene-editing strategies for use as HIV therapy.
AAV-Based Targeting Gene Therapy
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Wenfang Shi
Full Text Available Since the first parvovirus serotype AAV2 was isolated from human and used as a vector for gene therapy application, there have been significant progresses in AAV vector development. AAV vectors have been extensively investigated in gene therapy for a broad application. AAV vectors have been considered as the first choice of vector due to efficient infectivity, stable expression and non-pathogenicity. However, the untoward events in AAV mediated in vivo gene therapy studies proposed the new challenges for their further applications. Deep understanding of the viral life cycle, viral structure and replication, infection mechanism and efficiency of AAV DNA integration, in terms of contributing viral, host-cell factors and circumstances would promote to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages and provide more insightful information for the possible clinical applications. In this review, main effort will be focused on the recent progresses in gene delivery to the target cells via receptor-ligand interaction and DNA specific integration regulation. Furthermore AAV receptor and virus particle intracellular trafficking are also discussed.
Current advances in retroviral gene therapy.
Yi, Youngsuk; Noh, Moon Jong; Lee, Kwan Hee
There have been major changes since the incidents of leukemia development in X-SCID patients after the treatments using retroviral gene therapy. Due to the risk of oncogenesis caused by retroviral insertional activation of host genes, most of the efforts focused on the lentiviral therapies. However, a relative clonal dominance was detected in a patient with β-thalassemia Major, two years after the subject received genetically modified hematopoietic stem cells using lentiviral vectors. This disappointing result of the recent clinical trial using lentiviral vector tells us that the current and most advanced vector systems does not have enough safety. In this review, various safety features that have been tried for the retroviral gene therapy are introduced and the possible new ways of improvements are discussed. Additional feature of chromatin insulators, co-transduction of a suicidal gene under the control of an inducible promoter, conditional expression of the transgene only in appropriate target cells, targeted transduction, cell type-specific expression, targeted local administration, splitting of the viral genome, and site specific insertion of retroviral vector are discussed here.
Gene Therapy Helps 2 Babies Fight Type of Leukemia
... page: https://medlineplus.gov/news/fullstory_163244.html Gene Therapy Helps 2 Babies Fight Type of Leukemia Tweaking ... time," said Qasim, a professor of cell and gene therapy at University College London. Small trials are under ...
Gene Therapy: a Breakthrough for Sickle Cell Anemia?
... fullstory_163849.html Gene Therapy: A Breakthrough for Sickle Cell Anemia? But treatment has only been given to ... gene therapy to treat, or even potentially cure, sickle cell anemia. The findings come from just one patient, ...
Imaging reporter gene for monitoring gene therapy; Imagerie par gene rapporteur: un atout pour la therapie genique
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Beco, V. de; Baillet, G.; Tamgac, F.; Tofighi, M.; Weinmann, P.; Vergote, J.; Moretti, J.L. [Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Avicenne, Service Central de Medecine Nucleaire et Biophysique, UPRES 2360, 93 - Bobigny (France); Tamgac, G. [Univetsite d' Uludag, Service de Medecine Nucleaire, Bursa (Turkey)
Scintigraphic images can be obtained to document gene function at cellular level. This approach is presented here and the use of a reporter gene to monitor gene therapy is described. Two main ways are presented: either the use of a reporter gene coding for an enzyme the action of which will be monitored by radiolabeled pro-drug, or a cellular receptor gene, the action of which is documented by a radio labeled cognate receptor ligand. (author)
Federal Regulation of Gene Therapy: Who Will Save our Germline?
This paper will attempt to address some of these more complex issues involving human gene therapy and the encompassing regulations. The first section will deal with the science of gene therapy and will briefly touch upon the scientific hurdles that remain for scientists in this field, as this is important to understanding many of the ethical issues. This section will be divided into a basic genetic overview, a description of somatic gene therapy, and a summary of germline gene therapy. The se...
New gene therapy strategies for hepatic fibrosis.
Salazar-Montes, Adriana M; Hernández-Ortega, Luis D; Lucano-Landeros, Martha S; Armendariz-Borunda, Juan
The liver is the largest internal organ of the body, which may suffer acute or chronic injury induced by many factors, leading to cirrhosis and hepatocarcinoma. Cirrhosis is the irreversible end result of fibrous scarring and hepatocellular regeneration, characterized by diffuse disorganization of the normal hepatic structure, regenerative nodules and fibrotic tissue. Cirrhosis is associated with a high co-morbidity and mortality without effective treatment, and much research has been aimed at developing new therapeutic strategies to guarantee recovery. Liver-based gene therapy has been used to downregulate specific genes, to block the expression of deleterious genes, to delivery therapeutic genes, to prevent allograft rejection and to augment liver regeneration. Viral and non-viral vectors have been used, with viral vectors proving to be more efficient. This review provides an overview of the main strategies used in liver-gene therapy represented by non-viral vectors, viral vectors, novel administration methods like hydrodynamic injection, hybrids of two viral vectors and blocking molecules, with the hope of translating findings from the laboratory to the patient's bed-side.
Gene therapy for vision loss -- recent developments.
Stieger, Knut; Lorenz, Birgit
Retinal gene therapy mediated by adeno-associated virus (AAV) based gene transfer was recently proven to improve photoreceptor function in one form of inherited retinal blinding disorder associated with mutations in the RPE65 gene. Several clinical trials are currently ongoing, and more than 30 patients have been treated to date. Even though only a very limited number of patients will greatly benefit from this still experimental treatment protocol, the technique itself has been shown to be safe and will likely be used in other retinal disorders in the near future. A canine model for achromatopsia has been treated successfully as well as mouse models for different forms of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). For patients with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP), a combined gene knockdown and gene addition therapy is being developed using RNA interference to block mRNA of the mutant allele. For those patients suffering from RP with unknown mutations, an AAV based transfer of bacterial forms of rhodopsin in the central retina might be an option to reactivate residual cones in the future.
Gene therapy: X-SCID transgene leukaemogenicity.
Thrasher, Adrian J; Gaspar, H Bobby; Baum, Christopher; Modlich, Ute; Schambach, Axel; Candotti, Fabio; Otsu, Makoto; Sorrentino, Brian; Scobie, Linda; Cameron, Ewan; Blyth, Karen; Neil, Jim; Abina, Salima Hacein-Bey; Cavazzana-Calvo, Marina; Fischer, Alain
Gene therapy has been remarkably effective for the immunological reconstitution of patients with severe combined immune deficiency, but the occurrence of leukaemia in a few patients has stimulated debate about the safety of the procedure and the mechanisms of leukaemogenesis. Woods et al. forced high expression of the corrective therapeutic gene IL2RG, which encodes the gamma-chain of the interleukin-2 receptor, in a mouse model of the disease and found that tumours appeared in a proportion of cases. Here we show that transgenic IL2RG does not necessarily have potent intrinsic oncogenic properties, and argue that the interpretation of this observation with respect to human trials is overstated.
Targeting tumor suppressor genes for cancer therapy.
Liu, Yunhua; Hu, Xiaoxiao; Han, Cecil; Wang, Liana; Zhang, Xinna; He, Xiaoming; Lu, Xiongbin
Cancer drugs are broadly classified into two categories: cytotoxic chemotherapies and targeted therapies that specifically modulate the activity of one or more proteins involved in cancer. Major advances have been achieved in targeted cancer therapies in the past few decades, which is ascribed to the increasing understanding of molecular mechanisms for cancer initiation and progression. Consequently, monoclonal antibodies and small molecules have been developed to interfere with a specific molecular oncogenic target. Targeting gain-of-function mutations, in general, has been productive. However, it has been a major challenge to use standard pharmacologic approaches to target loss-of-function mutations of tumor suppressor genes. Novel approaches, including synthetic lethality and collateral vulnerability screens, are now being developed to target gene defects in p53, PTEN, and BRCA1/2. Here, we review and summarize the recent findings in cancer genomics, drug development, and molecular cancer biology, which show promise in targeting tumor suppressors in cancer therapeutics.
Recent advances in gene therapy of endometriosis.
Shubina, Anastasia N; Egorova, Anna A; Baranov, Vladislav S; Kiselev, Anton V
Endometriosis is a gynecological disease that affects up to 10%-15% of all reproductive-age women worldwide. It is characterized by the presence of endometrial tissues outside the uterine cavity. Endometriosis is a complex disease; its pathogenesis includes altered steroid metabolism and immune system abnormalities such as inflammation, increased angiogenic activity in the peritoneal fluid and impaired recognition of ectopic endometrial cells. The development of endometriosis also depends on genetic, anatomical and environmental factors. Numerous surgical and medical approaches to treat endometriosis have been developed to date. However, complete resolution of the problem has not been achieved so far. Gene therapy holds exciting promise for the treatment of numerous disorders and current studies have indicated it can also be applied to endometriosis. The focus of this review is to summarize the pathogenetic background of the disease and to highlight current gene therapy approaches for this common gynecological disorder.
Advances of gene therapy for primary immunodeficiencies.
Candotti, Fabio
In the recent past, the gene therapy field has witnessed a remarkable series of successes, many of which have involved primary immunodeficiency diseases, such as X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency, adenosine deaminase deficiency, chronic granulomatous disease, and Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome. While such progress has widened the choice of therapeutic options in some specific cases of primary immunodeficiency, much remains to be done to extend the geographical availability of such an advanced approach and to increase the number of diseases that can be targeted. At the same time, emerging technologies are stimulating intensive investigations that may lead to the application of precise genetic editing as the next form of gene therapy for these and other human genetic diseases.
Cardiac gene therapy: from concept to reality.
Kratlian, Razmig Garo; Hajjar, Roger J
Heart failure is increasing in incidence throughout the world, especially in industrialized countries. Although the current therapeutic modalities have been successful in stabilizing the course of heart failure, morbidity and mortality remain quite high and there remains a great need for innovative breakthroughs that will offer new treatment strategies for patients with advanced forms of the disease. The past few years have witnessed a greater understanding of the molecular underpinnings of the failing heart, paving the way for novel strategies in modulating the cellular environment. As such, gene therapy has recently emerged as a powerful tool offering the promise of a new paradigm for alleviating heart failure. Current gene therapy research for heart failure is focused on exploring potential cellular targets and preclinical and clinical studies are ongoing toward the realization of this goal. Efforts also include the development of sophisticated viral vectors and vector delivery methods for efficient transduction of cardiomyocytes.
Gene therapy approaches for spinal cord injury
Bright, Corinne
As the biomedical engineering field expands, combination technologies are demonstrating enormous potential for treating human disease. In particular, intersections between the rapidly developing fields of gene therapy and tissue engineering hold promise to achieve tissue regeneration. Nonviral gene therapy uses plasmid DNA to deliver therapeutic proteins in vivo for extended periods of time. Tissue engineering employs biomedical materials, such as polymers, to support the regrowth of injured tissue. In this thesis, a combination strategy to deliver genes and drugs in a polymeric scaffold was applied to a spinal cord injury model. In order to develop a platform technology to treat spinal cord injury, several nonviral gene delivery systems and polymeric scaffolds were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. Nonviral vector trafficking was evaluated in primary neuronal culture to develop an understanding of the barriers to gene transfer in neurons and their supporting glia. Although the most efficient gene carrier in vitro differed from the optimal gene carrier in vivo, confocal and electron microscopy of these nonviral vectors provided insights into the interaction of these vectors with the nucleus. A novel pathway for delivering nanoparticles into the nuclei of neurons and Schwann cells via vesicle trafficking was observed in this study. Reporter gene expression levels were evaluated after direct and remote delivery to the spinal cord, and the optimal nonviral vector, dose, and delivery strategy were applied to deliver the gene encoding the basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) to the spinal cord. An injectable and biocompatible gel, composed of the amphiphillic polymer poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(epsilon-caprolactone)-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG-PCL-PEG) was evaluated as a drug and gene delivery system in vitro, and combined with the optimized nonviral gene delivery system to treat spinal cord injury. Plasmid DNA encoding the bFGF gene and the therapeutic NEP1--40 peptide
Gene therapy in glaucoma-3: Therapeutic approaches
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Mohamed Abdel-Monem Soliman Mahdy
Recently, several promising genetic therapeutic approaches had been investigated. Some are either used to stop apoptosis and halt further glaucomatous damage, wound healing modulating effect or long lasting intraocular pressure lowering effects than the conventional commercially available antiglaucoma medications. Method of Literature Search The literature was searched on the Medline database using the PubMed interface. The key words for search were glaucoma, gene therapy, and genetic diagnosis of glaucoma.
Gene therapy in glaucoma-3: Therapeutic approaches
Mohamed Abdel-Monem Soliman Mahdy
Despite new and improving diagnostic and therapeutic options for glaucoma, blindness from glaucoma is increasing and glaucoma remains a major public health problem. The role of heredity in ocular disease including glaucoma is attracting greater attention as the knowledge and recent advances of Human Genome Project and the HapMap Project have made genetic analysis of many human disorders possible. Glaucoma offers a variety of potential targets for gene therapy. All risk factors for glaucom...
Targeted Gene Therapy of Cancer: Second Amendment toward Holistic Therapy
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Jaleh Barar
Full Text Available It seems solid tumors are developing smart organs with specialized cells creating specified bio-territory, the so called "tumor microenvironment (TME", in which there is reciprocal crosstalk among cancer cells, immune system cells and stromal cells. TME as an intricate milieu also consists of cancer stem cells (CSCs that can resist against chemotherapies. In solid tumors, metabolism and vascularization appears to be aberrant and tumor interstitial fluid (TIF functions as physiologic barrier. Thus, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and gene therapy often fail to provide cogent clinical outcomes. It looms that it is the time to accept the fact that initiation of cancer could be generation of another form of life that involves a cluster of thousands of genes, while we have failed to observe all aspects of it. Hence, the current treatment modalities need to be re-visited to cover all key aspects of disease using combination therapy based on the condition of patients. Perhaps personalized cluster of genes need to be simultaneously targeted.
Targeted Gene Therapy of Cancer: Second Amendment toward Holistic Therapy.
Barar, Jaleh; Omidi, Yadollah
It seems solid tumors are developing smart organs with specialized cells creating specified bio-territory, the so called "tumor microenvironment (TME)", in which there is reciprocal crosstalk among cancer cells, immune system cells and stromal cells. TME as an intricate milieu also consists of cancer stem cells (CSCs) that can resist against chemotherapies. In solid tumors, metabolism and vascularization appears to be aberrant and tumor interstitial fluid (TIF) functions as physiologic barrier. Thus, chemotherapy, immunotherapy and gene therapy often fail to provide cogent clinical outcomes. It looms that it is the time to accept the fact that initiation of cancer could be generation of another form of life that involves a cluster of thousands of genes, while we have failed to observe all aspects of it. Hence, the current treatment modalities need to be re-visited to cover all key aspects of disease using combination therapy based on the condition of patients. Perhaps personalized cluster of genes need to be simultaneously targeted.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Laura Breda
Full Text Available Sickle cell disease (SCD and ß-thalassemia represent the most common hemoglobinopathies caused, respectively, by the alteration of structural features or deficient production of the ß-chain of the Hb molecule. Other hemoglobinopathies are characterized by different mutations in the α- or ß-globin genes and are associated with anemia and might require periodic or chronic blood transfusions. Therefore, ß-thalassemia, SCD and other hemoglobinopathies are excellent candidates for genetic approaches since they are monogenic disorders and, potentially, could be cured by introducing or correcting a single gene into the hematopoietic compartment or a single stem cell. Initial attempts at gene transfer of these hemoglobinopathies have proved unsuccessful due to limitations of available gene transfer vectors. With the advent of lentiviral vectors many of the initial limitations have been overcame. New approaches have also focused on targeting the specific mutation in the ß-globin genes, correcting the DNA sequence or manipulating the fate of RNA translation and splicing to restore ß-globin chain synthesis. These techniques have the potential to correct the defect into hematopoietic stem cells or be utilized to modify stem cells generated from patients affected by these disorders. This review discusses gene therapy strategies for the hemoglobinopathies, including the use of lentiviral vectors, generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells, gene targeting, splice-switching and stop codon readthrough.
Gene therapy in thalassemia and hemoglobinopathies.
Breda, Laura; Gambari, Roberto; Rivella, Stefano
Sickle cell disease (SCD) and ß-thalassemia represent the most common hemoglobinopathies caused, respectively, by the alteration of structural features or deficient production of the ß-chain of the Hb molecule. Other hemoglobinopathies are characterized by different mutations in the α- or ß-globin genes and are associated with anemia and might require periodic or chronic blood transfusions. Therefore, ß-thalassemia, SCD and other hemoglobinopathies are excellent candidates for genetic approaches since they are monogenic disorders and, potentially, could be cured by introducing or correcting a single gene into the hematopoietic compartment or a single stem cell. Initial attempts at gene transfer of these hemoglobinopathies have proved unsuccessful due to limitations of available gene transfer vectors. With the advent of lentiviral vectors many of the initial limitations have been overcame. New approaches have also focused on targeting the specific mutation in the ß-globin genes, correcting the DNA sequence or manipulating the fate of RNA translation and splicing to restore ß-globin chain synthesis. These techniques have the potential to correct the defect into hematopoietic stem cells or be utilized to modify stem cells generated from patients affected by these disorders. This review discusses gene therapy strategies for the hemoglobinopathies, including the use of lentiviral vectors, generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) cells, gene targeting, splice-switching and stop codon readthrough.
Baum, C; Schambach, A; Modlich, U; Thrasher, A
X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID-X1) is an inherited disease caused by inactivating mutations in the gene encoding the interleukin 2 receptor common gamma chain (IL2RG), which is located on the X-chromosome. Affected boys fail to develop two major effector cell types of the immune system (T cells and NK cells) and suffer from a functional B cell defect. Although drugs such as antibiotics can offer partial protection, the boys normally die in the first year of life in the absence of a curative therapy. For a third of the children, bone marrow transplantation from a fully matched donor is available and can cure the disease without major side effects. Mismatched bone marrow transplantation, however, is complicated by severe and potentially lethal side effects. Over the past decade, scientists worldwide have developed new treatments by introducing a correct copy of the IL2RG-cDNA. Gene therapy was highly effective when applied in young children. However, in a few patients the IL2RG-gene vector has unfortunately caused leukaemia. Activation of cellular proto-oncogenes by accidental integration of the gene vector has been identified as the underlying mechanism. In future clinical trials, improved vector technology in combination with other protocol modifications may reduce the risk of this side effect.
Current Aspect and Future Prospect of Human Gene Therapy in Childhood (Gene Therapy : Advances in Research and Treatment)
Almost four years have passed since the first human gene therapy for adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency had been performed. Gene therapy protocols for cystic fibrosis, familial hypercholesterolaemia and hemophilia B were also started during this period. In this review, we reported and discussed the current aspect and the future prospect of gene therapy for inherited disease in childhood.
Challenges and future expectations of reversed gene therapy.
He, Nongyue; Zeng, Xin; Wang, Weida; Deng, Kunlong; Pan, Yunzhi; Xiao, Li; Zhang, Jia; Li, Kai
Gene therapy is a genetic intervention used for the prevention or treatment of diseases by targeting selected genes with specific nucleotides. The most common form of gene therapy involves the establishment of a function by transfer of functional genes or correction of mutated genes. In other situations, suppression or abolishment of a function is required in order to balance a complicated regulatory system or to deplete cellular molecules crucial for pathogen infection. The latter in fact employs an opposite strategy compared to those used in classical gene therapy, and can be defined as reversed gene therapy. This paper takes CCR5-based stem cell gene therapy as an example to discuss the challenges and future expectations of reversed gene therapy.
An overview of gene therapy in head and neck cancer
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Amit Bali
Full Text Available Gene therapy is a new treatment modality in which new gene is introduced or existing gene is manipulated to cause cancer cell death or slow the growth of the tumor. In this review, we have discussed the different treatment approaches for cancer gene therapy; gene addition therapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy using oncolytic viruses, antisense ribonucleic acid (RNA and RNA interference-based gene therapy. Clinical trials to date in head and neck cancer have shown evidence of gene transduction and expression, mediation of apoptosis and clinical response including pathological complete responses. The objective of this article is to provide an overview of the current available gene therapies for head and neck cancer.
Curing genetic disease with gene therapy.
Williams, David A
Development of viral vectors that allow high efficiency gene transfer into mammalian cells in the early 1980s foresaw the treatment of severe monogenic diseases in humans. The application of gene transfer using viral vectors has been successful in diseases of the blood and immune systems, albeit with several curative studies also showing serious adverse events (SAEs). In children with X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID-X1), chronic granulomatous disease, and Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, these SAEs were caused by inappropriate activation of oncogenes. Subsequent studies have defined the vector sequences responsible for these transforming events. Members of the Transatlantic Gene Therapy Consortium [TAGTC] have collaboratively developed new vectors that have proven safer in preclinical studies and used these vectors in new clinical trials in SCID-X1. These trials have shown evidence of early efficacy and preliminary integration analysis data from the SCID-X1 trial suggest an improved safety profile.
The Use of Viral Vectors in Gene Transfer Therapy
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A. Dziaková
Full Text Available Gene therapy is strategy based on using genes as pharmaceuticals. Gene therapy is a treatment that involves altering the genes inside body's cells to stop disease. Genes contain DNA- the code controlling body form and function. Genes that do not work properly can cause disease. Gene therapy replaces a faulty gene or adds a new gene in an attempt to cure disease or improve the ability of the body to fight disease. Gene therapy holds promise for treating a wide range of diseases, including cancer, cystic fibrosis, heart disease, diabetes, hemophilia and AIDS. Various types of genetic material are used in gene therapy; double-stranded DNA (dsDNA, single-stranded DNA (ssDNA, plasmid DNA and antisense oligodeoxynucleotides (ASON. The success of gene therapy depends on assuring the entrance of the therapeutic gene to targeted cells without any form of biodegradation. Commonly used vectors in gene therapy are: adenoviruses (400 clinical studies; 23.8%, retroviruses (344 clinical studies; 20.5%, unenveloped/plasmid DNA (304 clinical studies, 17.7%, adeno-associated viruses (75 clinical studies; 4.5% and others. In this paper, we have reviewed the major gene delivery vectors and recent improvements made in their design meant to overcome the issues that commonly arise with the use of gene therapy vectors.
Gene expression-targeted isoflavone therapy.
Węgrzyn, Alicja
Lysosomal storage diseases (LSD) form a group of inherited metabolic disorders caused by dysfunction of one of the lysosomal proteins, resulting in the accumulation of certain compounds. Although these disorders are among first genetic diseases for which specific treatments were proposed, there are still serious unsolved problems that require development of novel therapeutic procedures. An example is neuronopathy, which develops in most of LSD and cannot be treated efficiently by currently approved therapies. Recently, a new potential therapy, called gene expression-targeted isoflavone therapy (GET IT), has been proposed for a group of LSD named mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS), in which storage of incompletely degraded glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) results in severe symptoms of virtually all tissues and organs, including central nervous system. The idea of this therapy is to inhibit synthesis of GAGs by modulating expression of genes coding for enzymes involved in synthesis of these compounds. Such a modulation is possible by using isoflavones, particularly genistein, which interfere with a signal transduction process necessary for stimulation of expression of certain genes. Results of in vitro experiments and studies on animal models indicated a high efficiency of GET IT, including correction of behavior of affected mice. However, clinical trials, performed with soy isoflavone extracts, revealed only limited efficacy. This caused a controversy about GET IT as a potential, effective treatment of patients suffering from MPS, especially neuronopathic forms of these diseases. It this critical review, I present possible molecular mechanisms of therapeutic action of isoflavones (particularly genistein) and suggest that efficacy of GET IT might be sufficiently high when using relatively high doses of synthetic genistein (which was employed in experiments on cell cultures and mouse models) rather than low doses of soy isoflavone extracts (which were used in clinical trials). This
Gene-modified bone marrow cell therapy for prostate cancer.
Wang, H; Thompson, T C
There is a critical need to develop new and effective cancer therapies that target bone, the primary metastatic site for prostate cancer and other malignancies. Among the various therapeutic approaches being considered for this application, gene-modified cell-based therapies may have specific advantages. Gene-modified cell therapy uses gene transfer and cell-based technologies in a complementary fashion to chaperone appropriate gene expression cassettes to active sites of tumor growth. In this paper, we briefly review potential cell vehicles for this approach and discuss relevant gene therapy strategies for prostate cancer. We further discuss selected studies that led to the conceptual development and preclinical testing of IL-12 gene-modified bone marrow cell therapy for prostate cancer. Finally, we discuss future directions in the development of gene-modified cell therapy for metastatic prostate cancer, including the need to identify and test novel therapeutic genes such as GLIPR1.
Gene therapy for primary adaptive immune deficiencies.
Fischer, Alain; Hacein-Bey-Abina, Salima; Cavazzana-Calvo, Marina
Gene therapy has become an option for the treatment of 2 forms of severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID): X-linked SCID and adenosine deaminase deficiency. The results of clinical trials initiated more than 10 years ago testify to sustained and reproducible correction of the underlying T-cell immunodeficiency. Successful treatment is based on the selective advantage conferred on T-cell precursors through their expression of the therapeutic transgene. However, "first-generation" retroviral vectors also caused leukemia in some patients with X-linked SCID because of the constructs' tendency to insert into active genes (eg, proto-oncogenes) in progenitor cells and transactivate an oncogene through a viral element in the long terminal repeat. These elements have been deleted from the vectors now in use. Together with the use of lentiviral vectors (which are more potent for transducing stem cells), these advances should provide a basis for the safe and effective extension of gene therapy's indications in the field of primary immunodeficiencies. Nevertheless, this extension will have to be proved by examining the results of the ongoing clinical trials.
p53 gene therapy using RNA interference.
Berindan-Neagoe, I; Balacescu, O; Burz, C; Braicu, C; Balacescu, L; Tudoran, O; Cristea, V; Irimie, A
p53 gene, discovered almost 35 years ago, keeps the main role in cell cycle control, apoptosis pathways and transcription. p53 gene is found mutated in more than 50% of all human cancers in different locations. Many structures from viral to non viral were designed to incorporate and deliver in appropriate conditions forms of p53 gene or its transcripts, systemically to target tumor cells and to eliminate them through apoptosis or to restore the normal tumor suppressor gene role. Each delivery system presents advantages and low performance in relation to immune system recognition and acceptance. One of the major discoveries in the last years, silencing of RNA, represents a powerful tool for inhibiting post transcriptional control of gene expression. According to several studies, the RNA silencing technology for p53 transcripts together with other carriers or transporters at nano level can be used for creating new therapeutic models. RNA interference for p53 uses different double-stranded (ds) molecules like short interfering (si) RNA and, despite the difficulty of introducing them into mammalian cells due to immune system response, it can be exploited in cancer therapy.
Potential of gene therapy as a treatment for heart failure
Advances in understanding the molecular basis of myocardial dysfunction, together with the evolution of increasingly efficient gene transfer technology, make gene-based therapy a promising treatment option for heart conditions. Cardiovascular gene therapy has benefitted from recent advancements in vector technology, design, and delivery modalities. There is a critical need to explore new therapeutic approaches in heart failure, and gene therapy has emerged as a viable alternative. Advances in...
State-of-the-art human gene therapy: part I. Gene delivery technologies.
Wang, Dan; Gao, Guangping
Safe and effective gene delivery is a prerequisite for successful gene therapy. In the early age of human gene therapy, setbacks due to problematic gene delivery vehicles plagued the exciting therapeutic outcome. However, gene delivery technologies rapidly evolved ever since. With the advancement of gene delivery techniques, gene therapy clinical trials surged during the past decade. As the first gene therapy product (Glybera) has obtained regulatory approval and reached clinic, human gene therapy finally realized the promise that genes can be medicines. The diverse gene delivery techniques available today have laid the foundation for gene therapy applications in treating a wide range of human diseases. Some of the most urgent unmet medical needs, such as cancer and pandemic infectious diseases, have been tackled by gene therapy strategies with promising results. Furthermore, combining gene transfer with other breakthroughs in biomedical research and novel biotechnologies opened new avenues for gene therapy. Such innovative therapeutic strategies are unthinkable until now, and are expected to be revolutionary. In part I of this review, we introduced recent development of non-viral and viral gene delivery technology platforms. As cell-based gene therapy blossomed, we also summarized the diverse types of cells and vectors employed in ex vivo gene transfer. Finally, challenges in current gene delivery technologies for human use were discussed.
Gene therapy of primary T cell immunodeficiencies.
Fischer, Alain; Hacein-Bey-Abina, Salima; Cavazzana-Calvo, Marina
Gene therapy of severe combined immunodeficiencies has been proven to be effective to provide sustained correction of the T cell immunodeficiencies. This has been achieved for 2 forms of SCID, i.e SCID-X1 (γc deficiency) and adenosine deaminase deficiency. Occurrence of gene toxicity generated by integration of first generation retroviral vectors, as observed in the SCID-X1 trials has led to replace these vectors by self inactivated (SIN) retro(or lenti) viruses that may provide equivalent efficacy with a better safety profile. Results of ongoing clinical studies in SCID as well as in other primary immunodeficiencies, such as the Wiskott Aldrich syndrome, will be thus very informative.
Gene Therapy of Cancer: Induction of Anti-Tumor Immunity
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
ChengQian; JesusPrieto
Many malignancies lack satisfactory treatment and new therapeutic options are urgently needed. Gene therapy is a new modality to treat both inherited and acquired diseases based on the transfer of genetic material to the tissues. Different gene therapy strategies against cancers have been developed. A considerable number of preclinical studies indicate that a great variety of cancers are amenable to gene therapy. Among these strategies, induction of anti-tumor immunity is the most promising approach. Gene therapy with cytokines has reached unprecedented success in preclinical models of cancer. Synergistic rather than additive effects have been demonstrated by combination of gene transfer of cytokines/chemokines, costimulatory molecules or adoptive cell therapy. Recent progress in vector technology and in imaging techniques allowing in vivo assessment of gene expression will facilitate the development of clinical applications of gene therapy, a procedure which may have a notorious impact in the management of cancers lacking effective treatment. Cellular & Molecular Immunology. 2004;1(2):105-111.
Gene Therapy of Cancer: Induction of Anti-Tumor Immunity
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Cheng Qian; Jesus Prieto
Many malignancies lack satisfactory treatment and new therapeutic options are urgently needed. Gene therapy is a new modality to treat both inherited and acquired diseases based on the transfer of genetic material to the tissues. Different gene therapy strategies against cancers have been developed. A considerable number of preclinical studies indicate that a great variety of cancers are amenable to gene therapy. Among these strategies,induction of anti-tumorimmunity is the most promising approach. Gene therapy with cytokines has reached unprecedented success in preclinical models of cancer. Synergistic rather than additive effects have beendemonstrated by combination of gene transfer of cytokines/chemokines, costimulatory molecules or adoptive cell therapy. Recent progress in vector technology and in imaging techniques allowing in vivo assessment of gene expression will facilitate the development of clinical applications of gene therapy, a procedure which may have a notorious impact in the management of cancers lacking effective treatment.
[Genetic basis of head and neck cancers and gene therapy].
Özel, Halil Erdem; Özkırış, Mahmut; Gencer, Zeliha Kapusuz; Saydam, Levent
Surgery and combinations of traditional treatments are not successful enough particularly for advanced stage head and neck cancer. The major disadvantages of chemotherapy and radiation therapy are the lack of specificity for the target tissue and toxicity to the patient. As a result, gene therapy may offer a more specific approach. The aim of gene therapy is to present therapeutic genes into cancer cells which selectively eliminate malignant cells with no systemic toxicity to the patient. This article reviews the genetic basis of head and neck cancers and important concepts in cancer gene therapy: (i) inhibition of oncogenes; (ii) tumor suppressor gene replacement; (iii) regulation of immune response against malignant cells; (iv) genetic prodrug activation; and (v) antiangiogenic gene therapy. Currently, gene therapy is not sufficient to replace the traditional treatments of head and neck cancers, however there is no doubt that it will have an important role in the near future.
Bagnis; Mannoni
Many researchers and clinicians wonder if gene therapy remains a way to treat genetic or acquired life-threatening diseases. For the last few years, many experimental, pre-clinical, and clinical data have been published showing that it is possible to transfer with relatively high efficiency new genetic information (transgene) in many cells or tissues including both hematopoietic progenitor cells and differentiated cells. Based on experimental works, addition of the normal gene to cells with deletions, mutations, or alterations of the corresponding endogenous one has been shown to reverse the phenotype and to restore (in some case) the functional defect. In spite of very attractive preliminary results, however, suggesting the feasibility and safety of this process, therapeutically efficient gene transfer and expression in targeted cells or tissues must be proven. In this review, we will focus primarily on the attempts to use gene transfer in hematopoietic stem cells as a model for more general genetic manipulations of stem cells. Hematopoietic stem cells are included in a subset of bone marrow, cord blood, or peripheral blood cells identified by the expression of the CD34 antigen on their membrane.
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Gene Therapy
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Anne M. Rowzee
Full Text Available Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1 is a small peptide component of the prohormone, proglucagon, that is produced in the gut. Exendin-4, a GLP-1 receptor agonist originally isolated from the saliva of H. suspectum or Gila monster, is a peptide that shares sequence and functional homology with GLP-1. Both peptides have been demonstrated to stimulate insulin secretion, inhibit glucagon secretion, promote satiety and slow gastric emptying. As such, GLP-1 and Exendin-4 have become attractive pharmaceutical targets as an adjunctive therapy for individuals with type II diabetes mellitus, with several products currently available clinically. Herein we summarize the cell biology leading to GLP-1 production and secretion from intestinal L-cells and the endocrine functions of this peptide and Exendin-4 in humans. Additionally, gene therapeutic applications of GLP-1 and Exendin-4 are discussed with a focus on recent work using the salivary gland as a gene therapy target organ for the treatment of diabetes mellitus.
Pharmacological Interventions for Improving Adenovirus Usage in Gene Therapy
Haisma, Hidde J.; Bellu, Anna Rita
Gene therapy may be an innovative and promising new treatment strategy for cancer but is limited due to a low efficiency and specificity of gene delivery to the target cells. Adenovirus is the preferred gene therapy vector for systemic delivery because of its unparalleled in vivo transduction effici
Pharmacological Interventions for Improving Adenovirus Usage in Gene Therapy
Haisma, Hidde J.; Bellu, Anna Rita
Gene therapy may be an innovative and promising new treatment strategy for cancer but is limited due to a low efficiency and specificity of gene delivery to the target cells. Adenovirus is the preferred gene therapy vector for systemic delivery because of its unparalleled in vivo transduction
Immunotherapy and gene therapy of thyroid cancer.
Schott, M; Scherbaum, W A
Most forms of thyroid cancer have a good prognosis. Some tumours, however, dedifferentiate and may finally develop into highly malignant anaplastic thyroid carcinomas with a low survival time. Due to their dedifferentiation these tumours are inaccessible to classical therapeutic options as radioiodide treatment or thyrotropin-suppression. Radical surgical revision of the tumour masses is the therapy of choice of patients with limited disease stages including patients with medullary thyroid carcinomas. Despite progress in radiation and chemotherapy regimes, many metastatic forms remain, however, incurable by conventional therapies. During the past few years new developments in immunology have revealed increasing information about the molecular basis of tumour-host interactions. The multitude of information resulting from basic science in cellular immunology, together with the availability of biologic reagents in pharmacological amounts, has opened new venues for the development of immunotherapy approaches for patients with different kind of cancers including thyroid malignancies. This review describes some most important developments in cellular immunotherapies e.g. dendritic cells-based protocols and gene therapy. It also provides a brief overview on the role of cytokines and antibodies in the treatment of advanced thyroid malignancies.
Gene therapy in animal models of autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa.
Rossmiller, Brian; Mao, Haoyu; Lewin, Alfred S
Gene therapy for dominantly inherited genetic disease is more difficult than gene-based therapy for recessive disorders, which can be treated with gene supplementation. Treatment of dominant disease may require gene supplementation partnered with suppression of the expression of the mutant gene either at the DNA level, by gene repair, or at the RNA level by RNA interference or transcriptional repression. In this review, we examine some of the gene delivery approaches used to treat animal models of autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa, focusing on those models associated with mutations in the gene for rhodopsin. We conclude that combinatorial approaches have the greatest promise for success.
Perspectives on best practices for gene therapy programs.
Cheever, Thomas R; Berkley, Dale; Braun, Serge; Brown, Robert H; Byrne, Barry J; Chamberlain, Jeffrey S; Cwik, Valerie; Duan, Dongsheng; Federoff, Howard J; High, Katherine A; Kaspar, Brian K; Klinger, Katherine W; Larkindale, Jane; Lincecum, John; Mavilio, Fulvio; McDonald, Cheryl L; McLaughlin, James; Weiss McLeod, Bonnie; Mendell, Jerry R; Nuckolls, Glen; Stedman, Hansell H; Tagle, Danilo A; Vandenberghe, Luk H; Wang, Hao; Wernett, Pamela J; Wilson, James M; Porter, John D; Gubitz, Amelie K
With recent successes in gene therapy trials for hemophilia and retinal diseases, the promise and prospects for gene therapy are once again garnering significant attention. To build on this momentum, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke and the Muscular Dystrophy Association jointly hosted a workshop in April 2014 on "Best Practices for Gene Therapy Programs," with a focus on neuromuscular disorders. Workshop participants included researchers from academia and industry as well as representatives from the regulatory, legal, and patient advocacy sectors to cover the gamut from preclinical optimization to intellectual property concerns and regulatory approval. The workshop focused on three key issues in the field: (1) establishing adequate scientific premise for clinical trials in gene therapy, (2) addressing regulatory process issues, and (3) intellectual property and commercialization issues as they relate to gene therapy. The outcomes from the discussions at this workshop are intended to provide guidance for researchers and funders in the gene therapy field.
Lentiviral Vectors and Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy
Castellani, Stefano; Conese, Massimo
Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a chronic autosomic recessive syndrome, caused by mutations in the CF Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR) gene, a chloride channel expressed on the apical side of the airway epithelial cells. The lack of CFTR activity brings a dysregulated exchange of ions and water through the airway epithelium, one of the main aspects of CF lung disease pathophysiology. Lentiviral (LV) vectors, of the Retroviridae family, show interesting properties for CF gene therapy, since they integrate into the host genome and allow long-lasting gene expression. Proof-of-principle that LV vectors can transduce the airway epithelium and correct the basic electrophysiological defect in CF mice has been given. Initial data also demonstrate that LV vectors can be repeatedly administered to the lung and do not give rise to a gross inflammatory process, although they can elicit a T cell-mediated response to the transgene. Future studies will clarify the efficacy and safety profile of LV vectors in new complex animal models with CF, such as ferrets and pigs. PMID:21994643
Customized biomaterials to augment chondrocyte gene therapy.
Aguilar, Izath Nizeet; Trippel, Stephen; Shi, Shuiliang; Bonassar, Lawrence J
A persistent challenge in enhancing gene therapy is the transient availability of the target gene product. This is particularly true in tissue engineering applications. The transient exposure of cells to the product could be insufficient to promote tissue regeneration. Here we report the development of a new material engineered to have a high affinity for a therapeutic gene product. We focus on insulin-like growth factor-I (IGF-I) for its highly anabolic effects on many tissues such as spinal cord, heart, brain and cartilage. One of the ways that tissues store IGF-I is through a group of insulin like growth factor binding proteins (IGFBPs), such as IGFBP-5. We grafted the IGF-I binding peptide sequence from IGFBP-5 onto alginate in order to retain the endogenous IGF-I produced by transfected chondrocytes. This novel material bound IGF-I and released the growth factor for at least 30days in culture. We found that this binding enhanced the biosynthesis of transfected cells up to 19-fold. These data demonstrate the coordinated engineering of cell behavior and material chemistry to greatly enhance extracellular matrix synthesis and tissue assembly, and can serve as a template for the enhanced performance of other therapeutic proteins.
Adenovirus-Mediated Gene Therapy Against Viral Biothreat Agents
34--- I lr_ Transworld Research Network 37/661 (2), Fort P.O., Trivandrum-695 023, Kerala, India Recent Development in Gene Therapy , 2007: 77-94...ISBN: 81-7895-262-9 Editor: Jim Xiang Adenovirus-mediated gene therapy against viral biothreat agents Josh Q.H. Wu Chemical Biological Defence... therapy , which introduces therapeutic genes into mammalian cells to achieve therapeutic effective, hds a great potential for use as a defensive
Gene therapy for gastric cancer: Is it promising?
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Andreas P Sutter; Henry Fechner
Gastric cancer is one of the most common tumors worldwide. The therapeutic outcome of conventional therapies is inefficient. Thus, new therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. Gene therapy is a promising molecular alternative in the treatment of gastric cancer,including the replacement of defective tumor suppressor genes, the inactivation of oncogenes, the introduction of suicide genes, genetic immunotherapy, anti-angiogenetic gene therapy, and virotherapy. Improved molecular biological techniques and a better understanding of gastric carcinogenesis have allowed us to validate a variety of genes as molecular targets for gene therapy.This review provides an update of the new developments in cancer gene therapy, new principles, techniques,strategies and vector systems, and shows how they may be applied in the treatment of gastric cancer.
Prospectives for gene therapy of retinal degenerations.
Thumann, Gabriele
Retinal degenerations encompass a large number of diseases in which the retina and associated retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells progressively degenerate leading to severe visual disorders or blindness. Retinal degenerations can be divided into two groups, a group in which the defect has been linked to a specific gene and a second group that has a complex etiology that includes environmental and genetic influences. The first group encompasses a number of relatively rare diseases with the most prevalent being Retinitis pigmentosa that affects approximately 1 million individuals worldwide. Attempts have been made to correct the defective gene by transfecting the appropriate cells with the wild-type gene and while these attempts have been successful in animal models, human gene therapy for these inherited retinal degenerations has only begun recently and the results are promising. To the second group belong glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic retinopathy (DR). These retinal degenerations have a genetic component since they occur more often in families with affected probands but they are also linked to environmental factors, specifically elevated intraocular pressure, age and high blood sugar levels respectively. The economic and medical impact of these three diseases can be assessed by the number of individuals affected; AMD affects over 30 million, DR over 40 million and glaucoma over 65 million individuals worldwide. The basic defect in these diseases appears to be the relative lack of a neurogenic environment; the neovascularization that often accompanies these diseases has suggested that a decrease in pigment epithelium-derived factor (PEDF), at least in part, may be responsible for the neurodegeneration since PEDF is not only an effective neurogenic and neuroprotective agent but also a potent inhibitor of neovascularization. In the last few years inhibitors of vascularization, especially antibodies against vascular endothelial cell
Non-Viral Ocular Gene Therapy: Assessment and Future Directions
The purpose of this review is to give the general reader a brief overview of the current state of the field of non-viral ocular gene therapy. For multiple reasons the eye is an excellent organ for gene therapy application and while non-viral gene therapy modalities have been around for quite some time; they have only been applied to the eye in the last few years. This review will cover the exciting current trends in non-viral gene therapy and their application to the eye in addition to a brie...
Gene therapy for the treatment of cystic fibrosis
Tabinda J Burney1,2, Jane C Davies1,2,31Department of Gene therapy, Imperial College London, 2UK CF Gene Therapy Consortium London, 3Department of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UKAbstract: Gene therapy is being developed as a novel treatment for cystic fibrosis (CF), a condition that has hitherto been widely-researched yet for which no treatment exists that halts the progression of lung disease. Gene therapy invol...
78 FR 70307 - Guidance for Industry: Preclinical Assessment of Investigational Cellular and Gene Therapy...
... Investigational Cellular and Gene Therapy Products; Availability AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION... entitled ``Guidance for Industry: Preclinical Assessment of Investigational Cellular and Gene Therapy... and Gene Therapies (OCTGT). The product areas covered by this guidance are cellular therapy,...
Improved animal models for testing gene therapy for atherosclerosis.
Du, Liang; Zhang, Jingwan; De Meyer, Guido R Y; Flynn, Rowan; Dichek, David A
Gene therapy delivered to the blood vessel wall could augment current therapies for atherosclerosis, including systemic drug therapy and stenting. However, identification of clinically useful vectors and effective therapeutic transgenes remains at the preclinical stage. Identification of effective vectors and transgenes would be accelerated by availability of animal models that allow practical and expeditious testing of vessel-wall-directed gene therapy. Such models would include humanlike lesions that develop rapidly in vessels that are amenable to efficient gene delivery. Moreover, because human atherosclerosis develops in normal vessels, gene therapy that prevents atherosclerosis is most logically tested in relatively normal arteries. Similarly, gene therapy that causes atherosclerosis regression requires gene delivery to an existing lesion. Here we report development of three new rabbit models for testing vessel-wall-directed gene therapy that either prevents or reverses atherosclerosis. Carotid artery intimal lesions in these new models develop within 2-7 months after initiation of a high-fat diet and are 20-80 times larger than lesions in a model we described previously. Individual models allow generation of lesions that are relatively rich in either macrophages or smooth muscle cells, permitting testing of gene therapy strategies targeted at either cell type. Two of the models include gene delivery to essentially normal arteries and will be useful for identifying strategies that prevent lesion development. The third model generates lesions rapidly in vector-naïve animals and can be used for testing gene therapy that promotes lesion regression. These models are optimized for testing helper-dependent adenovirus (HDAd)-mediated gene therapy; however, they could be easily adapted for testing of other vectors or of different types of molecular therapies, delivered directly to the blood vessel wall. Our data also supports the promise of HDAd to deliver long
Nanoparticles for cancer gene therapy: Recent advances, challenges, and strategies.
Wang, Kui; Kievit, Forrest M; Zhang, Miqin
Compared to conventional treatments, gene therapy offers a variety of advantages for cancer treatment including high potency and specificity, low off-target toxicity, and delivery of multiple genes that concurrently target cancer tumorigenesis, recurrence, and drug resistance. In the past decades, gene therapy has undergone remarkable progress, and is now poised to become a first line therapy for cancer. Among various gene delivery systems, nanoparticles have attracted much attention because of their desirable characteristics including low toxicity profiles, well-controlled and high gene delivery efficiency, and multi-functionalities. This review provides an overview on gene therapeutics and gene delivery technologies, and highlight recent advances, challenges and insights into the design and the utility of nanoparticles in gene therapy for cancer treatment.
Gene Therapy and Gene Editing for the Corneal Dystrophies.
Williams, Keryn A; Irani, Yazad D
Despite ever-increasing understanding of the genetic underpinnings of many corneal dystrophies, gene therapy designed to ameliorate disease has not yet been reported in any human patient. In this review, we explore the likely reasons for this apparent failure of translation. We identify the requirements for success: the genetic defect involved must have been identified and mapped, vision in the affected patient must be significantly impaired or likely to be impaired, no better or equivalently effective treatment must be available, the treatment must be capable of modulating corneal pathology, and delivery of the construct to the appropriate cell must be practicable. We consider which of the corneal dystrophies might be amenable to treatment by genetic manipulations, summarize existing therapeutic options for treatment, and explore gene editing using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat/Cas and other similar transformative technologies as the way of the future. We then summarize recent laboratory-based advances in gene delivery and the development of in vitro and in vivo models of the corneal dystrophies. Finally, we review recent experimental work that has increased our knowledge of the pathobiology of these conditions.
Genetically engineering adenoviral vectors for gene therapy.
Coughlan, Lynda
Adenoviral (Ad) vectors are commonly used for various gene therapy applications. Significant advances in the genetic engineering of Ad vectors in recent years has highlighted their potential for the treatment of metastatic disease. There are several methods to genetically modify the Ad genome to incorporate retargeting peptides which will redirect the natural tropism of the viruses, including homologous recombination in bacteria or yeast. However, homologous recombination in yeast is highly efficient and can be achieved without the need for extensive cloning strategies. In addition, the method does not rely on the presence of unique restriction sites within the Ad genome and the reagents required for this method are widely available and inexpensive. Large plasmids containing the entire adenoviral genome (~36 kbp) can be modified within Saccharomyces cerevisiae yeast and genomes easily rescued in Escherichia coli hosts for analysis or amplification. A method for two-step homologous recombination in yeast is described in this chapter.
[Gene replacement therapy in achromatopsia type 2].
Mühlfriedel, R; Tanimoto, N; Seeliger, M W
Achromatopsia is an autosomal recessive inherited retinal disease caused by a complete loss of cone photoreceptor function. About 80 % of achromatopsia patients show mutations in the alpha or beta subunit (A3 and B3) of the cGMP controlled cation channel CNG (cyclic nucleotide-gated channel) of cone photoreceptors. Homologous to the human disease, CNGA3 deficient mice reveal a loss of cone specific functionality leading to degeneration of affected cone photoreceptors. The Institute for Ophthalmic Research in Tübingen has now succeeded in curing achromatopsia ACHM2 in an animal model. In this article, we explain the recombinant adeno-associated virus-based approach in detail. Furthermore, applied non-invasive diagnostic techniques for quality and success control, ERG, SLO and OCT, are described. The success of the therapy is indicated by a restored cone photoreceptor function as well as the neuronal processing of retinal signals resulting in a specific, cone-mediated behaviour. The outstanding results derived from the animal model are the starting point for the first human translation of a gene therapy for achromatopsia in Germany. Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.
Gene Therapy for HIV Infections: Intracellular Immunization
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Alain Piché
Full Text Available Despite significant advances in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV infection in the past 10 years, it remains an incurable disease. The inability of traditional drug-based therapies to inhibit HIV replication effectively for extended periods of time has stimulated intense research to develop novel approaches for this disease. Current understanding of HIV molecular biology and pathogenesis has opened the way for the development of gene therapy strategies for HIV infections. In this context, a number of intracellular immunization-based strategies have been evaluated, and some of them have reached the stage of phase I/II human clinical trials. These strategies include the use of single-chain antibodies, capsid-targeted viral inactivation, transdominant negative mutants, ribozymes, antisense oligonucleotides and RNA decoys. While a number of issues remain to be studied before intracellular immunization can be applied to the treatment of HIV infections, the significant progress already made in this field is likely to lead to clinical applications.
Gene replacement therapy for retinal CNG channelopathies.
Schön, Christian; Biel, Martin; Michalakis, Stylianos
Visual phototransduction relies on the function of cyclic nucleotide-gated channels in the rod and cone photoreceptor outer segment plasma membranes. The role of these ion channels is to translate light-triggered changes in the second messenger cyclic guanosine 3'-5'-monophosphate levels into an electrical signal that is further processed within the retinal network and then sent to higher visual centers. Rod and cone photoreceptors express distinct CNG channels. The rod photoreceptor CNG channel is composed of one CNGB1 and three CNGA1 subunits, whereas the cone channel is formed by one CNGB3 and three CNGA3 subunits. Mutations in any of these channel subunits result in severe and currently untreatable retinal degenerative diseases like retinitis pigmentosa or achromatopsia. In this review, we provide an overview of the human diseases and relevant animal models of CNG channelopathies. Furthermore, we summarize recent results from preclinical gene therapy studies using adeno-associated viral vectors and discuss the efficacy and translational potential of these gene therapeutic approaches.
Adenoviral gene therapy in gastric cancer: A review
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Nima Khalighinejad; Hesammodin Hariri; Omid Behnamfar; Arash Yousefi; Amir Momeni
Gastric cancer is one of the most common malignancies worldwide. With current therapeutic approaches the prognosis of gastric cancer is very poor, as gastric cancer accounts for the second most common cause of death in cancer related deaths. Gastric cancer like almost all other cancers has a molecular genetic basis which relies on disruption in normal cellular regulatory mechanisms regarding cell growth, apoptosis and cell division. Thus novel therapeutic approaches such as gene therapy promise to become the alternative choice of treatment in gastric cancer. In gene therapy, suicide genes, tumor suppressor genes and anti-angiogenesis genes among many others are introduced to cancer cells via vectors.Some of the vectors widely used in gene therapy are Adenoviral vectors. This review provides an update of the new developments in adenoviral cancer gene therapy including strategies for inducing apoptosis, inhibiting metastasis and targeting the cancer cells.
Progress in Chimeric Vector and Chimeric Gene Based Cardiovascular Gene Therapy
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
HU Chun-Song; YOON Young-sup; ISNER Jeffrey M.; LOSORDO Douglas W.
Gene therapy for cardiovascular diseases has developed from preliminary animal experiments to clinical trials. However, vectors and target genes used currently in gene therapy are mainly focused on viral, nonviral vector and single target gene or monogene. Each vector system has a series of advantages and limitations. Chimeric vectors which combine the advantages of viral and nonviral vector,chimeric target genes which combine two or more target genes and novel gene delivery modes are being developed. In this article, we summarized the progress in chimeric vectors and chimeric genes based cardiovascular gene therapy, which including proliferative or occlusive vascular diseases such as atheroslerosis and restenosis, hypertonic vascular disease such as hypertension and cardiac diseases such as myocardium ischemia, dilated cardiomyopathy and heart failure, even heart transplantation. The development of chimeric vector, chimeric gene and their cardiovascular gene therapy is promising.
American Society of Gene Therapy - Third Annual Meeting.
Atkinson, E M
The field of gene therapy, delivering genes to directly treat diseases, has had a remarkable year. This is no more evident than in the scope of the third annual meeting of the American Society of Gene Therapy (ASGT). Clear progress has been made in both ex vivo clinical protocols and in vivo administration. The meeting covered every major method of gene delivery, from injection of naked DNA to advanced synthetic gene delivery systems, as well as the major viral-based vectors. The optimism of the society was tempered, however, by the much-publicized death of a patient in a clinical trial at the University of Pennsylvania last year. There was a correspondingly high regulatory presence at the meeting, with several presentations by representatives of the US FDA and National Institutes of Health (NIH). Major clinical advances in gene therapy have been in genetic diseases, including hemophilia, severe combined immunodeficiency, and cystic fibrosis. Therapies are in later-stage clinical trials, and evidence of efficacy has been demonstrated, most notably by the apparent cure of SCID-affected children in Paris by ex vivo gene therapy with cytokine receptor subunit genes. Cancer gene therapy is also making significant headway, with many products entering phase II and III trials. Basic technology development is proceeding in vector targeting, enhancement of gene transfer efficiency, and regulating expression of therapeutic genes. In addition, basic research demonstrates the promise of new combined modes for treating diseases such as muscular dystrophy, lysosomal storage diseases and cardiovascular disease.
Prospects for Gene Therapy in the Fragile X Syndrome
Rattazzi, Mario C.; LaFauci, Giuseppe; Brown, W. Ted
Gene therapy is unarguably the definitive way to treat, and possibly cure, genetic diseases. A straightforward concept in theory, in practice it has proven difficult to realize, even when directed to easily accessed somatic cell systems. Gene therapy for diseases in which the central nervous system (CNS) is the target organ presents even greater…
Prospects for Gene Therapy in the Fragile X Syndrome
Rattazzi, Mario C.; LaFauci, Giuseppe; Brown, W. Ted
Gene therapy is unarguably the definitive way to treat, and possibly cure, genetic diseases. A straightforward concept in theory, in practice it has proven difficult to realize, even when directed to easily accessed somatic cell systems. Gene therapy for diseases in which the central nervous system (CNS) is the target organ presents even greater…
Gene therapy and peripheral nerve repair : a perspective
Hoyng, Stefan A; de Winter, Fred; Tannemaat, Martijn R; Blits, Bas; Malessy, Martijn J A; Verhaagen, J.
Clinical phase I/II studies have demonstrated the safety of gene therapy for a variety of central nervous system disorders, including Canavan's, Parkinson's (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), retinal diseases and pain. The majority of gene therapy studies in the CNS have used adeno-associated viral
Gene therapy and peripheral nerve repair : a perspective
Hoyng, Stefan A; de Winter, Fred; Tannemaat, Martijn R; Blits, Bas; Malessy, Martijn J A; Verhaagen, J.
Clinical phase I/II studies have demonstrated the safety of gene therapy for a variety of central nervous system disorders, including Canavan's, Parkinson's (PD) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), retinal diseases and pain. The majority of gene therapy studies in the CNS have used adeno-associated viral
Regulatory considerations for translating gene therapy: a European Union perspective.
Galli, Maria Cristina
A preclinical study on a gene therapy approach for treatment of the severe muscle weakness associated with a variety of neuromuscular disorders provides a forum to discuss the translational challenges of gene therapy from a regulatory point of view. In this Perspective, the findings are considered from the view of European regulatory requirements for first clinical use.
Transcriptionally regulated, prostate-targeted gene therapy for prostate cancer.
Lu, Yi
Prostate cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in American males today. Novel and effective treatment such as gene therapy is greatly desired. The early viral based gene therapy uses tissue-nonspecific promoters, which causes unintended toxicity to other normal tissues. In this chapter, we will review the transcriptionally regulated gene therapy strategy for prostate cancer treatment. We will describe the development of transcriptionally regulated prostate cancer gene therapy in the following areas: (1) Comparison of different routes for best viral delivery to the prostate; (2) Study of transcriptionally regulated, prostate-targeted viral vectors: specificity and activity of the transgene under several different prostate-specific promoters were compared in vitro and in vivo; (3) Selection of therapeutic transgenes and strategies for prostate cancer gene therapy (4) Oncolytic virotherapy for prostate cancer. In addition, the current challenges and future directions in this field are also discussed.
Cardiac gene therapy: Recent advances and future directions.
Mason, Daniel; Chen, Yu-Zhe; Krishnan, Harini Venkata; Sant, Shilpa
Gene therapy has the potential to serve as an adaptable platform technology for treating various diseases. Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of mortality in the developed world and genetic modification is steadily becoming a more plausible method to repair and regenerate heart tissue. Recently, new gene targets to treat cardiovascular disease have been identified and developed into therapies that have shown promise in animal models. Some of these therapies have advanced to clinical testing. Despite these recent successes, several barriers must be overcome for gene therapy to become a widely used treatment of cardiovascular diseases. In this review, we evaluate specific genetic targets that can be exploited to treat cardiovascular diseases, list the important delivery barriers for the gene carriers, assess the most promising methods of delivering the genetic information, and discuss the current status of clinical trials involving gene therapies targeted to the heart.
Development of gene and stem cell therapy for ocular neurodegeneration
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Jing-Xue; Zhang; Ning-Li; Wang; Qing-Jun; Lu
Retinal degenerative diseases pose a serious threat to eye health, but there is currently no effective treatment available. Recent years have witnessed rapid development of several cutting-edge technologies, such as gene therapy, stem cell therapy, and tissue engineering. Due to the special features of ocular structure, some of these technologies have been translated into ophthalmological clinic practice with fruitful achievements, setting a good example for other fields. This paper reviews the development of the gene and stem cell therapies in ophthalmology.
Advances in Gene Therapy for Diseases of the Eye.
Petit, Lolita; Khanna, Hemant; Punzo, Claudio
Over the last few years, huge progress has been made with regard to the understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases of the eye. Such knowledge has led to the development of gene therapy approaches to treat these devastating disorders. Challenges regarding the efficacy and efficiency of therapeutic gene delivery have driven the development of novel therapeutic approaches, which continue to evolve the field of ocular gene therapy. In this review article, we will discuss the evolution of preclinical and clinical strategies that have improved gene therapy in the eye, showing that treatment of vision loss has a bright future.
[Progress in gene therapy study of Leber congenital amaurosis].
Pan, Shan-Shan; Zheng, Qin-Xiang; Li, Wen-Sheng; Pang, Ji-Jing
Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is an early onset retinal dystrophy that causes severe visual impairment. With the development of molecular genetics and the therapeutic gene replacement technology, the adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector-mediated gene therapy for LCA achieved encouraging progress in the past decade. The success of the Phase I clinical trials of human RPE65 gene therapy for LCA II patients makes it a pioneer in the field of retinal gene therapy and brings light to the cure of other hereditary retinopathy. This article briefly reviews the recent developments in the preclinical animal experiments and Phase I clinical trials for LCA.
Advances in Gene Therapy for Diseases of the Eye
Petit, Lolita; Khanna, Hemant; Punzo, Claudio
Over the last few years, huge progress has been made with regard to the understanding of molecular mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases of the eye. Such knowledge has led to the development of gene therapy approaches to treat these devastating disorders. Challenges regarding the efficacy and efficiency of therapeutic gene delivery have driven the development of novel therapeutic approaches, which continue to evolve the field of ocular gene therapy. In this review article, we will discuss the evolution of preclinical and clinical strategies that have improved gene therapy in the eye, showing that treatment of vision loss has a bright future. PMID:27178388
Taking stock of gene therapy for cystic fibrosis
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Alton Eric WFW
Full Text Available Abstract The identification of the cystic fibrosis (CF gene opened the way for gene therapy. In the ten years since then, proof of principle in vitro and then in animal models in vivo has been followed by numerous clinical studies using both viral and non-viral vectors to transfer normal copies of the gene to the lungs and noses of CF patients. A wealth of data have emerged from these studies, reflecting enormous progress and also helping to focus and define key difficulties that remain unresolved. Gene therapy for CF remains the most promising possibility for curative rather than symptomatic therapy.
Human gene therapy: a brief overview of the genetic revolution.
Misra, Sanjukta
Advances in biotechnology have brought gene therapy to the forefront of medical research. The prelude to successful gene therapy i.e. the efficient transfer and expression of a variety of human gene into target cells has already been accomplished in several systems. Safe methods have been devised to do this, using several viral and no-viral vectors. Two main approaches emerged: in vivo modification and ex vivo modification. Retrovirus, adenovirus, adeno-associated virus are suitable for gene therapeutic approaches which are based on permanent expression of the therapeutic gene. Non-viral vectors are far less efficient than viral vectors, but they have advantages due to their low immunogenicity and their large capacity for therapeutic DNA. To improve the function of non-viral vectors, the addition of viral functions such as receptor mediated uptake and nuclear translocation of DNA may finally lead to the development of an artificial virus. Gene transfer protocols have been approved for human use in inherited diseases, cancers and acquired disorders. In 1990, the first successful clinical trial of gene therapy was initiated for adenosine deaminase deficiency. Since then, the number of clinical protocols initiated worldwide has increased exponentially. Although preliminary results of these trials are somewhat disappointing, but human gene therapy dreams of treating diseases by replacing or supplementing the product of defective or introducing novel therapeutic genes. So definitely human gene therapy is an effective addition to the arsenal of approaches to many human therapies in the 21st century.
Antagonism between gene therapy and epigenetic therapy on human laryngeal carcinoma tumor-bearing mice
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
LIAN Meng; WANG Qi; FANG Ju-gao; WANG Hong; FAN Er-zhong
Background Gene therapy and epigenetic therapy have gained more attention in cancer treatment.However,the effect of a combined treatment of gene therapy and epigenetic therapy on head and neck squamous cell carcinoma have not been studied yet.To study the mechanism and clinical application,human laryngeal carcinoma cell (Hep-2) tumor-bearing mice were used.Methods A xenograft tumor model was established by the subcutaneous inoculation of Hep-2 cells in the right armpit of BALB/c nu/nu mice.The mice with well-formed tumor were randomly divided into six groups.Multisite injections of rAd-p53 and/or 5-aza-dC were used to treat tumor.Tumor growth was monitored by measuring tumor volume and growth rate.p53 and E-cadherin protein levels in tumor tissues were detected by immunohistochemical staining.The mRNA levels were monitored with FQ-PCR.Results Gene therapy was much more effective than single epigenetic therapy and combined therapy.The gene therapy group has the lowest tumor growth rate and the highest expression levels of p53 and E-cadherin.Conclusions The combined treatment of gene and epigenetic therapy is not suggested for treating head and neck carcinoma,because gene therapy shows an antagonistic effect to epigenetic therapy.However,the mechanisms of action are still unclear.
Nanoparticle-mediated p53 gene therapy for tumor inhibition
Sharma, Blanka; Ma, Wenxue; Adjei, Isaac Morris; Panyam, Jayanth; Dimitrijevic, Sanja; Labhasetwar, Vinod
The p53 tumor suppressor gene is mutated in 50% of human cancers, resulting in more aggressive disease with greater resistance to chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Advances in gene therapy technologies offer a promising approach to restoring p53 function. We have developed polymeric nanoparticles (NPs), based on poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid), that provide sustained intracellular delivery of plasmid DNA, resulting in sustained gene expression without vector-associated toxicity. Our previous...
Advances in gene therapy technologies to treat retinitis pigmentosa
Hilda Petrs-Silva, Rafael LindenInstitute of Biophysics, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilAbstract: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a class of diseases that leads to progressive degeneration of the retina. Experimental approaches to gene therapy for the treatment of inherited retinal dystrophies have advanced in recent years, inclusive of the safe delivery of genes to the human retina. This review is focused on the development of gene therapy for RP using recombinant a...
Bacteriophage-Derived Vectors for Targeted Cancer Gene Therapy
Md Zahidul Islam Pranjol; Amin Hajitou
Cancer gene therapy expanded and reached its pinnacle in research in the last decade. Both viral and non-viral vectors have entered clinical trials, and significant successes have been achieved. However, a systemic administration of a vector, illustrating safe, efficient, and targeted gene delivery to solid tumors has proven to be a major challenge. In this review, we summarize the current progress and challenges in the targeted gene therapy of cancer. Moreover, we highlight the recent dev...
Translational Approaches towards Cancer Gene Therapy: Hurdles and Hopes
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Yadollah Omidi
Full Text Available Introduction: Of the cancer gene therapy approaches, gene silencing, suicide/apoptosis inducing gene therapy, immunogene therapy and targeted gene therapy are deemed to substantially control the biological consequences of genomic changes in cancerous cells. Thus, a large number of clinical trials have been conducted against various malignancies. In this review, we will discuss recent translational progresses of gene and cell therapy of cancer. Methods: Essential information on gene therapy of cancer were reviewed and discussed towards their clinical translations. Results: Gene transfer has been rigorously studied in vitro and in vivo, in which some of these gene therapy endeavours have been carried on towards translational investigations and clinical applications. About 65% of gene therapy trials are related to cancer therapy. Some of these trials have been combined with cell therapy to produce personalized medicines such as Sipuleucel-T (Provenge®, marketed by Dendreon, USA for the treatment of asymptomatic/minimally symptomatic metastatic hormone-refractory prostate cancer. Conclusion: Translational approach links two diverse boundaries of basic and clinical researches. For successful translation of genomedicines into clinical applications, it is essential 1 to have the guidelines and standard operating procedures for development and application of the genomedicines specific to clinically relevant biomarker(s; 2 to conduct necessary animal experimental studies to show the "proof of concept" for the proposed genomedicines; 3 to perform an initial clinical investigation; and 4 to initiate extensive clinical trials to address all necessary requirements. In short, translational researches need to be refined to accelerate the genomedicine development and clinical applications.
Bacterial Toxins for Oncoleaking Suicidal Cancer Gene Therapy.
Pahle, Jessica; Walther, Wolfgang
For suicide gene therapy, initially prodrug-converting enzymes (gene-directed enzyme-producing therapy, GDEPT) were employed to intracellularly metabolize non-toxic prodrugs into toxic compounds, leading to the effective suicidal killing of the transfected tumor cells. In this regard, the suicide gene therapy has demonstrated its potential for efficient tumor eradication. Numerous suicide genes of viral or bacterial origin were isolated, characterized, and extensively tested in vitro and in vivo, demonstrating their therapeutic potential even in clinical trials to treat cancers of different entities. Apart from this, growing efforts are made to generate more targeted and more effective suicide gene systems for cancer gene therapy. In this regard, bacterial toxins are an alternative to the classical GDEPT strategy, which add to the broad spectrum of different suicide approaches. In this context, lytic bacterial toxins, such as streptolysin O (SLO) or the claudin-targeted Clostridium perfringens enterotoxin (CPE) represent attractive new types of suicide oncoleaking genes. They permit as pore-forming proteins rapid and also selective toxicity toward a broad range of cancers. In this chapter, we describe the generation and use of SLO as well as of CPE-based gene therapies for the effective tumor cell eradication as promising, novel suicide gene approach particularly for treatment of therapy refractory tumors.
Myostatin: genetic variants, therapy and gene doping
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André Katayama Yamada
Full Text Available Since its discovery, myostatin (MSTN has been at the forefront of muscle therapy research because intrinsic mutations or inhibition of this protein, by either pharmacological or genetic means, result in muscle hypertrophy and hyperplasia. In addition to muscle growth, MSTN inhibition potentially disturbs connective tissue, leads to strength modulation, facilitates myoblast transplantation, promotes tissue regeneration, induces adipose tissue thermogenesis and increases muscle oxidative phenotype. It is also known that current advances in gene therapy have an impact on sports because of the illicit use of such methods. However, the adverse effects of these methods, their impact on athletic performance in humans and the means of detecting gene doping are as yet unknown. The aim of the present review is to discuss biosynthesis, genetic variants, pharmacological/genetic manipulation, doping and athletic performance in relation to the MSTN pathway. As will be concluded from the manuscript, MSTN emerges as a promising molecule for combating muscle wasting diseases and for triggering wide-ranging discussion in view of its possible use in gene doping.Desde sua descoberta, a miostatina (MSTN entrou na linha de frente em pesquisas relacionadas às terapias musculares porque mutações intrínsecas ou inibição desta proteína tanto por abordagens farmacológicas como genéticas resultam em hipertrofia muscular e hiperplasia. Além do aumento da massa muscular, a inibição de MSTN potencialmente prejudica o tecido conectivo, modula a força muscular, facilita o transplante de mioblastos, promove regeneração tecidual, induz termogênese no tecido adiposo e aumenta a oxidação na musculatura esquelética. É também sabido que os atuais avanços em terapia gênica têm uma relação com o esporte devido ao uso ilícito de tal método. Os efeitos adversos de tal abordagem, seus efeitos no desempenho de atletas e métodos para detectar doping genético s
The roles of traditional Chinese medicine in gene therapy.
Ling, Chang-quan; Wang, Li-na; Wang, Yuan; Zhang, Yuan-hui; Yin, Zi-fei; Wang, Meng; Ling, Chen
The field of gene therapy has been increasingly studied in the last four decades, and its clinical application has become a reality in the last 15 years. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), an important component of complementary and alternative medicine, has evolved over thousands of years with its own unique system of theories, diagnostics and therapies. TCM is well-known for its various roles in preventing and treating infectious and chronic diseases, and its usage in other modern clinical practice. However, whether TCM can be applied alongside gene therapy is a topic that has not been systematically examined. Here we provide an overview of TCM theories in relation to gene therapy. We believe that TCM theories are congruent with some principles of gene therapy. TCM-derived drugs may also act as gene therapy vehicles, therapeutic genes, synergistic therapeutic treatments, and as co-administrated drugs to reduce side effects. We also discuss in this review some possible approaches to combine TCM and gene therapy.
Bacteria as vectors for gene therapy of cancer.
LENUS (Irish Health Repository)
Baban, Chwanrow K
Anti-cancer therapy faces major challenges, particularly in terms of specificity of treatment. The ideal therapy would eradicate tumor cells selectively with minimum side effects on normal tissue. Gene or cell therapies have emerged as realistic prospects for the treatment of cancer, and involve the delivery of genetic information to a tumor to facilitate the production of therapeutic proteins. However, there is still much to be done before an efficient and safe gene medicine is achieved, primarily developing the means of targeting genes to tumors safely and efficiently. An emerging family of vectors involves bacteria of various genera. It has been shown that bacteria are naturally capable of homing to tumors when systemically administered resulting in high levels of replication locally. Furthermore, invasive species can deliver heterologous genes intra-cellularly for tumor cell expression. Here, we review the use of bacteria as vehicles for gene therapy of cancer, detailing the mechanisms of action and successes at preclinical and clinical levels.
75 FR 65640 - Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
... HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide advice and... Tumor Vaccines and Biotechnology Branch, Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies, Center...
Vector-mediated cancer gene therapy: an overview.
Seth, Prem
In recent years there has been a dramatic increase in developing gene therapy approaches for the treatment of cancer. The two events that have permitted the formulation of concept of cancer gene therapy are the new understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying oncogenesis, and the development of the DNA-delivery vehicles or vectors. Many approaches to cancer gene therapy have been proposed, and several viral and non-viral vectors have been utilized. The purpose of this review article is to describe the various strategies of cancer gene therapy (transfer of tumor suppressor genes, suicide genes-enzyme/pro-drug approach, inhibition of dominant oncogenes, immunomodulation approaches, expression of molecules that affect angiogenesis, tumor invasion and metastasis, chemosensitization and radiosensitization approaches, and chemoprotection of stem cells). The chapter also reviews the commonly used vectors (retroviral vectors, adenoviral vectors, adeno-associated viral vectors, pox viruses, herpes simplex viruses, HIV- vectors, non-viral vectors and targetable vectors) for cancer gene therapy. Some of the important issues in cancer gene therapy, and the potential future directions are also being discussed.
Identification of Hematopoietic Stem Cell Engraftment Genes in Gene Therapy Studies.
Powers, John M; Trobridge, Grant D
Hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) therapy using replication-incompetent retroviral vectors is a promising approach to provide life-long correction for genetic defects. HSC gene therapy clinical studies have resulted in functional cures for several diseases, but in some studies clonal expansion or leukemia has occurred. This is due to the dyregulation of endogenous host gene expression from vector provirus insertional mutagenesis. Insertional mutagenesis screens using replicating retroviruses have been used extensively to identify genes that influence oncogenesis. However, retroviral mutagenesis screens can also be used to determine the role of genes in biological processes such as stem cell engraftment. The aim of this review is to describe the potential for vector insertion site data from gene therapy studies to provide novel insights into mechanisms of HSC engraftment. In HSC gene therapy studies dysregulation of host genes by replication-incompetent vector proviruses may lead to enrichment of repopulating clones with vector integrants near genes that influence engraftment. Thus, data from HSC gene therapy studies can be used to identify novel candidate engraftment genes. As HSC gene therapy use continues to expand, the vector insertion site data collected will be of great interest to help identify novel engraftment genes and may ultimately lead to new therapies to improve engraftment.
Gene Therapy Applications in Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Catherine H Wu
Full Text Available Advantages and disadvantages of viral vectors and nonviral vectors for gene delivery to digestive organs are reviewed. Advances in systems for the introduction of new gene expression are described, including self-deleting retroviral transfer vectors, chimeric viruses and chimeric oligonucleotides. Systems for inhibition of gene expression are discussed, including antisense oligonucleotides, ribozymes and dominant-negative genes.
Germ-line gene therapy and the medical imperative.
Munson, Ronald; Davis, Lawrence H
Somatic cell gene therapy has yielded promising results. If germ cell gene therapy can be developed, the promise is even greater: hundreds of genetic diseases might be virtually eliminated. But some claim the procedure is morally unacceptable. We thoroughly and sympathetically examine several possible reasons for this claim but find them inadequate. There is no moral reason, then, not to develop and employ germ-line gene therapy. Taking the offensive, we argue next that medicine has a prima facie moral obligation to do so.
Novel AIDS therapies based on gene editing.
Khalili, Kamel; White, Martyn K; Jacobson, Jeffrey M
HIV/AIDS remains a major public health issue. In 2014, it was estimated that 36.9 million people are living with HIV worldwide, including 2.6 million children. Since the advent of combination antiretroviral therapy (cART), in the 1990s, treatment has been so successful that in many parts of the world, HIV has become a chronic condition in which progression to AIDS has become increasingly rare. However, while people with HIV can expect to live a normal life span with cART, lifelong medication is required and cardiovascular, renal, liver, and neurologic diseases are still possible, which continues to prompt research for a cure for HIV. Infected reservoir cells, such as CD4+ T cells and myeloid cells, allow persistence of HIV as an integrated DNA provirus and serve as a potential source for the re-emergence of virus. Attempts to eradicate HIV from these cells have focused mainly on the so-called "shock and kill" approach, where cellular reactivation is induced so as to trigger the purging of virus-producing cells by cytolysis or immune attack. This approach has several limitations and its usefulness in clinical applications remains to be assessed. Recent advances in gene-editing technology have allowed the use of this approach for inactivating integrated proviral DNA in the genome of latently infected cells or knocking out HIV receptors. Here, we review this strategy and its potential to eliminate the latent HIV reservoir resulting in a sterile cure of AIDS.
Synergistic nanomedicine by combined gene and photothermal therapy.
Kim, Jinhwan; Kim, Jihoon; Jeong, Cherlhyun; Kim, Won Jong
To date, various nanomaterials with the ability for gene delivery or photothermal effect have been developed in the field of biomedicine. The therapeutic potential of these nanomaterials has raised considerable interests in their use in potential next-generation strategies for effective anticancer therapy. In particular, the advancement of novel nanomedicines utilizing both therapeutic strategies of gene delivery and photothermal effect has generated much optimism regarding the imminent development of effective and successful cancer treatments. In this review, we discuss current research progress with regard to combined gene and photothermal therapy. This review focuses on synergistic therapeutic systems combining gene regulation and photothermal ablation as well as logically designed nano-carriers aimed at enhancing the delivery efficiency of therapeutic genes using the photothermal effect. The examples detailed in this review provide insight to further our understanding of combinatorial gene and photothermal therapy, thus paving the way for the design of promising nanomedicines.
Bone Marrow Gene Therapy for HIV/AIDS.
Herrera-Carrillo, Elena; Berkhout, Ben
Bone marrow gene therapy remains an attractive option for treating chronic immunological diseases, including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) caused by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). This technology combines the differentiation and expansion capacity of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) with long-term expression of therapeutic transgenes using integrating vectors. In this review we summarize the potential of bone marrow gene therapy for the treatment of HIV/AIDS. A broad range of antiviral strategies are discussed, with a particular focus on RNA-based therapies. The idea is to develop a durable gene therapy that lasts the life span of the infected individual, thus contrasting with daily drug regimens to suppress the virus. Different approaches have been proposed to target either the virus or cellular genes encoding co-factors that support virus replication. Some of these therapies have been tested in clinical trials, providing proof of principle that gene therapy is a safe option for treating HIV/AIDS. In this review several topics are discussed, ranging from the selection of the antiviral molecule and the viral target to the optimal vector system for gene delivery and the setup of appropriate preclinical test systems. The molecular mechanisms used to formulate a cure for HIV infection are described, including the latest antiviral strategies and their therapeutic applications. Finally, a potent combination of anti-HIV genes based on our own research program is described.
Recent advances in gene therapy for lysosomal storage disorders
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rastall DP
Full Text Available David PW Rastall,1 Andrea Amalfitano1,2 1Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, 2Department of Pediatrics, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA Abstract: Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs are a group of genetic diseases that result in metabolic derangements of the lysosome. Most LSDs are due to the genetic absence of a single catabolic enzyme, causing accumulation of the enzyme's substrate within the lysosome. Over time, tissue-specific substrate accumulations result in a spectrum of symptoms and disabilities that vary by LSD. LSDs are promising targets for gene therapy because delivery of a single gene into a small percentage of the appropriate target cells may be sufficient to impact the clinical course of the disease. Recently, there have been several significant advancements in the potential for gene therapy of these disorders, including the first human trials. Future clinical trials will build upon these initial attempts, with an improved understanding of immune system responses to gene therapy, the obstacle that the blood–brain barrier poses for neuropathic LSDs, as well other biological barriers that, when overcome, may facilitate gene therapy for LSDs. In this manuscript, we will highlight the recent innovations in gene therapy for LSDs and discuss the clinical limitations that remain to be overcome, with the goal of fostering an understanding and further development of this important field. Keywords: human trials, clinical trials, gene therapy, lysosomal storage disease, blood-brain barrier, adeno-associated virus, lentivirus, adenovirus
Cancer gene therapy targeting angiogenesis: An updated review
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Ching-Chiu Liu; Zan Shen; Hsiang-Fu Kung; Marie CM Lin
Since the relationship between angiogenesis and tumor growth was established by Folkman in 1971,scientists have made efforts exploring the possibilities in treating cancer by targeting angiogenesis. Inhibition of angiogenesis growth factors and administration of angiogenesis inhibitors are the basics of antiangiogenesis therapy. Transfer of anti-angiogenesis genes has Received attention recently not only because of the advancement of recombinant vectors, but also because of the localized and sustained expression of therapeutic gene product inside the tumor after gene transfer. This review provides the up-to-date information about the strategies and the vectors studied in the field of anti-angiogenesis cancer gene therapy.
Genetic correction using engineered nucleases for gene therapy applications.
Li, Hongmei Lisa; Nakano, Takao; Hotta, Akitsu
Genetic mutations in humans are associated with congenital disorders and phenotypic traits. Gene therapy holds the promise to cure such genetic disorders, although it has suffered from several technical limitations for decades. Recent progress in gene editing technology using tailor-made nucleases, such as meganucleases (MNs), zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), TAL effector nucleases (TALENs) and, more recently, CRISPR/Cas9, has significantly broadened our ability to precisely modify target sites in the human genome. In this review, we summarize recent progress in gene correction approaches of the human genome, with a particular emphasis on the clinical applications of gene therapy.
Alphavirus vectors as tools in neuroscience and gene therapy.
Lundstrom, Kenneth
Alphavirus-based vectors have been engineered for in vitro and in vivo expression of heterelogous genes. The rapid and easy generation of replication-deficient recombinant particles and the broad range of host cell infection have made alphaviruses attractive vehicles for applications in neuroscience and gene therapy. Efficient delivery to primary neurons and hippocampal slices has allowed localization studies of gene expression and electrophysiological recordings of ion channels. Alphavirus vectors have also been applied for in vivo delivery to rodent brain. Due to the strong local transient expression provided by alphavirus vectors a number of immunization and gene therapy approaches have demonstrated both therapeutic and prophylactic efficacy in various animal models.
Bacteriophage-Derived Vectors for Targeted Cancer Gene Therapy
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Md Zahidul Islam Pranjol
Full Text Available Cancer gene therapy expanded and reached its pinnacle in research in the last decade. Both viral and non-viral vectors have entered clinical trials, and significant successes have been achieved. However, a systemic administration of a vector, illustrating safe, efficient, and targeted gene delivery to solid tumors has proven to be a major challenge. In this review, we summarize the current progress and challenges in the targeted gene therapy of cancer. Moreover, we highlight the recent developments of bacteriophage-derived vectors and their contributions in targeting cancer with therapeutic genes following systemic administration.
The use of genes for performance enhancement: doping or therapy?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
R.S. Oliveira
Full Text Available Recent biotechnological advances have permitted the manipulation of genetic sequences to treat several diseases in a process called gene therapy. However, the advance of gene therapy has opened the door to the possibility of using genetic manipulation (GM to enhance athletic performance. In such 'gene doping', exogenous genetic sequences are inserted into a specific tissue, altering cellular gene activity or leading to the expression of a protein product. The exogenous genes most likely to be utilized for gene doping include erythropoietin (EPO, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF, insulin-like growth factor type 1 (IGF-1, myostatin antagonists, and endorphin. However, many other genes could also be used, such as those involved in glucose metabolic pathways. Because gene doping would be very difficult to detect, it is inherently very attractive for those involved in sports who are prepared to cheat. Moreover, the field of gene therapy is constantly and rapidly progressing, and this is likely to generate many new possibilities for gene doping. Thus, as part of the general fight against all forms of doping, it will be necessary to develop and continually improve means of detecting exogenous gene sequences (or their products in athletes. Nevertheless, some bioethicists have argued for a liberal approach to gene doping.
Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy in the UK and Elsewhere.
Griesenbach, Uta; Pytel, Kamila M; Alton, Eric W F W
The cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene was identified in 1989. This opened the door for the development of cystic fibrosis (CF) gene therapy, which has been actively pursued for the last 20 years. Although 26 clinical trials involving approximately 450 patients have been carried out, the vast majority of these trials were short and included small numbers of patients; they were not designed to assess clinical benefit, but to establish safety and proof-of-concept for gene transfer using molecular end points such as the detection of recombinant mRNA or correction of the ion transport defect. The only currently published trial designed and powered to assess clinical efficacy (defined as improvement in lung function) administered AAV2-CFTR to the lungs of patients with CF. The U.K. Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium completed, in the autumn of 2014, the first nonviral gene therapy trial designed to answer whether repeated nonviral gene transfer (12 doses over 12 months) can lead to clinical benefit. The demonstration that the molecular defect in CFTR can be corrected with small-molecule drugs, and the success of gene therapy in other monogenic diseases, is boosting interest in CF gene therapy. Developments are discussed here.
Gene therapy for oral squamous cell carcinoma: an overview.
Saraswathi, T R; Kavitha, B; Vijayashree Priyadharsini, J
A potential approach to the treatment of genetic disorders is gene therapy. The goal of gene therapy is to introduce therapeutic genetic material into the target cell to exert the intended therapeutic effect. Gene therapy has already shown promising results for the treatment of monogenic disorders such as severe combined immunodeficiency and haemophilia. Now the procedure has been extended to the level of treating malignant conditions such as cancer of the lungs, breast, colon etc. The prevalence of tumours of the larynx and oral cavity has increased in both developed and developing countries. This increase underscores the need for a novel therapeutic modality that would decrease or completely terminate the proliferation of malignant cells. This review highlights various types of gene therapy procedures with respect to oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Gene therapy for oral squamous cell carcinoma: An overview
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Saraswathi T
Full Text Available A potential approach to the treatment of genetic disorders is gene therapy. The goal of gene therapy is to introduce therapeutic genetic material into the target cell to exert the intended therapeutic effect. Gene therapy has already shown promising results for the treatment of monogenic disorders such as severe combined immunodeficiency and haemophilia. Now the procedure has been extended to the level of treating malignant conditions such as cancer of the lungs, breast, colon etc. The prevalence of tumours of the larynx and oral cavity has increased in both developed and developing countries. This increase underscores the need for a novel therapeutic modality that would decrease or completely terminate the proliferation of malignant cells. This review highlights various types of gene therapy procedures with respect to oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Lessons learned from gene therapy for color blindness in primates
National Research Council Canada - National Science Library
Color blindness is the most common genetic disorder. The possibility of curing color blindness using gene therapy was explored by adding a third type of cone pigment to dichromatic retinas of squirrel monkeys...
Gene Therapy Offers Hope to Some Hemophilia Patients
... page: https://medlineplus.gov/news/fullstory_162389.html Gene Therapy Offers Hope to Some Hemophilia Patients Small, preliminary trial suggests it may free hemophilia B patients from transfusions To use the sharing features on this page, please enable ...
Advances in Gene/Cell Therapy in Epidermolysis Bullosa.
Murauer, Eva M; Koller, Ulrich; Pellegrini, Graziella; De Luca, Michele; Bauer, Johann W
In the past few years, substantial preclinical and experimental advances have been made in the treatment of the severe monogenic skin blistering disease epidermolysis bullosa (EB). Promising approaches have been developed in the fields of protein and cell therapies, including allogeneic stem cell transplantation; in addition, the application of gene therapy approaches has become reality. The first ex vivo gene therapy for a junctional EB (JEB) patient was performed in Italy more than 8 years ago and was shown to be effective. We have now continued this approach for an Austrian JEB patient. Further, clinical trials for a gene therapy treatment of recessive dystrophic EB are currently under way in the United States and in Europe. In this review, we aim to point out that sustainable correction of autologous keratinocytes by stable genomic integration of a therapeutic gene represents a realistic option for patients with EB.
[Gene therapy for hereditary ophthalmological diseases: Advances and future perspectives].
Chacón-Camacho, Óscar Francisco; Astorga-Carballo, Aline; Zenteno, Juan Carlos
Gene therapy is a promising new therapeutic strategy that could provide a novel and more effective way of targeting hereditary ophthalmological diseases. The eye is easily accessible, highly compartmentalized, and an immune-privileged organ that gives advantages as an ideal gene therapy target. Recently, important advances in the availability of various intraocular vector delivery routes and viral vectors that are able to efficiently transduce specific ocular cell types have been described. Gene therapy has advanced in some retinal inherited dystrophies; in this way, preliminary success is now being reported for the treatment of Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA). This review will provide an update in the field of gene therapy for the treatment of ocular inherited diseases.
Gene Therapy – Potential, Pros, Cons and Ethics
Ananth Nanjunda Rao
Genetic technology poses risks along with its rewards, just as any technology has in the past. To stop its development and forfeit the benefits gene therapy could offer would be a far greater mistake than forging ahead could ever be. People must always try to be responsible with their new technology, but gene therapy has the potential to be the future of medicine and its possibilities must be explored.
Clinical Applications of Gene Therapy for Primary Immunodeficiencies
Primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) have represented a paradigmatic model for successes and pitfalls of hematopoietic stem cells gene therapy. First clinical trials performed with gamma retroviral vectors (γ-RV) for adenosine deaminase severe combined immunodeficiency (ADA-SCID), X-linked SCID (SCID-X1), and Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome (WAS) showed that gene therapy is a valid therapeutic option in patients lacking an HLA-identical donor. No insertional mutagenesis events have been observed in mor...
Xenogeneic homologous genes, molecular evolution and cancer therapy
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
田聆; 魏于全
Cancer is one of the main causes for death of human beings to date, and cancer biotherapy (mainlyimmunotherapy and gene therapy) has become the most promising approach after surgical therapy, radiotherapy andchemotherapy. However, there are still many limitations on cancer immunotherapy and gene therapy; therefore great ef-fort is being made to develop new strategies. It has been known that, in the process of evolution, a number of genes, theso-called xenogeneic homologous genes, are well-conserved and show the structural and/or functional similarity betweenvarious species to some degree. The nucleotide changes between various xenogeneic homologous genes are derived frommutation, and most of them are neutral mutations. Considering that the subtle differences in xenogeneic homologousgenes can break immune tolerance, enhance the immunogenicity and induce autologous immune response so as to elimi-nate tumor cells, we expect that a strategy of inducing autoimmune response using the property of xenogeneic homologousgenes will become a new therapy for cancer. Moreover, this therapy can also be used in the treatment of other diseases,such as autoimmune diseases and AIDS. This article will discuss the xenogeneic homologous genes, molecular evolutionand cancer therapy.
Gene therapy and peripheral nerve repair: a perspective
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Stefan A. Hoyng
Full Text Available Clinical phase I/II studies have demonstrated the safety of gene therapy for a variety of central nervous system disorders, including Canavan's, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's disease, retinal diseases and pain. The majority of gene therapy studies in the CNS have used adeno-associated viral vectors (AAV and the first AAV-based therapeutic, a vector encoding lipoprotein lipase, is now marketed in Europe under the name Glybera. These remarkable advances may become relevant to translational research on gene therapy to promote peripheral nervous system (PNS repair. This short review first summarizes the results of gene therapy in animal models for peripheral nerve repair. Secondly, we identify key areas of future research in the domain of PNS-gene therapy. Finally, a perspective is provided on the path to clinical translation of PNS gene therapy for traumatic nerve injuries. In the latter section we discuss the route and mode of delivery of the vector to human patients, the efficacy and safety of the vector, and the choice of the patient population for a first possible proof-of-concept clinical study.
Gene therapy for the fetus: is there a future?
David, Anna L; Peebles, Donald
Gene therapy uses the intracellular delivery of genetic material for the treatment of disease. A wide range of diseases - including cancer, vascular and neurodegenerative disorders and inherited genetic diseases - are being considered as targets for this therapy in adults. There are particular reasons why fetal application might prove better than application in the adult for treatment, or even prevention of early-onset genetic disorders such as cystic fibrosis and Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Research shows that gene transfer to the developing fetus targets rapidly expanding populations of stem cells, which are inaccessible after birth, and indicates that the use of integrating vector systems results in permanent gene transfer. In animal models of congenital disease such as haemophilia, studies show that the functionally immature fetal immune system does not respond to the product of the introduced gene, and therefore immune tolerance can be induced. This means that treatment could be repeated after birth, if that was necessary to continue to correct the disease. For clinicians and parents, fetal gene therapy would give a third choice following prenatal diagnosis of inherited disease, where termination of pregnancy or acceptance of an affected child are currently the only options. Application of this therapy in the fetus must be safe, reliable and cost-effective. Recent developments in the understanding of genetic disease, vector design, and minimally invasive delivery techniques have brought fetal gene therapy closer to clinical practice. However more research needs to be done in before it can be introduced as a therapy.
Noncoding oligonucleotides: the belle of the ball in gene therapy.
Shum, Ka-To; Rossi, John J
Gene therapy carries the promise of cures for many diseases based on manipulating the expression of a person's genes toward the therapeutic goal. The relevance of noncoding oligonucleotides to human disease is attracting widespread attention. Noncoding oligonucleotides are not only involved in gene regulation, but can also be modified into therapeutic tools. There are many strategies that leverage noncoding oligonucleotides for gene therapy, including small interfering RNAs, antisense oligonucleotides, aptamers, ribozymes, decoys, and bacteriophage phi 29 RNAs. In this chapter, we will provide a broad, comprehensive overview of gene therapies that use noncoding oligonucleotides for disease treatment. The mechanism and development of each therapeutic will be described, with a particular focus on its clinical development. Finally, we will discuss the challenges associated with developing nucleic acid therapeutics and the prospects for future success.
Gene therapy: Regulations, ethics and its practicalities in liver disease
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Xi Jin; Yi-Da Yang; You-Ming Li
Gene therapy is a new and promising approach which opens a new door to the treatment of human diseases.By direct transfer of genetic materials to the target cells, it could exert functions on the level of genes and molecules. It is hoped to be widely used in the treatment of liver disease, especially hepatic tumors by using different vectors encoding the aim gene for anti-tumor activity by activating primary and adaptive immunity,inhibiting oncogene and angiogenesis. Despite the huge curative potential shown in animal models and some pilot clinical trials, gene therapy has been under fierce discussion since its birth in academia and the public domain because of its unexpected side effects and ethical problems. There are other challenges arising from the technique itself like vector design, administration route test and standard protocol exploration. How well we respond will decide the fate of gene therapy clinical medical practice.
Gene therapy for cartilage and bone tissue engineering
Hu, Yu-Chen
"Gene Therapy for Cartilage and Bone Tissue Engineering" outlines the tissue engineering and possible applications of gene therapy in the field of biomedical engineering as well as basic principles of gene therapy, vectors and gene delivery, specifically for cartilage and bone engineering. It is intended for tissue engineers, cell therapists, regenerative medicine scientists and engineers, gene therapist and virologists. Dr. Yu-Chen Hu is a Distinguished Professor at the Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing Hua University and has received the Outstanding Research Award (National Science Council), Asia Research Award (Society of Chemical Engineers, Japan) and Professor Tsai-Teh Lai Award (Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers). He is also a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and a member of the Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society (TERMIS)-Asia Pacific Council.
Gene therapy in dentistry: tool of genetic engineering. Revisited.
Gupta, Khushboo; Singh, Saurabh; Garg, Kavita Nitish
Advances in biotechnology have brought gene therapy to the forefront of medical research. The concept of transferring genes to tissues for clinical applications has been discussed nearly half a century, but the ability to manipulate genetic material via recombinant DNA technology has brought this goal to reality. The feasibility of gene transfer was first demonstrated using tumour viruses. This led to development of viral and nonviral methods for the genetic modification of somatic cells. Applications of gene therapy to dental and oral problems illustrate the potential impact of this technology on dentistry. Preclinical trial results regarding the same have been very promising. In this review we will discuss methods, vectors involved, clinical implication in dentistry and scientific issues associated with gene therapy.
Bioethical conflicts of gene therapy: a brief critical review
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José Ednésio da Cruz Freire
Full Text Available Methods and techniques employed in gene therapy are reviewed in parallel with pertinent ethical conflicts. Clinical interventions based on gene therapy techniques preferentially use vectors for the transportation of therapeutic genes, however little is known about the potential risks and damages to the patient. Thus, attending carefully to the clinical complications arising as well as to security is essential. Despite the scientific and technological advances, there are still many uncertainties about the side effects of gene therapy. Moreover, there is a need, above all, to understand the principles of bioethics as both science and ethics, in accordance with its socioecological responsibility, in order to prioritize the health and welfare of man and nature, using properly natural resources and technology. Therefore, it is hard to determine objective results and to which extent the insertion of genes can affect the organism, as well as the ethical implication
Current status of gene therapy for motor neuron disease
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Xingkai An; Rong Peng; Shanshan Zhao
OBJECTIVE: Although the etiology and pathogenesis of motor neuron disease is still unknown, there are many hypotheses on motor neuron mitochondrion, cytoskeleton structure and functional injuries. Thus, gene therapy of motor neuron disease has become a hot topic to apply in viral vector, gene delivery and basic gene techniques.DATA SOURCES: The related articles published between January 2000 and October 2006 were searched in Medline database and ISl database by computer using the keywords "motor neuron disease, gene therapy", and the language is limited to English. Meanwhile, the related references of review were also searched by handiwork. STUDY SELECTION: Original articles and referred articles in review were chosen after first hearing, then the full text which had new ideas were found, and when refer to the similar study in the recent years were considered first.DATA EXTRACTION: Among the 92 related articles, 40 ones were accepted, and 52 were excluded because of repetitive study or reviews.DATA SYNTHESIS: The viral vectors of gene therapy for motor neuron disease include adenoviral, adeno-associated viral vectors, herpes simplex virus type 1 vectors and lentiviral vectors. The delivery of them can be achieved by direct injection into the brain, or by remote delivery after injection vectors into muscle or peripheral nerves, or by ex vivo gene transfer. The viral vectors of gene therapy for motor neuron disease have been successfully developed, but the gene delivery of them is hampered by some difficulties. The RNA interference and neuroprotection are the main technologies for gene-based therapy in motor neuron disease. CONCLUSION : The RNA interference for motor neuron disease has succeeded in animal models, and the neuroprotection also does. But, there are still a lot of questions for gene therapy in the clinical treatment of motor neuron disease.
Gene therapy: light is finally in the tunnel.
Cao, Huibi; Molday, Robert S; Hu, Jim
After two decades of ups and downs, gene therapy has recently achieved a milestone in treating patients with Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA). LCA is a group of inherited blinding diseases with retinal degeneration and severe vision loss in early infancy. Mutations in several genes, including RPE65, cause the disease. Using adeno-associated virus as a vector, three independent teams of investigators have recently shown that RPE65 can be delivered to retinal pigment epithelial cells of LCA patients by subretinal injections resulting in clinical benefits without side effects. However, considering the whole field of gene therapy, there are still major obstacles to clinical applications for other diseases. These obstacles include innate and immune barriers to vector delivery, toxicity of vectors and the lack of sustained therapeutic gene expression. Therefore, new strategies are needed to overcome these hurdles for achieving safe and effective gene therapy. In this article, we shall review the major advancements over the past two decades and, using lung gene therapy as an example, discuss the current obstacles and possible solutions to provide a roadmap for future gene therapy research.
Gene therapy and editing: Novel potential treatments for neuronal channelopathies.
Wykes, R C; Lignani, G
Pharmaceutical treatment can be inadequate, non-effective, or intolerable for many people suffering from a neuronal channelopathy. Development of novel treatment options, particularly those with the potential to be curative is warranted. Gene therapy approaches can permit cell-specific modification of neuronal and circuit excitability and have been investigated experimentally as a therapy for numerous neurological disorders, with clinical trials for several neurodegenerative diseases ongoing. Channelopathies can arise from a wide array of gene mutations; however they usually result in periods of aberrant network excitability. Therefore gene therapy strategies based on up or downregulation of genes that modulate neuronal excitability may be effective therapy for a wide range of neuronal channelopathies. As many channelopathies are paroxysmal in nature, optogenetic or chemogenetic approaches may be well suited to treat the symptoms of these diseases. Recent advances in gene-editing technologies such as the CRISPR-Cas9 system could in the future result in entirely novel treatment for a channelopathy by repairing disease-causing channel mutations at the germline level. As the brain may develop and wire abnormally as a consequence of an inherited or de novo channelopathy, the choice of optimal gene therapy or gene editing strategy will depend on the time of intervention (germline, neonatal or adult). Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.
The use of gene therapy tools in reproductive immunology research.
Zenclussen, Ana Claudia; Zenclussen, Maria L; Ritter, Thomas; Volk, Hans D
Mammalian pregnancy is a complex phenomenon allowing the maternal immune system to support its allogeneic fetus, while still being effective against pathogens. Gene therapy approaches have the potential to treat devastating inherited diseases for which there is a little hope of finding a conventional cure. In reproductive medicine, experimental trials have been made so far only for correcting gene defects in utero. The use of gene therapy for improving pregnancy-rate success or avoiding pregnancy-related diseases i.e. miscarriage or pre-eclampsia, remains a very distant goal with unresolved moral and ethical aspects. However, gene therapy may help determining the role of several genes in supporting fetal growth and/or avoiding its rejection experimentally and might further help to identify new targets of intervention. Gene therapy strategies to avoid fetal rejection may include the transfer and expression of cyto-protective molecules locally at the fetal-placental interface. In addition, the ex-vivo genetic modification of immune cells for tolerance induction is a novel and tempting approach. In this regard, we have confirmed the role of the cyto-protective and immunomodulatory molecule Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1), by treating animals undergoing abortion with an adenovirus coding for HO-1. Since the sole application of a control vector did not provoke deleterious effects in pregnancy outcome, we propose the use of experimental gene therapy for unveiling molecular and cellular pathways leading to pregnancy success.
Adeno-Associated Virus Gene Therapy for Liver Disease
Kattenhorn, Lisa M.; Tipper, Christopher H.; Stoica, Lorelei; Geraghty, Deborah S.; Wright, Teresa L.; Clark, K. Reed; Wadsworth, Samuel C.
The field of adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy has progressed rapidly over the past decade, with the advent of novel capsid serotype and organ-specific promoters, and an increasing understanding of the immune response to AAV administration. In particular, liver-directed therapy has made remarkable strides, with a number of clinical trials currently planned and ongoing in hemophilia A and B, as well as other liver disorders. This review focuses on liver-directed AAV gene therapy, including historic context, current challenges, and future developments. PMID:27897038
[Advances in superenzyme gene therapy in penile rehabilitation].
Qin, Feng; Run, Wang; Yuan, Jiu-Hong
Erectile dysfunction (ED) is an almost unavoidable complication of radical prostatectomy. At present, though the concept of penile rehabilitation (PR) is accepted by most clinicians, the outcomes of erectile function recovery vary widely. Prostacyclin (PGI2) is a prostanoid and a main vasoprotectant which induces smooth muscle relaxation, but not used for replacement therapy because of its high unstability. SuperEnzyme is capable of continuous, specific and targeted promotion of PGI2 synthesis, and helps PR in ED patients after radical prostatectomy. SuperEnzyme gene therapy has a promising prospect for PR and the management of ED. This review updates SuperEnzyme gene therapy in PR.
Nonviral Technologies for Gene Therapy in Cardiovascular Research
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Cheng-Huang Su
Full Text Available Gene therapy, which is still at an experimental stage, is a technique that attempts to correct or prevent a disease by delivering genes into an individual's cells and tissues. In gene delivery, a vector is a vehicle for transferring genetic material into cells and tissues. Synthetic vectors are considered to be prerequisites for gene delivery, because viral vectors have fundamental problems in relation to safety issues as well as large-scale production. Among the physical approaches, ultrasound with its associated bioeffects such as acoustic cavitation, especially inertial cavitation, can increase the permeability of cell membranes to macromolecules such as plasmid DNA. Microbubbles or ultrasound contrast agents lower the threshold for cavitation by ultrasound energy. Furthermore, ultrasound-enhanced gene delivery using polymers or other nonviral vectors may hold much promise for the future but is currently at the preclinical stage. We all know aging is cruel and inevitable. Currently, among the promising areas for gene therapy in acquired diseases, the incidences of cancer and ischemic cardiovascular diseases are strongly correlated with the aging process. As a result, gene therapy technology may play important roles in these diseases in the future. This brief review focuses on understanding the barriers to gene transfer as well as describing the useful nonviral vectors or tools that are applied to gene delivery and introducing feasible models in terms of ultrasound-based gene delivery.
Gene therapy for the treatment of cystic fibrosis
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Burney TJ
Full Text Available Tabinda J Burney1,2, Jane C Davies1,2,31Department of Gene therapy, Imperial College London, 2UK CF Gene Therapy Consortium London, 3Department of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, Royal Brompton and Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, London, UKAbstract: Gene therapy is being developed as a novel treatment for cystic fibrosis (CF, a condition that has hitherto been widely-researched yet for which no treatment exists that halts the progression of lung disease. Gene therapy involves the transfer of correct copies of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR DNA to the epithelial cells in the airways. The cloning of the CFTR gene in 1989 led to proof-of-principle studies of CFTR gene transfer in vitro and in animal models. The earliest clinical trials in CF patients were conducted in 1993 and used viral and non-viral gene transfer agents in both the nasal and bronchial airway epithelium. To date, studies have focused largely on molecular or bioelectric (chloride secretion outcome measures, many demonstrating evidence of CFTR expression, but few have attempted to achieve clinical efficacy. As CF is a lifelong disease, turnover of the airway epithelium necessitates repeat administration. To date, this has been difficult to achieve with viral gene transfer agents due to host recognition leading to loss of expression. The UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium (Imperial College London, University of Edinburgh and University of Oxford is currently working on a large and ambitious program to establish the clinical benefits of CF gene therapy. Wave 1, which has reached the clinic, uses a non-viral vector. A single-dose safety trial is nearing completion and a multi-dose clinical trial is shortly due to start; this will be powered for clinically-relevant changes. Wave 2, more futuristically, will look at the potential of lentiviruses, which have long-lasting expression. This review will summarize the current status of translational
Current advances in gene therapy for the treatment of genodermatoses.
Long, Heather A; McMillan, James R; Qiao, Hongjiang; Akiyama, Masashi; Shimizu, Hiroshi
Gene therapy provides the possibility of long term treatment for the severest of congenital disorders. In this review we will examine the recent advances in gene therapy for genodermatoses. Congenital diseases of the skin exhibit a wide range of severity and underlying causes and there are many possible therapeutic avenues. Gene therapy approaches can follow three paths-in vivo, ex vivo and fetal gene therapy, though the later is currently theoretical only it can provide potential results for even the most severe congenital diseases. All approaches utilize the many different vector systems available, including viral and the emerging use of non- viral integrating vectors. In addition, the use of RNAi based techniques to prevent dominant mutant protein expression has been explored as a therapy for specific dominant disorders such as keratin mutation disorders. Progress has been rapid in the past few years with some initial successful clinical trials reported. However, there are still some issues surrounding long term expression, transgene sustainability and safety issues that need to be addressed to further shift from experimental to clinically therapeutic applications. With the continuing development, merger and refinement of existing techniques there is an ever increasing likelihood of gene therapies becoming available for the more severe genodermatoses within the next decade or shortly thereafter.
Gene Therapy In Squamous Cell Carcinoma – A Short Review
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Soma Susan Varghese
Full Text Available Oral cancer remains one of the leading causes of death world wide. Various means to destroy tumor cells preferentially have been developed; gene therapy is one among them with less treatment morbidity. Gene therapy involves the transfer of therapeutic or working copy of genes into a specific cell of an individual in order to repair a faulty copy of gene. The alteration can be accomplished by repairing or replacing the damaged DNA by various strategies and vectors. To date genetically altered viruses are commonly used as gene delivery vehicle (vector which has an advantage of evolutionary selection of host-virus relation. Non viral vectors which include the physical transfection of genes can be accomplished by electrophoration, microinjection, or use of ballistic particles and chemical transfection by forming liposomes.
Future aspects of immunotherapy and gene therapy in neuroblastoma.
Aktas, S
Immunotherapy against cancer aims at stimulating the immune system or building an immune response against targeted tumor-associated antigens (TAAs). It was proposed theoretically as a potential therapy for cancer over a century ago but it became popular in the past two decades. Gene therapy represents a promising approach for reversing the neoplastic phenotype or driving tumor cells to self-destruction. Although survival rates of neuroblastoma (NB) with biologically favorable disease are greater than 90%, outcomes of patients with high risk disease are less than 40%. Stage 4 metastatic NB cases over 18 months of age are often incurable with multimodality chemotherapy regimens. In this article, translation of immuno-gene therapy strategies into clinical trials for NB are reviewed. Future aspects of immuno-gene therapy are discussed.
The hair follicle as a target for gene therapy.
Gupta, S; Domashenko, A; Cotsarelis, G
The hair follicle possesses progenitor cells for continued hair follicle cycling and for epidermal keratinocytes, melanocytes and Langerhans cells. These different cell types can be targeted by topical gene delivery to mouse skin. Using a combination of liposomes and DNA, we demonstrated the feasibility of targeting hair follicle cells in human scalp xenografts as well. We defined liposome composition and stage of the hair cycle as important parameters influencing transfection of human hair follicles. Transfection occurred only during anagen onset. Considerations and obstacles for using gene therapy to treat alopecias and skin disease are discussed. A theoretical framework for future gene therapy treatments for cutaneous and systemic disorders is presented.
New approaches to gene and cell therapy for hemophilia.
Ohmori, T; Mizukami, H; Ozawa, K; Sakata, Y; Nishimura, S
Hemophilia is considered suitable for gene therapy because it is caused by a single gene abnormality, and therapeutic coagulation factor levels may vary across a broad range. Recent success of hemophilia B gene therapy with an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector in a clinical trial showed the real prospect that, through gene therapy, a cure for hemophilia may become a reality. However, AAV-mediated gene therapy is not applicable to patients with hemophilia A at present, and neutralizing antibodies against AAV reduce the efficacy of AAV-mediated strategies. Because patients that benefit from AAV treatment (hemophilia B without neutralizing antibodies) are estimated to represent only 15% of total patients with hemophilia, the development of basic technologies for hemophilia A and those that result in higher therapeutic effects are critical. In this review, we present an outline of gene therapy methods for hemophilia, including the transition of technical developments thus far and our novel techniques. © 2015 International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.
Gene therapy for hemophilia: past, present and future.
George, Lindsey A; Fogarty, Patrick F
After numerous preclinical studies demonstrated consistent success in large and small animal models, gene therapy has finally seen initial signs of clinically meaningful success. In a landmark study, Nathwani and colleagues reported sustained factor (F)IX expression in individuals with severe hemophilia B following adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated in vivo FIX gene transfer. As the next possible treatment-changing paradigm in hemophilia care, gene therapy may provide patients with sufficient hemostatic improvement to achieve the World Federation of Hemophilia's aspirational goal of "integration of opportunities in all aspects of life… equivalent to someone without a bleeding disorder." Although promising momentum supports the potential of gene therapy to replace protein-based therapeutics for hemophilia, several obstacles remain. The largest challenges appear to be overcoming the cellular immune responses to the AAV capsid; preexisting AAV neutralizing antibodies, which immediately exclude approximately 50% of the target population; and the ability to scale-up vector manufacturing for widespread applicability. Additional obstacles specific to hemophilia A (HA) include designing a vector cassette to accommodate a larger cDNA; avoiding development of inhibitory antibodies; and, perhaps the greatest difficulty to overcome, ensuring adequate expression efficiency. This review discusses the relevance of gene therapy to the hemophilia disease state, previous research progress, the current landscape of clinical trials, and considerations for promoting the future availability of gene therapy for hemophilia. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Gene therapy for cancer: regulatory considerations for approval.
Husain, S R; Han, J; Au, P; Shannon, K; Puri, R K
The rapidly changing field of gene therapy promises a number of innovative treatments for cancer patients. Advances in genetic modification of cancer and immune cells and the use of oncolytic viruses and bacteria have led to numerous clinical trials for cancer therapy, with several progressing to late-stage product development. At the time of this writing, no gene therapy product has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Some of the key scientific and regulatory issues include understanding of gene transfer vector biology, safety of vectors in vitro and in animal models, optimum gene transfer, long-term persistence or integration in the host, shedding of a virus and ability to maintain transgene expression in vivo for a desired period of time. Because of the biological complexity of these products, the FDA encourages a flexible, data-driven approach for preclinical safety testing programs. The clinical trial design should be based on the unique features of gene therapy products, and should ensure the safety of enrolled subjects. This article focuses on regulatory considerations for gene therapy product development and also discusses guidance documents that have been published by the FDA.
Clinical applications of gene therapy for primary immunodeficiencies.
Cicalese, Maria Pia; Aiuti, Alessandro
Primary immunodeficiencies (PIDs) have represented a paradigmatic model for successes and pitfalls of hematopoietic stem cells gene therapy. First clinical trials performed with gamma retroviral vectors (γ-RV) for adenosine deaminase severe combined immunodeficiency (ADA-SCID), X-linked SCID (SCID-X1), and Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) showed that gene therapy is a valid therapeutic option in patients lacking an HLA-identical donor. No insertional mutagenesis events have been observed in more than 40 ADA-SCID patients treated so far in the context of different clinical trials worldwide, suggesting a favorable risk-benefit ratio for this disease. On the other hand, the occurrence of insertional oncogenesis in SCID-X1, WAS, and chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) RV clinical trials prompted the development of safer vector construct based on self-inactivating (SIN) retroviral or lentiviral vectors (LVs). Here we present the recent results of LV-mediated gene therapy for WAS showing stable multilineage engraftment leading to hematological and immunological improvement, and discuss the differences with respect to the WAS RV trial. We also describe recent clinical results of SCID-X1 gene therapy with SIN γ-RV and the perspectives of targeted genome editing techniques, following early preclinical studies showing promising results in terms of specificity of gene correction. Finally, we provide an overview of the gene therapy approaches for other PIDs and discuss its prospects in relation to the evolving arena of allogeneic transplant.
Recent advances in gene therapy for lysosomal storage disorders.
Rastall, David Pw; Amalfitano, Andrea
Lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs) are a group of genetic diseases that result in metabolic derangements of the lysosome. Most LSDs are due to the genetic absence of a single catabolic enzyme, causing accumulation of the enzyme's substrate within the lysosome. Over time, tissue-specific substrate accumulations result in a spectrum of symptoms and disabilities that vary by LSD. LSDs are promising targets for gene therapy because delivery of a single gene into a small percentage of the appropriate target cells may be sufficient to impact the clinical course of the disease. Recently, there have been several significant advancements in the potential for gene therapy of these disorders, including the first human trials. Future clinical trials will build upon these initial attempts, with an improved understanding of immune system responses to gene therapy, the obstacle that the blood-brain barrier poses for neuropathic LSDs, as well other biological barriers that, when overcome, may facilitate gene therapy for LSDs. In this manuscript, we will highlight the recent innovations in gene therapy for LSDs and discuss the clinical limitations that remain to be overcome, with the goal of fostering an understanding and further development of this important field.
Gene therapy of inherited skin adhesion disorders: a critical overview.
De Luca, M; Pellegrini, G; Mavilio, F
Gene therapy has the potential to treat devastating inherited diseases for which there is little hope of finding a conventional cure. These include lethal diseases, like immunodeficiencies or several metabolic disorders, or conditions associated with a relatively long life expectancy but poor quality of life and expensive and life-long symptomatic treatments, such as muscular dystrophy, cystic fibrosis and thalassaemia. Skin adhesion defects belong to both groups. For the nonlethal forms, gene therapy, or transplantation of cultured skin derived from genetically corrected epidermal stem cells, represents a very attractive therapeutic option, and potentially a definitive treatment. Recent advances in gene transfer and stem cell culture technology are making this option closer than ever. This paper critically reviews the progress and prospects of gene therapy for epidermolysis bullosa, and the technical and nontechnical factors currently limiting its development.
Pancreatic Cancer Gene Therapy: From Molecular Targets to Delivery Systems
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Fillat, Cristina, E-mail: firstname.lastname@example.com; Jose, Anabel; Ros, Xavier Bofill-De; Mato-Berciano, Ana; Maliandi, Maria Victoria; Sobrevals, Luciano [Programa Gens i Malaltia, Centre de Regulació Genòmica-CRG, UPF, Parc de Recerca Biomedica de Barcelona-PRBB and Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red de Enfermedades Raras (CIBERER), Barcelona (Spain)
The continuous identification of molecular changes deregulating critical pathways in pancreatic tumor cells provides us with a large number of novel candidates to engineer gene-targeted approaches for pancreatic cancer treatment. Targets—both protein coding and non-coding—are being exploited in gene therapy to influence the deregulated pathways to facilitate cytotoxicity, enhance the immune response or sensitize to current treatments. Delivery vehicles based on viral or non-viral systems as well as cellular vectors with tumor homing characteristics are a critical part of the design of gene therapy strategies. The different behavior of tumoral versus non-tumoral cells inspires vector engineering with the generation of tumor selective products that can prevent potential toxic-associated effects. In the current review, a detailed analysis of the different targets, the delivery vectors, the preclinical approaches and a descriptive update on the conducted clinical trials are presented. Moreover, future possibilities in pancreatic cancer treatment by gene therapy strategies are discussed.
Gene Therapy for the Treatment of Neurological Disorders: Metabolic Disorders.
Gessler, Dominic J; Gao, Guangping
Metabolic disorders comprise a large group of heterogeneous diseases ranging from very prevalent diseases such as diabetes mellitus to rare genetic disorders like Canavan Disease. Whether either of these diseases is amendable by gene therapy depends to a large degree on the knowledge of their pathomechanism, availability of the therapeutic gene, vector selection, and availability of suitable animal models. In this book chapter, we review three metabolic disorders of the central nervous system (CNS; Canavan Disease, Niemann-Pick disease and Phenylketonuria) to give examples for primary and secondary metabolic disorders of the brain and the attempts that have been made to use adeno-associated virus (AAV) based gene therapy for treatment. Finally, we highlight commonalities and obstacles in the development of gene therapy for metabolic disorders of the CNS exemplified by those three diseases.
Immunostimulatory Gene Therapy Using Oncolytic Viruses as Vehicles
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Angelica Loskog
Full Text Available Immunostimulatory gene therapy has been developed during the past twenty years. The aim of immunostimulatory gene therapy is to tilt the suppressive tumor microenvironment to promote anti-tumor immunity. Hence, like a Trojan horse, the gene vehicle can carry warriors and weapons into enemy territory to combat the tumor from within. The most promising immune stimulators are those activating and sustaining Th1 responses, but even if potent effects were seen in preclinical models, many clinical trials failed to show objective responses in cancer patients. However, with new tools to control ongoing immunosuppression in cancer patients, immunostimulatory gene therapy is now emerging as an interesting option. In parallel, oncolytic viruses have been shown to be safe in patients. To prolong immune stimulation and to increase efficacy, these two fields are now merging and oncolytic viruses are armed with immunostimulatory transgenes. These novel agents are racing towards approval as established cancer immunotherapeutics.
Advances in gene therapy technologies to treat retinitis pigmentosa.
Petrs-Silva, Hilda; Linden, Rafael
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a class of diseases that leads to progressive degeneration of the retina. Experimental approaches to gene therapy for the treatment of inherited retinal dystrophies have advanced in recent years, inclusive of the safe delivery of genes to the human retina. This review is focused on the development of gene therapy for RP using recombinant adenoassociated viral vectors, which show a positive safety record and have so far been successful in several clinical trials for congenital retinal disease. Gene therapy for RP is under development in a variety of animal models, and the results raise expectations of future clinical application. Nonetheless, the translation of such strategies to the bedside requires further understanding of the mutations and mechanisms that cause visual defects, as well as thorough examination of potential adverse effects.
Gene Therapy for the Treatment of Neurological Disorders: Metabolic Disorders
Gessler, Dominic J.; Gao, Guangping
Metabolic disorders comprise a large group of heterogeneous diseases ranging from very prevalent diseases such as diabetes mellitus to rare genetic disorders like Canavan Disease. Whether either of these diseases is amendable by gene therapy depends to a large degree on the knowledge of their pathomechanism, availability of the therapeutic gene, vector selection, and availability of suitable animal models. In this book chapter, we review three metabolic disorders of the central nervous system (CNS; Canavan Disease, Niemann–Pick disease and Phenylketonuria) to give examples for primary and secondary metabolic disorders of the brain and the attempts that have been made to use adeno-associated virus (AAV) based gene therapy for treatment. Finally, we highlight commonalities and obstacles in the development of gene therapy for metabolic disorders of the CNS exemplified by those three diseases. PMID:26611604
Safety of gene therapy: new insights to a puzzling case.
Rothe, Michael; Schambach, Axel; Biasco, Luca
Over the last few years, the transfer of therapeutic genes via gammaretro- or lentiviral vector systems has proven its virtue as an alternative treatment for a series of genetic disorders. The number of approved phase I/II clinical trials, especially for rare diseases, is steadily increasing, but the overall hurdles to become a broadly acceptable therapy remain numerous. The efforts by clinicians and basic scientists have tremendously improved the knowledge available about feasibility and biosafety of gene therapy. Nonetheless, despite the generation of a plethora of clinical and preclinical safety data, we still lack sufficiently powerful assays to predictively assess the exact levels of toxicity that might be observed in any given clinical gene therapy. Insertional mutagenesis is one of the major concerns when using integrating vectors for permanent cell modification, and the occurrence of adverse events related to genotoxicity, in early gene therapy trials, has refrained the field of gene therapy from emerging further. In this review, we provided a comprehensive overview on the basic principles and potential co-factors concurring in the generation of adverse events reported in gene therapy clinical trials using integrating vectors. Additionally, we summarized the available systems to assess genotoxicity at the preclinical level and we shed light on the issues affecting the predictive value of these assays when translating their results into the clinical arena. In the last section of the review we briefly touched on the future trends and how they could increase the safety of gene therapy employing integrating vector technology to take it to the next level.
Recent trends in the gene therapy of β-thalassemia.
Finotti, Alessia; Breda, Laura; Lederer, Carsten W; Bianchi, Nicoletta; Zuccato, Cristina; Kleanthous, Marina; Rivella, Stefano; Gambari, Roberto
The β-thalassemias are a group of hereditary hematological diseases caused by over 300 mutations of the adult β-globin gene. Together with sickle cell anemia, thalassemia syndromes are among the most impactful diseases in developing countries, in which the lack of genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis have contributed to the maintenance of a very high frequency of these genetic diseases in the population. Gene therapy for β-thalassemia has recently seen steadily accelerating progress and has reached a crossroads in its development. Presently, data from past and ongoing clinical trials guide the design of further clinical and preclinical studies based on gene augmentation, while fundamental insights into globin switching and new technology developments have inspired the investigation of novel gene-therapy approaches. Moreover, human erythropoietic stem cells from β-thalassemia patients have been the cellular targets of choice to date whereas future gene-therapy studies might increasingly draw on induced pluripotent stem cells. Herein, we summarize the most significant developments in β-thalassemia gene therapy over the last decade, with a strong emphasis on the most recent findings, for β-thalassemia model systems; for β-, γ-, and anti-sickling β-globin gene addition and combinatorial approaches including the latest results of clinical trials; and for novel approaches, such as transgene-mediated activation of γ-globin and genome editing using designer nucleases.
Recent trends in the gene therapy of β-thalassemia
Finotti, Alessia; Breda, Laura; Lederer, Carsten W; Bianchi, Nicoletta; Zuccato, Cristina; Kleanthous, Marina; Rivella, Stefano; Gambari, Roberto
The β-thalassemias are a group of hereditary hematological diseases caused by over 300 mutations of the adult β-globin gene. Together with sickle cell anemia, thalassemia syndromes are among the most impactful diseases in developing countries, in which the lack of genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis have contributed to the maintenance of a very high frequency of these genetic diseases in the population. Gene therapy for β-thalassemia has recently seen steadily accelerating progress and has reached a crossroads in its development. Presently, data from past and ongoing clinical trials guide the design of further clinical and preclinical studies based on gene augmentation, while fundamental insights into globin switching and new technology developments have inspired the investigation of novel gene-therapy approaches. Moreover, human erythropoietic stem cells from β-thalassemia patients have been the cellular targets of choice to date whereas future gene-therapy studies might increasingly draw on induced pluripotent stem cells. Herein, we summarize the most significant developments in β-thalassemia gene therapy over the last decade, with a strong emphasis on the most recent findings, for β-thalassemia model systems; for β-, γ-, and anti-sickling β-globin gene addition and combinatorial approaches including the latest results of clinical trials; and for novel approaches, such as transgene-mediated activation of γ-globin and genome editing using designer nucleases. PMID:25737641
Advances in gene therapy for muscular dystrophies.
Abdul-Razak, Hayder; Malerba, Alberto; Dickson, George
Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a recessive lethal inherited muscular dystrophy caused by mutations in the gene encoding dystrophin, a protein required for muscle fibre integrity. So far, many approaches have been tested from the traditional gene addition to newer advanced approaches based on manipulation of the cellular machinery either at the gene transcription, mRNA processing or translation levels. Unfortunately, despite all these efforts, no efficient treatments for DMD are currently available. In this review, we highlight the most advanced therapeutic strategies under investigation as potential DMD treatments.
HIV-1 CCR5 gene therapy will fail unless it is combined with a suicide gene.
Pandit, Aridaman; de Boer, Rob J
Highly active antiretroviral therapy (ART) has successfully turned Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) from a deadly pathogen into a manageable chronic infection. ART is a lifelong therapy which is both expensive and toxic, and HIV can become resistant to it. An alternative to lifelong ART is gene therapy that targets the CCR5 co-receptor and creates a population of genetically modified host cells that are less susceptible to viral infection. With generic mathematical models we show that gene therapy that only targets the CCR5 co-receptor fails to suppress HIV-1 (which is in agreement with current data). We predict that the same gene therapy can be markedly improved if it is combined with a suicide gene that is only expressed upon HIV-1 infection.
Gene Therapy of Human Breast Cancer
1987. Partial characterization of chicken spleen cell culture supernatants stimulated with Staphylococcus aureus. Developmental & Comparative...Immunology 1 1: 191. 8. Schoof, D. D., and C. H. Tempelis. 1 986. The role of soluble protein A in chicken spleen cell activation. Developmental...promoter upstream of the neomycin phosphotransferase gene. No other eukarjotic genes are expressed. Other sequences include an intron and poly(A) site
Gene therapy for the treatment of cystic fibrosis.
Burney, Tabinda J; Davies, Jane C
Gene therapy is being developed as a novel treatment for cystic fibrosis (CF), a condition that has hitherto been widely-researched yet for which no treatment exists that halts the progression of lung disease. Gene therapy involves the transfer of correct copies of cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) DNA to the epithelial cells in the airways. The cloning of the CFTR gene in 1989 led to proof-of-principle studies of CFTR gene transfer in vitro and in animal models. The earliest clinical trials in CF patients were conducted in 1993 and used viral and non-viral gene transfer agents in both the nasal and bronchial airway epithelium. To date, studies have focused largely on molecular or bioelectric (chloride secretion) outcome measures, many demonstrating evidence of CFTR expression, but few have attempted to achieve clinical efficacy. As CF is a lifelong disease, turnover of the airway epithelium necessitates repeat administration. To date, this has been difficult to achieve with viral gene transfer agents due to host recognition leading to loss of expression. The UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium (Imperial College London, University of Edinburgh and University of Oxford) is currently working on a large and ambitious program to establish the clinical benefits of CF gene therapy. Wave 1, which has reached the clinic, uses a non-viral vector. A single-dose safety trial is nearing completion and a multi-dose clinical trial is shortly due to start; this will be powered for clinically-relevant changes. Wave 2, more futuristically, will look at the potential of lentiviruses, which have long-lasting expression. This review will summarize the current status of translational research in CF gene therapy.
Gene engineering biological therapy for juvenile arthritis
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Kh Mikhel's
However, GEBA therapy cannot completely cure the disease as before despite the progress achieved. GEBAs have potentially a number of serious side effects, among which there are severe infections and there is a risk of developing malignancies and autoimmune processes. Their administration requires careful monitoring to reveal the early development of serious adverse reactions, thus preventing a poor outcome.
Sjogren Syndrome-Gene Therapy and its Prospective
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R Rahpeyma
Full Text Available Sjogren syndrome is one of the autoimmune diseases which is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration to exocrine glands and causes keratoconjunctivitis sicca and xerostomia. Today, a large population, with a majority of women over 40, suffer from this disease and have several complications regarding oral health and reduced life quality such as severe dental caries, painful eyes, olfactory and gustatory deficiency, speech, mastication and swallowing discomforts. Unfortunately, these patients do not respond to the conventional therapies. Nowadays in medical world, which its target is basic therapy and not symptomatic one, several gene therapy approaches, have gained importance in treatment of this apparently incurable diseases. Due to the facts that this disease is the second prevelant autoimmune disease, after rheumatoid arthritis, and the conventional therapies of the disease are all relative and symptomatic, researchers have insisted on the basic and causative therapy through gene transfer more than before. In the Present article, through reviewing 58 references containing recent scientific and investigatory findings it has been tried, to consider the pathogenesis and conventional therapies of this syndrome. Another purpose of this study was to investigate several and potentially very effective gene transfer systems and different theraputic genes (mainly membrane water channels, ione transporter molecules, transcription factors, antifungal proteins and free radical scavengers.
Microneedles as a Delivery System for Gene Therapy
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Wei eChen
Full Text Available Gene delivery systems can be divided to two major types: vector-based (either viral vector or non-viral vector and physical delivery technologies. Many physical carriers, such as electroporation, gene gun, ultrasound start to be proved to have the potential to enable gene therapy. A relatively new physical delivery technology for gene delivery consists of microneedles (MNs, which has been studied in many fields and for many molecule types and indications. Microneedles can penetrate the stratum corneum, which is the main barrier for drug delivery through the skin with ease of administration and without significant pain. Many different kinds of MNs, such as metal MNs, coated MNs, dissolving MNs have turned out to be promising in gene delivery. In this review, we discussed the potential as well as the challenges of utilizing MNs to deliver nucleic acids for gene therapy. We also proposed that a combination of MNs and other gene delivery approaches may lead to a better delivery system for gene therapy.
Intracellular delivery of potential therapeutic genes: prospects in cancer gene therapy.
Bakhtiar, Athirah; Sayyad, Mustak; Rosli, Rozita; Maruyama, Atsushi; Chowdhury, Ezharul H
Conventional therapies for malignant cancer such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy are associated with poor survival rates owing to the development of cellular resistance to cancer drugs and the lack of targetability, resulting in unwanted adverse effects on healthy cells and necessitating the lowering of therapeutic dose with consequential lower efficacy of the treatment. Gene therapy employing different types of viral and non-viral carriers to transport gene(s) of interest and facilitating production of the desirable therapeutic protein(s) has tremendous prospects in cancer treatments due to the high-level of specificity in therapeutic action of the expressed protein(s) with diminished off-target effects, although cancer cell-specific delivery of transgene(s) still poses some challenges to be addressed. Depending on the potential therapeutic target genes, cancer gene therapy could be categorized into tumor suppressor gene replacement therapy, immune gene therapy and enzyme- or prodrug-based therapy. This review would shed light on the current progress of delivery of potentially therapeutic genes into various cancer cells in vitro and animal models utilizing a variety of viral and non-viral vectors.
Gene therapy clinical trials worldwide to 2012 - an update.
Ginn, Samantha L; Alexander, Ian E; Edelstein, Michael L; Abedi, Mohammad R; Wixon, Jo
To date, over 1800 gene therapy clinical trials have been completed, are ongoing or have been approved worldwide. Our database brings together global information on gene therapy clinical trials from official agency sources, published literature, conference presentations and posters kindly provided to us by individual investigators or trial sponsors. This review presents our analysis of clinical trials that, to the best of our knowledge, have been or are being performed worldwide. As of our June 2012 update, we have entries on 1843 trials undertaken in 31 countries. We have analysed the geographical distribution of trials, the disease indications (or other reasons) for trials, the proportions to which different vector types are used, and which genes have been transferred. Details of the analyses presented, and our searchable database are available on The Journal of Gene Medicine Gene Therapy Clinical Trials Worldwide website at: http://www.wiley.co.uk/genmed/clinical. We also provide an overview of the progress being made in clinical trials of gene therapy approaches around the world and discuss the prospects for the future.
Development of Viral Vectors for Gene Therapy for Chronic Pain
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Yu Huang
Full Text Available Chronic pain is a major health concern that affects millions of people. There are no adequate long-term therapies for chronic pain sufferers, leading to significant cost for both society and the individual. The most commonly used therapy for chronic pain is the application of opioid analgesics and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but these drugs can lead to addiction and may cause side effects. Further studies of the mechanisms of chronic pain have opened the way for development of new treatment strategies, one of which is gene therapy. The key to gene therapy is selecting safe and highly efficient gene delivery systems that can deliver therapeutic genes to overexpress or suppress relevant targets in specific cell types. Here we review several promising viral vectors that could be applied in gene transfer for the treatment of chronic pain and further discuss the possible mechanisms of genes of interest that could be delivered with viral vectors for the treatment of chronic pain.
Heart failure gene therapy: the path to clinical practice.
Pleger, Sven T; Brinks, Henriette; Ritterhoff, Julia; Raake, Philip; Koch, Walter J; Katus, Hugo A; Most, Patrick
Gene therapy, aimed at the correction of key pathologies being out of reach for conventional drugs, bears the potential to alter the treatment of cardiovascular diseases radically and thereby of heart failure. Heart failure gene therapy refers to a therapeutic system of targeted drug delivery to the heart that uses formulations of DNA and RNA, whose products determine the therapeutic classification through their biological actions. Among resident cardiac cells, cardiomyocytes have been the therapeutic target of numerous attempts to regenerate systolic and diastolic performance, to reverse remodeling and restore electric stability and metabolism. Although the concept to intervene directly within the genetic and molecular foundation of cardiac cells is simple and elegant, the path to clinical reality has been arduous because of the challenge on delivery technologies and vectors, expression regulation, and complex mechanisms of action of therapeutic gene products. Nonetheless, since the first demonstration of in vivo gene transfer into myocardium, there have been a series of advancements that have driven the evolution of heart failure gene therapy from an experimental tool to the threshold of becoming a viable clinical option. The objective of this review is to discuss the current state of the art in the field and point out inevitable innovations on which the future evolution of heart failure gene therapy into an effective and safe clinical treatment relies.
Advances in imaging gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy.
Bhaumik, Srabani
Gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT) is one of the promising alternatives to conventional chemotherapy. Suicide gene therapy based anticancer strategy involves selective introduction of a foreign gene into tumor cells to produce a foreign enzyme that can activate an inert prodrug to its cytotoxic form and cause tumor cell death. In this review, we present three most promising suicide gene/prodrug combinations (1) herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-TK) with ganciclovir (GCV), (2) cytosine deaminase (CD) from bacteria or yeast with 5-fluorocytodine (5-FC) and (3) bacterial nitroreductase (NTR) with 5-(azaridin-1-yl)-2,4-dinitrobenzamide (CB1954) and discuss how molecular imaging may improve therapy strategies. Current advances in noninvasive imaging technologies can measure vector dose, tumor selectivity, transgene expression and biodistribution of therapeutic gene with the aid of reporter genes and imageable probes from live animal. In this review we will discuss various imaging modalities - Optical, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Positron Emission Tomography (PET) and Single Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT), and highlight some of the approaches that can advance prodrug cancer therapy from bench to clinic.
Radiopharmaceuticals to monitor the expression of transferred genes in gene transfer therapy
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Wiebe, L. I. [University of Alberta, Edmonton (Canada). Noujaim Institute for Pharmaceutical Oncology Research
The development and application of radiopharmaceuticals has, in many instances, been based on the pharmacological properties of therapeutic agents. The molecular biology-biotechnology revolution has had an important impact on treatment of diseases, in part through the reduced toxicity of `biologicals`, in part because of their specificity for interaction at unique molecular sites and in part because of their selective delivery to the target site. Immunotherapeutic approaches include the use of monoclonal antibodies (MABs), MAB-fragments and chemotactic peptides. Such agents currently form the basis of both diagnostic and immunotherapeutic radiopharmaceuticals. More recently, gene transfer techniques have been advanced to the point that a new molecular approach, gene therapy, has become a reality. Gene therapy offers an opportunity to attack disease at its most fundamental level. The therapeutic mechanism is based on the expression of a specific gene or genes, the product of which will invoke immunological, receptor-based or enzyme-based therapeutic modalities. Several approaches to gene therapy of cancer have been envisioned, the most clinically-advanced concepts involving the introduction of genes that will encode for molecular targets nor normally found in healthy mammalian cells. A number of gene therapy clinical trials are based on the introduction of the Herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) gene that encodes for viral thymidine kinase (tk+). Once HSV-1 tk+ is expressed in the target (cancer) cell, therapy can be effected by the administration of a highly molecularly-targeted and systemically non-toxic antiviral drug such as ganciclovir. The development of radiodiagnostic imaging in gene therapy will be reviewed, using HSV-1 tk+ and radioiodinated IVFRU as a basis for development of the theme. Molecular targets that could be exploited in gene therapy, other than tk+, will be identified
Mesenchymal stem cell-based gene therapy for erectile dysfunction.
Kim, J H; Lee, H J; Song, Y S
Despite the overwhelming success of PDE5 inhibitor (PDE5I), the demand for novel pharmacotherapeutic and surgical options for ED continues to rise owing to the increased proportion of elderly individuals in the population, in addition to the growing percentage of ED patients who do not respond to PDE5I. Surgical treatment of ED is associated with many complications, thus warranting the need for nonsurgical therapies. Moreover, none of the above-mentioned treatments essentially corrects, cures or prevents ED. Although gene therapy is a promising option, many challenges and obstacles such as local inflammatory response and random transgene expression, in addition to other safety issues, limit its use at the clinical level. The use of stem cell therapy alone also has many shortcomings. To overcome these inadequacies, many scientists and clinicians are investigating new gene and stem cell therapies.
Gene Therapy to Cure HIV: Where to from Here?
Johnston, Rowena
A variety of approaches are being tested to cure HIV, but with the exception of the Berlin patient case, none has been successful. The Berlin patient, positive for both HIV and acute myeloid leukemia (AML), received two stem cell transplants from a donor homozygous for the CCR5delta32 mutation. In the 8 years since his second transplant, he has remained free of both HIV and AML. This case provides strong proof-of-principle that a cure for HIV is possible and might be achieved through gene therapy. Several technological barriers must be resolved and are discussed here, including the safe delivery of the intervention throughout the body of the infected person, increased efficiency of gene editing, and avoidance of resistance to the therapy. Delivery of a gene therapy intervention to HIV-infected people around the world will also be a considerable challenge.
Gene therapy: a pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modelling overview.
Parra-Guillén, Zinnia P; González-Aseguinolaza, Gloria; Berraondo, Pedro; Trocóniz, Iñaki F
Since gene therapy started over 20 years ago, more than one-thousand clinical trials have been carried out. Nonviral vectors present interesting properties for their clinical application, but their efficiency in vivo is relatively low, and further improvements in these vectors are needed. Elucidating how nonviral vectors behave at the intracellular level is enlightening for vector improvement and optimization. Model-based approach is a powerful tool to understand and describe the different processes that gene transfer systems should overcome inside the body. Model-based approach allows for proposing and predicting the effect of parameter changes on the overall gene therapy response, as well as the known application of the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic modelling in conventional therapies. The objective of this paper is to critically review the works in which the time-course of naked or formulated DNA have been quantitatively studied or modelled.
Specifically targeted gene therapy for small-cell lung cancer
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Christensen, C.L.; Zandi, R.; Gjetting, T.
Small-cell lung cancer (SCLC) is a highly malignant disease with poor prognosis. Hence, there is great demand for new therapies that can replace or supplement the current available treatment regimes. Gene therapy constitutes a promising strategy and relies on the principle of introducing exogenous....... This review describes and discusses the current status of the application of gene therapy in relation to SCLC Udgivelsesdato: 2009/4...... DNA into malignant cells causing them to die. Since SCLC is a highly disseminated malignancy, the gene therapeutic agent must be administered systemically, obligating a high level of targeting of tumor tissue and the use of delivery vehicles designed for systemic circulation of the therapeutic DNA...
Factoring nonviral gene therapy into a cure for hemophilia A.
Gabrovsky, Vanessa; Calos, Michele P
Gene therapy for hemophilia A has fallen short of success despite several clinical trials conducted over the past decade. Challenges to its success include vector immunogenicity, insufficient transgene expression levels of Factor VIII, and inhibitor antibody formation. Gene therapy has been dominated by the use of viral vectors, as well as the immunogenic and oncogenic concerns that accompany these strategies. Because of the complexity of viral vectors, the development of nonviral DNA delivery methods may provide an efficient and safe alternative for the treatment of hemophilia A. New types of nonviral strategies, such as DNA integrating vectors, and the success of several nonviral animal studies, suggest that nonviral gene therapy has curative potential and justifies its clinical development.
Gene therapy for cardiovascular disease: the potential of VEGF.
Tiong, Alice; Freedman, Saul Benedict
The quest for new therapeutic options and the recent exponential explosion in our knowledge of genetics have led to active interest and research into gene therapy. One area of gene therapy that has generated much debate and controversy is the use of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) for therapeutic angiogenesis for palliative intent, and for the prevention of restenosis following percutaneous revascularization in coronary and peripheral arterial disease. This review highlights the development in VEGF gene therapy in the last 12 to 18 months, particularly the results from randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase I and II studies that have evolved from encouraging results from animal models and early pilot studies in humans.
Adeno-associated virus for cystic fibrosis gene therapy
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
S.V. Martini
Full Text Available Gene therapy is an alternative treatment for genetic lung disease, especially monogenic disorders such as cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a severe autosomal recessive disease affecting one in 2500 live births in the white population, caused by mutation of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR. The disease is classically characterized by pancreatic enzyme insufficiency, an increased concentration of chloride in sweat, and varying severity of chronic obstructive lung disease. Currently, the greatest challenge for gene therapy is finding an ideal vector to deliver the transgene (CFTR to the affected organ (lung. Adeno-associated virus is the most promising viral vector system for the treatment of respiratory disease because it has natural tropism for airway epithelial cells and does not cause any human disease. This review focuses on the basic properties of adeno-associated virus and its use as a vector for cystic fibrosis gene therapy.
Retroviral integration profiles: their determinants and implications for gene therapy
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Kwang-il Lim
Full Text Available Retroviruses have often been used for gene therapy because oftheir capacity for the long-term expression of transgenes via stableintegration into the host genome. However, retroviral integrationcan also result in the transformation of normal cells into cancercells, as demonstrated by the incidence of leukemia in a recentretroviral gene therapy trial in Europe. This unfortunate outcomehas led to the rapid initiation of studies examining variousbiological and pathological aspects of retroviral integration. Thisreview summarizes recent findings from these studies, includingthe global integration patterns of various types of retroviruses,viral and cellular determinants of integration, implications ofintegration for gene therapy and retrovirus-mediated infectiousdiseases, and strategies to shift integration to safe host genomicloci. A more comprehensive and mechanistic understanding ofretroviral integration processes will eventually make it possible togenerate safer retroviral vector platforms in the near future. [BMBreports 2012; 45(4: 207-212
Gene therapy in disorders of lipoprotein metabolism
Vaessen, Stefan F C; Twisk, Jaap; Kastelein, John J P; Kuivenhoven, Jan Albert
Current pharmacologic interventions in lipid metabolism are insufficient in a subset of patients at increased risk of cardiovascular disease. In particular, several monogenetic disorders of lipid metabolism with diverse clinical complications are beyond treatment to date. Somatic gene transfer is a
Gene Therapy for Diseases and Genetic Disorders
... at least two years. Hemophilia Patients born with Hemophilia are not able to induce blood clots and suffer from external and internal bleeding that can be life threatening. In a clinical trial conducted in the United States , the therapeutic gene was introduced into the liver of patients, who ...
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E. R. Nemtsova
Full Text Available This is a review of modern literature data of official medications for anti-tumor gene therapy as well as of medications that finished clinical trials.The article discusses the concept of gene therapy, the statistical analysis results of initiated clinical trials of gene products, the most actively developing directions of anticancer gene therapy, and the characteristics of anti-tumor gene medications.Various delivery systems for gene material are being examined, including viruses that are defective in replication (Gendicine™ and Advexin and oncolytic (tumor specific conditionally replicating viruses (Oncorine™, ONYX-015, Imlygic®.By now three preparations for intra-tumor injection have been introduced into oncology clinical practice: two of them – Gendicine™ and Oncorine™ have been registered in China, and one of them – Imlygic® has been registered in the USA. Gendicine™ and Oncorine™ are based on the wild type p53 gene and are designed for treatment of patients with head and neck malignancies. Replicating adenovirus is the delivery system in Gendicine™, whereas oncolytic adenovirus is the vector for gene material in Oncorine™. Imlygic® is based on the recombinant replicating HSV1 virus with an introduced GM–CSF gene and is designed for treatment of melanoma patients. These medications are well tolerated and do not cause any serious adverse events. Gendicine™ and Oncorine™ are not effective in monotherapy but demonstrate pronounced synergism with chemoand radiation therapy. Imlygic® has just started the post marketing trials.
Macrophage mediated PCI enhanced gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapy
Christie, Catherine E.; Zamora, Genesis; Kwon, Young J.; Berg, Kristian; Madsen, Steen J.; Hirschberg, Henry
Photochemical internalization (PCI) is a photodynamic therapy-based approach for improving the delivery of macromolecules and genes into the cell cytosol. Prodrug activating gene therapy (suicide gene therapy) employing the transduction of the E. coli cytosine deaminase (CD) gene into tumor cells, is a promising method. Expression of this gene within the target cell produces an enzyme that converts the nontoxic prodrug, 5-FC, to the toxic metabolite, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU). 5-FC may be particularly suitable for brain tumors, because it can readily cross the bloodbrain barrier (BBB). In addition the bystander effect, where activated drug is exported from the transfected cancer cells into the tumor microenvironment, plays an important role by inhibiting growth of adjacent tumor cells. Tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) are frequently found in and around glioblastomas. Monocytes or macrophages (Ma) loaded with drugs, nanoparticles or photosensitizers could therefore be used to target tumors by local synthesis of chemo attractive factors. The basic concept is to combine PCI, to enhance the ex vivo transfection of a suicide gene into Ma, employing specially designed core/shell NP as gene carrier.
Stem cells' guided gene therapy of cancer: New frontier in personalized and targeted therapy
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Mavroudi M
Full Text Available Diagnosis and therapy of cancer remain to be the greatest challenges for all physicians working in clinical oncology and molecular medicine. The grim statistics speak for themselves with reports of 1,638,910 men and women diagnosed with cancer and nearly 577,190 patients passed away due to cancer in the USA in 2012. For practicing clinicians, who treat patients suffering from advanced cancers with contemporary systemic therapies, the main challenge is to attain therapeutic efficacy, while minimizing side effects. Unfortunately, all contemporary systemic therapies cause side effects. In treated patients, these side effects may range from nausea to damaged tissues. In cancer survivors, the iatrogenic outcomes of systemic therapies may include genomic mutations and their consequences. Therefore, there is an urgent need for personalized and targeted therapies. Recently, we reviewed the current status of suicide gene therapy for cancer. Herein, we discuss the novel strategy: genetically engineered stem guided gene therapy. Stem cells have the unique potential for self-renewal and differentiation. This potential is the primary reason for introducing them into medicine to regenerate injured or degenerated organs, as well as to rejuvenate aging tissues. Recent advances in genetic engineering and stem cell research have created the foundations for genetic engineering of stem cells as the vectors for delivery of therapeutic transgenes. Specifically in oncology, the stem cells are genetically engineered to deliver the cell suicide inducing genes selectively to the cancer cells. Expression of the transgenes kills the cancer cells, while leaving healthy cells unaffected. Herein, we present various strategies to bioengineer suicide inducing genes and stem cell vectors. Moreover, we review results of the main preclinical studies and clinical trials. However, the main risk for therapeutic use of stem cells is their cancerous transformation. Therefore, we
Stem Cell Based Gene Therapy in Prostate Cancer
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Jae Heon Kim
Full Text Available Current prostate cancer treatment, especially hormone refractory cancer, may create profound iatrogenic outcomes because of the adverse effects of cytotoxic agents. Suicide gene therapy has been investigated for the substitute modality for current chemotherapy because it enables the treatment targeting the cancer cells. However the classic suicide gene therapy has several profound side effects, including immune-compromised due to viral vector. Recently, stem cells have been regarded as a new upgraded cellular vehicle or vector because of its homing effects. Suicide gene therapy using genetically engineered mesenchymal stem cells or neural stem cells has the advantage of being safe, because prodrug administration not only eliminates tumor cells but consequently kills the more resistant therapeutic stem cells as well. The attractiveness of prodrug cancer gene therapy by stem cells targeted to tumors lies in activating the prodrug directly within the tumor mass, thus avoiding systemic toxicity. Therapeutic achievements using stem cells in prostate cancer include the cytosine deaminase/5-fluorocytosine prodrug system, herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase/ganciclovir, carboxyl esterase/CPT11, and interferon-beta. The aim of this study is to review the stem cell therapy in prostate cancer including its proven mechanisms and also limitations.
Gene therapy in endocrine tumors: a comprehensive overview.
Suresh, Padmanaban S; Venkatesh, Thejaswini; Tsutsumi, Rie
Effective treatment strategies that help tackle the complex problems associated with managing endocrine cancers are in great demand. Because of the shortcomings in current treatments and the problems associated with the treatment strategies used in the cure and/or management of endocrine cancers, considerable effort must be devoted to developing new and effective therapeutic strategies. Gene therapy represents an area of both basic and clinical research that can potentially be considered a therapeutic option in treating endocrine cancers. Therefore, we consider it timely to summarize the studies related to gene-therapy interventions that are available for treating endocrine cancers and to highlight the major limitations of and the recent progress made in these therapies. After systematically reviewing the literature, we provide a comprehensive overview of distinct studies conducted to evaluate gene-therapy approaches in various endocrine cancers. Some of these successful studies have been extended toward translational investigations. The emerging view is that an integrative approach is required to combat the pitfalls associated with gene-therapy studies, especially in endocrine cancers.
Ex vivo gene therapy for HIV-1 treatment.
Scherer, Lisa J; Rossi, John J
Until recently, progress in ex vivo gene therapy (GT) for human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) treatment has been incremental. Long-term HIV-1 remission in a patient who received a heterologous stem cell transplant for acquired immunodeficiency syndrome-related lymphoma from a CCR5(-/-) donor, even after discontinuation of conventional therapy, has energized the field. We review the status of current approaches as well as future directions in the areas of therapeutic targets, combinatorial strategies, vector design, introduction of therapeutics into stem cells and enrichment/expansion of gene-modified cells. Finally, we discuss recent advances towards clinical application of HIV-1 GT.
Gene therapy outpaces haplo for SCID-X1.
Kohn, Donald B
In this issue of Blood, Touzot et al report that autologous gene therapy/hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) for infants with X-linked severe combined immune deficiency (SCID-X1) lacking a matched sibling donor may have better outcomes than haploidentical (haplo) HSCT. Because gene therapy represents an autologous transplant, it obviates immune suppression before and after transplant, eliminates risks of graft versus host disease (GVHD), and, as the authors report, led to faster immunological reconstitution after transplant than did haplo transplant.
Non-viral gene therapy for bone tissue engineering.
Wegman, Fiona; Oner, F Cumhur; Dhert, Wouter J A; Alblas, Jacqueline
The possibilities of using gene therapy for bone regeneration have been extensively investigated. Improvements in the design of new transfection agents, combining vectors and delivery/release systems to diminish cytotoxicity and increase transfection efficiencies have led to several successful in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo strategies. These include growth factor or short interfering ribonucleic acid (siRNA) delivery, or even enzyme replacement therapies, and have led to increased osteogenic differentiation and bone formation in vivo. These results provide optimism to consider use in humans with some of these gene-delivery strategies in the near future.
State of the art: gene therapy of haemophilia.
Spencer, H T; Riley, B E; Doering, C B
Clinical gene therapy has been practiced for more than a quarter century and the first products are finally gaining regulatory/marketing approval. As of 2016, there have been 11 haemophilia gene therapy clinical trials of which six are currently open. Each of the ongoing phase 1/2 trials is testing a variation of a liver-directed adeno-associated viral (AAV) vector encoding either factor VIII (FVIII) or factor IX (FIX) . As summarized herein, the clinical results to date have been mixed with some perceived success and a clear recognition of the immune response to AAV as an obstacle to therapeutic success. We also attempt to highlight promising late-stage preclinical activities for AAV-FVIII where, due to inherent challenges with manufacture, delivery and transgene product biosynthesis, more technological development has been necessary to achieve results comparable to what has been observed previously for AAV-FIX. Finally, we describe the development of a stem cell-based lentiviral vector gene therapy product that has the potential to provide lifelong production of FVIII and provide a functional 'cure' for haemophilia A. Integral to this program has been the incorporation of a blood cell-specific gene expression element driving the production of a bioengineered FVIII designed for optimal efficiency. As clearly outlined herein, haemophilia remains at the forefront of the rapidly advancing clinical gene therapy field where there exists a shared expectation that transformational advances are on the horizon. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Gene Therapy For Oral Cancer - Journey To A New Horizon
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Arpita Kabiraj
Full Text Available The past two decades have been golden years for the genetics of cancer. It has become clear through the work of countless laboratory groups that both inherited and sporadic cancers arise through defects or misregulations of their genomes. Despite advances in surgery, radiotherapy, and chemotherapy, the survival of patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma have not significantly improved over the past several decades. Thus, an entirely new approach to its treatment utilizing genetic aids has evolved. The majority of the head and neck cancers comprise of Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC. The traditional therapies for the management of cancer and their various modifications including surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy have not refined the survival rates yet. Gene therapy represents a fundamentally new mode for the effective treatment of a disease. It essentially consists of the introduction of the genetic material into the target cells of an individual without producing toxic effects on surrounding tissues. The essence of gene therapy is attributed to the replacement of the defective gene with a normal gene, thus restoring the lost function in the patient's body. The aim of this review is to analyze the different modalities of gene therapy currently used to manage precancerous and cancerous lesions of the oral cavity.
Gene therapy and angiogenesis in patients with coronary artery disease
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Kastrup, Jens
-blind placebo-controlled trials could not confirm the initial high efficacy of either the growth factor protein or the gene therapy approaches observed in earlier small trials. The clinical studies so far have all been without any gene-related serious adverse events. Future trials will focus on whether...... an improvement in clinical results can be obtained with a cocktail of growth factors or by a combination of gene and stem cell therapy in patients with severe coronary artery disease, which cannot be treated effectively with current treatment strategies....... of VEGF and FGF in patients with coronary artery disease. The initial small and unblinded studies with either recombinant growth factor proteins or genes encoding growth factors were encouraging, demonstrating both clinical improvement and evidence of angiogenesis. However, subsequent larger double...
Non-viral vectors for gene-based therapy.
Yin, Hao; Kanasty, Rosemary L; Eltoukhy, Ahmed A; Vegas, Arturo J; Dorkin, J Robert; Anderson, Daniel G
Gene-based therapy is the intentional modulation of gene expression in specific cells to treat pathological conditions. This modulation is accomplished by introducing exogenous nucleic acids such as DNA, mRNA, small interfering RNA (siRNA), microRNA (miRNA) or antisense oligonucleotides. Given the large size and the negative charge of these macromolecules, their delivery is typically mediated by carriers or vectors. In this Review, we introduce the biological barriers to gene delivery in vivo and discuss recent advances in material sciences, nanotechnology and nucleic acid chemistry that have yielded promising non-viral delivery systems, some of which are currently undergoing testing in clinical trials. The diversity of these systems highlights the recent progress of gene-based therapy using non-viral approaches.
Optimising gene therapy of hypoparathyroidism with hematopoietic stem cells
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
ZHOU Yi; L(U) Bing-jie; XU Ping; SONG Chun-fang
Background The treatment of hypoparathyroidism (HPT) is still a difficult clinical problem, which necessitates a new therapy. Gene therapy of HPT has been valuable, but how to improve the gene transfer efficiency and expression stability is a problem. This study was designed to optimize the gene therapy of HPT with hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) recombined with the parathyroid hormone (PTH) gene. Methods The human PTH gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from pcDNA3.1-PTH vectors and inserted into murine stem cell virus (MSCV) vectors with double enzyme digestion (EcoRI and XhoI). The recombinant vectors were transfected into PA317 packaging cell lines by the lipofectin method and screened by G418 selective medium. The condensed recombinant retroviruses were extracted and used to infect HSCs, which were injected into mice suffering from HPT. The change of symptoms and serum levels of PTH and calcium in each group of mice were investigated. Results The human PTH gene was inserted into MSCV vectors successfully and the titres were up to 2×107 colony forming unit (CFU)/ml in condensed retroviral solution. The secretion of PTH reached 15 ng·10-6·cell-1 per 48 hours. The wild type viruses were not detected via PCR amplification, so they were safe for use. The mice suffering from HPT recovered quickly and the serum levels of calcium and PTH remained normal for about three months after the HSCs recombined with PTH were injected into them. The therapeutic effect of this method was better than simple recombinant retroviruses injection.Conclusions The recombinant retroviral vectors MSCV-PTH and the high-titre condensed retroviral solution recombined with the PTH gene are obtained. The recombinant retroviral solution could infect HSCs at a high rate of efficiency. The infected HSCs could cure HPT in mice. This method has provided theoretical evidence for the clinical gene therapy of HPT.
Glaucoma: genes, phenotypes, and new directions for therapy.
Fan, Bao Jian; Wiggs, Janey L
Glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide, is characterized by progressive optic nerve damage, usually associated with intraocular pressure. Although the clinical progression of the disease is well defined, the molecular events responsible for glaucoma are currently poorly understood and current therapeutic strategies are not curative. This review summarizes the human genetics and genomic approaches that have shed light on the complex inheritance of glaucoma genes and the potential for gene-based and cellular therapies that this research makes possible.
Gene therapy for primary immunodeficiencies: current status and future prospects.
Qasim, Waseem; Gennery, Andrew R
Gene therapy using autologous haematopoietic stem cells offers a valuable treatment option for patients with primary immunodeficiencies who do not have access to an HLA-matched donor, although such treatments have not been without their problems. This review details gene therapy trials for X-linked and adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficient severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID), Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) and chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). X-linked SCID was chosen for gene therapy because of previous 'natural' genetic correction through a reversion event in a single lymphoid precursor, demonstrating limited thymopoiesis and restricted T-lymphocyte receptor repertoire, showing selective advantage of progenitors possessing the wild-type gene. In early studies, patients were treated with long terminal repeats-intact gamma-retroviral vectors, without additional chemotherapy. Early results demonstrated gene-transduced cells, sustained thymopoiesis, and a diverse T-lymphocyte repertoire with normal function. Serious adverse effects were subsequently reported in 5 of 20 patients, with T-lymphocyte leukaemia developing, secondary to the viral vector integrating adjacent to a known oncogene. New trials using self-inactivating gamma-retroviral vectors are progressing. Trials for ADA-SCID using gamma-retroviral vectors have been successful, with no similar serious adverse effects reported; trials using lentiviral vectors are in progress. Patients with WAS and CGD treated with early gamma-retroviral vectors have developed similar lymphoproliferative adverse effects to those seen in X-SCID--current trials are using new-generation vectors. Targeted gene insertion using homologous recombination of corrected gene sequences by cellular DNA repair pathways following targeted DNA breakage will improve efficacy and safety of gene therapy. A number of new techniques are discussed.
77 FR 71194 - Draft Guidance for Industry: Preclinical Assessment of Investigational Cellular and Gene Therapy...
... Investigational Cellular and Gene Therapy Products; Availability AGENCY: Food and Drug Administration, HHS. ACTION... for Biologics Research and Evaluation (CBER), Office of Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies (OCTGT). The product areas covered by this guidance are cellular therapy, gene therapy, therapeutic...
Genome-editing Technologies for Gene and Cell Therapy
Maeder, Morgan L; Gersbach, Charles A
Gene therapy has historically been defined as the addition of new genes to human cells. However, the recent advent of genome-editing technologies has enabled a new paradigm in which the sequence of the human genome can be precisely manipulated to achieve a therapeutic effect. This includes the correction of mutations that cause disease, the addition of therapeutic genes to specific sites in the genome, and the removal of deleterious genes or genome sequences. This review presents the mechanisms of different genome-editing strategies and describes each of the common nuclease-based platforms, including zinc finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), meganucleases, and the CRISPR/Cas9 system. We then summarize the progress made in applying genome editing to various areas of gene and cell therapy, including antiviral strategies, immunotherapies, and the treatment of monogenic hereditary disorders. The current challenges and future prospects for genome editing as a transformative technology for gene and cell therapy are also discussed. PMID:26755333
A preclinical approach for gene therapy of β-thalassemia
Breda, Laura; Kleinert, Dorothy A.; Casu, Carla; Casula, Laura; Cartegni, Luca; Fibach, Eitan; Mancini, Irene; Giardina, Patricia J.; Gambari, Roberto; Rivella, Stefano
Lentiviral-mediated β-globin gene transfer successfully treated β-thalassemic mice. Based on this result, clinical trials were initiated. To date, however, no study has investigated the efficacy of gene therapy in relation to the nature of the different β-globin mutations found in patients. Most mutations can be classified as β0 or β+, based on the amount of β-globin protein produced. Therefore, we propose that a screening in vitro is necessary to verify the efficacy of gene transfer prior to treatment of individual patients. We used a two-phase liquid culture system to expand and differentiate erythroid progenitor cells (ErPCs) transduced with lentiviral vectors. We propose the use of this system to test the efficiency of lentiviral vectors carrying the human β-globin gene, to correct the phenotype of ErPCs from patients preparing for gene therapy. This new approach might have profound implications for designing gene therapy and for understanding the genotype/phenotype variability observed in Cooley's anemia patients. PMID:20712784
A preclinical approach for gene therapy of beta-thalassemia.
Breda, Laura; Kleinert, Dorothy A; Casu, Carla; Casula, Laura; Cartegni, Luca; Fibach, Eitan; Mancini, Irene; Giardina, Patricia J; Gambari, Roberto; Rivella, Stefano
Lentiviral-mediated beta-globin gene transfer successfully treated beta-thalassemic mice. Based on this result, clinical trials were initiated. To date, however, no study has investigated the efficacy of gene therapy in relation to the nature of the different beta-globin mutations found in patients. Most mutations can be classified as beta(0) or beta(+), based on the amount of beta-globin protein produced. Therefore, we propose that a screening in vitro is necessary to verify the efficacy of gene transfer prior to treatment of individual patients. We used a two-phase liquid culture system to expand and differentiate erythroid progenitor cells (ErPCs) transduced with lentiviral vectors. We propose the use of this system to test the efficiency of lentiviral vectors carrying the human beta-globin gene, to correct the phenotype of ErPCs from patients preparing for gene therapy. This new approach might have profound implications for designing gene therapy and for understanding the genotype/phenotype variability observed in Cooley's anemia patients.
Genome-editing Technologies for Gene and Cell Therapy.
Maeder, Morgan L; Gersbach, Charles A
Gene therapy has historically been defined as the addition of new genes to human cells. However, the recent advent of genome-editing technologies has enabled a new paradigm in which the sequence of the human genome can be precisely manipulated to achieve a therapeutic effect. This includes the correction of mutations that cause disease, the addition of therapeutic genes to specific sites in the genome, and the removal of deleterious genes or genome sequences. This review presents the mechanisms of different genome-editing strategies and describes each of the common nuclease-based platforms, including zinc finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), meganucleases, and the CRISPR/Cas9 system. We then summarize the progress made in applying genome editing to various areas of gene and cell therapy, including antiviral strategies, immunotherapies, and the treatment of monogenic hereditary disorders. The current challenges and future prospects for genome editing as a transformative technology for gene and cell therapy are also discussed.
Nanoparticle-mediated delivery of suicide genes in cancer therapy.
Vago, Riccardo; Collico, Veronica; Zuppone, Stefania; Prosperi, Davide; Colombo, Miriam
Conventional chemotherapeutics have been employed in cancer treatment for decades due to their efficacy in killing the malignant cells, but the other side of the coin showed off-target effects, onset of drug resistance and recurrences. To overcome these limitations, different approaches have been investigated and suicide gene therapy has emerged as a promising alternative. This approach consists in the introduction of genetic materials into cancerous cells or the surrounding tissue to cause cell death or retard the growth of the tumor mass. Despite promising results obtained both in vitro and in vivo, this innovative approach has been limited, for long time, to the treatment of localized tumors, due to the suboptimal efficiency in introducing suicide genes into cancer cells. Nanoparticles represent a valuable non-viral delivery system to protect drugs in the bloodstream, to improve biodistribution, and to limit side effects by achieving target selectivity through surface ligands. In this scenario, the real potential of suicide genes can be translated into clinically viable treatments for patients. In the present review, we summarize the recent advances of inorganic nanoparticles as non-viral vectors in terms of therapeutic efficacy, targeting capacity and safety issues. We describe the main suicide genes currently used in therapy, with particular emphasis on toxin-encoding genes of bacterial and plant origin. In addition, we discuss the relevance of molecular targeting and tumor-restricted expression to improve treatment specificity to cancer tissue. Finally, we analyze the main clinical applications, limitations and future perspectives of suicide gene therapy.
Viroreplicative Gene Therapy Targeted to Prostate Cancer
drug 5- fluorouracil ( 5FU ), as RCR vectors using this suicide gene have moved forward to Phase I clinical trials for the treatment of patients...mutations (T5.0002). The specific enzyme activity was measured by a calibrated HPLC assay to detect 5FU , the conversion product of the 5FC prodrug...in protein extracts from infected cells harvested 5 days post-infection at MOI = 0.1, and is expressed as nmol 5FU produced per min per mg protein
Recent trends in the gene therapy of β-thalassemia
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Finotti A
Full Text Available Alessia Finotti,1–3 Laura Breda,4 Carsten W Lederer,6,7 Nicoletta Bianchi,1–3 Cristina Zuccato,1–3 Marina Kleanthous,6,7 Stefano Rivella,4,5 Roberto Gambari1–3 1Laboratory for the Development of Gene and Pharmacogenomic Therapy of Thalassaemia, Biotechnology Centre of Ferrara University, Ferrara, Italy; 2Associazione Veneta per la Lotta alla Talassemia, Rovigo, Italy; 3Department of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Section of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Ferrara University, Ferrara, Italy; 4Department of Pediatrics, Division of Haematology/Oncology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA; 5Department of Cell and Development Biology, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY, USA; 6Department of Molecular Genetics Thalassaemia, The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics, Nicosia, Cyprus; 7Cyprus School of Molecular Medicine, Nicosia, Cyprus Abstract: The β-thalassemias are a group of hereditary hematological diseases caused by over 300 mutations of the adult β-globin gene. Together with sickle cell anemia, thalassemia syndromes are among the most impactful diseases in developing countries, in which the lack of genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis have contributed to the maintenance of a very high frequency of these genetic diseases in the population. Gene therapy for β-thalassemia has recently seen steadily accelerating progress and has reached a crossroads in its development. Presently, data from past and ongoing clinical trials guide the design of further clinical and preclinical studies based on gene augmentation, while fundamental insights into globin switching and new technology developments have inspired the investigation of novel gene-therapy approaches. Moreover, human erythropoietic stem cells from β-thalassemia patients have been the cellular targets of choice to date whereas future gene-therapy studies might increasingly draw on induced pluripotent stem cells. Herein, we summarize the most
Gene Therapy for Muscular Dystrophy: Lessons Learned and Path Forward
Mendell, Jerry R.; Rodino-Klapac, Louise; Sahenk, Zarife; Malik, Vinod; Kaspar, Brian K.; Walker, Christopher M.; Clark, K. Reed
Our Translational Gene Therapy Center has used small molecules for exon skipping and mutation suppression and gene transfer to replace or provide surrogate genes as tools for molecular-based approaches for the treatment of muscular dystrophies. Exon skipping is targeted at the pre-mRNA level allowing one or more exons to be omitted to restore the reading frame. In Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), clinical trials have been performed with two different oligomers, a 2′O-methyl-ribo-oligonucleoside-phosphorothioate (2′OMe) and a phosphorodiamidate morpholino (PMO). Both have demonstrated early evidence of efficacy. A second molecular approach involves suppression of stop codons to promote readthrough of the DMD gene. We have been able to establish proof of principle for mutation suppression using the aminoglycoside, gentamicin. A safer, orally administered, alternative agent referred to as Ataluren (PTC124) has been used in clinical trials and is currently under consideration for approval by the FDA. Using a gene therapy approach, we have completed two trials and have initiated a third. For DMD, we used a mini-dystrophin transferred in adeno-associated virus (AAV). In this trial an immune response was seen directed against transgene product, a quite unexpected outcome that will help guide further studies. For limb girdle muscular dystrophy 2D (alpha-sarcoglycan deficiency), the transgene was again transferred using AAV but in this study, a muscle specific creatine kinase promoter controlled gene expression that persisted for six months. A third gene therapy trial has been initiated with transfer of the follistatin gene in AAV directly to the quadriceps muscle. Two diseases with selective quadriceps muscle weakness are undergoing gene transfer including sporadic inclusion body myositis (sIBM) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD). Increasing the size and strength of the muscle is the goal of this study. Most importantly, no adverse events have been encountered in
Regulatory systems for hypoxia-inducible gene expression in ischemic heart disease gene therapy.
Kim, Hyun Ah; Rhim, Taiyoun; Lee, Minhyung
Ischemic heart diseases are caused by narrowed coronary arteries that decrease the blood supply to the myocardium. In the ischemic myocardium, hypoxia-responsive genes are up-regulated by hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1). Gene therapy for ischemic heart diseases uses genes encoding angiogenic growth factors and anti-apoptotic proteins as therapeutic genes. These genes increase blood supply into the myocardium by angiogenesis and protect cardiomyocytes from cell death. However, non-specific expression of these genes in normal tissues may be harmful, since growth factors and anti-apoptotic proteins may induce tumor growth. Therefore, tight gene regulation is required to limit gene expression to ischemic tissues, to avoid unwanted side effects. For this purpose, various gene expression strategies have been developed for ischemic-specific gene expression. Transcriptional, post-transcriptional, and post-translational regulatory strategies have been developed and evaluated in ischemic heart disease animal models. The regulatory systems can limit therapeutic gene expression to ischemic tissues and increase the efficiency of gene therapy. In this review, recent progresses in ischemic-specific gene expression systems are presented, and their applications to ischemic heart diseases are discussed.
The interplay of post-translational modification and gene therapy
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Osamor VC
Full Text Available Victor Chukwudi Osamor,1–3 Shalom N Chinedu,3,4 Dominic E Azuh,3,5 Emeka Joshua Iweala,3,4 Olubanke Olujoke Ogunlana3,4 1Covenant University Bioinformatics Research (CUBRe Unit, Department of Computer and Information Sciences, College of Science and Technology (CST, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria; 2Institute of Informatics (Computational biology and Bioinformatics, Faculty of Mathematics, Informatics and Mechanics, University of Warsaw (Uniwersytet Warszawski, Warszawa, Poland; 3Covenant University Public Health and Well-being Research Group (CUPHWERG, Covenant University, 4Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Unit, Department of Biological Sciences, College of Science and Technology, Covenant University, Canaan Land, 5Department of Economics and Development Studies, Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria Abstract: Several proteins interact either to activate or repress the expression of other genes during transcription. Based on the impact of these activities, the proteins can be classified into readers, modifier writers, and modifier erasers depending on whether histone marks are read, added, or removed, respectively, from a specific amino acid. Transcription is controlled by dynamic epigenetic marks with serious health implications in certain complex diseases, whose understanding may be useful in gene therapy. This work highlights traditional and current advances in post-translational modifications with relevance to gene therapy delivery. We report that enhanced understanding of epigenetic machinery provides clues to functional implication of certain genes/gene products and may facilitate transition toward revision of our clinical treatment procedure with effective fortification of gene therapy delivery. Keywords: post-translational modification, gene therapy, epigenetics, histone, methylation
Lentiviral hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy in inherited metabolic disorders
G. Wagemaker (Gerard)
textabstractAfter more than 20 years of development, lentiviral hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy has entered the stage of initial clinical implementation for immune deficiencies and storage disorders. This brief review summarizes the development and applications, focusing on the lysosomal enzyme
Molecular Genetic and Gene Therapy Studies of the Musculoskeletal System
Therapy 9:991-999. 2. Tischer E, Mitchell R, Hartman T, Silva M, Gospodarowicz D, Fiddes JC, Abraham JA (1991) The human gene for vascular endothelial...8463-71. fibers. J Virol 1998;72(5):4212-23. 178. Zufferey R, Dull T, Mandel RJ, Bukovsky A, Quiroz 192. Clark KR. Recent advances in recombinant
Gene therapy rescues cone function in congenital achromatopsia
Komáromy, András M.; Alexander, John J.; Rowlan, Jessica S.; Garcia, Monique M.; Chiodo, Vince A.; Kaya, Asli; Tanaka, Jacqueline C.; Acland, Gregory M.; Hauswirth, William W.; Aguirre, Gustavo D.
The successful restoration of visual function with recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV)-mediated gene replacement therapy in animals and humans with an inherited disease of the retinal pigment epithelium has ushered in a new era of retinal therapeutics. For many retinal disorders, however, targeting of therapeutic vectors to mutant rods and/or cones will be required. In this study, the primary cone photoreceptor disorder achromatopsia served as the ideal translational model to develop gene therapy directed to cone photoreceptors. We demonstrate that rAAV-mediated gene replacement therapy with different forms of the human red cone opsin promoter led to the restoration of cone function and day vision in two canine models of CNGB3 achromatopsia, a neuronal channelopathy that is the most common form of achromatopsia in man. The robustness and stability of the observed treatment effect was mutation independent, but promoter and age dependent. Subretinal administration of rAAV5–hCNGB3 with a long version of the red cone opsin promoter in younger animals led to a stable therapeutic effect for at least 33 months. Our results hold promise for future clinical trials of cone-directed gene therapy in achromatopsia and other cone-specific disorders. PMID:20378608
Modeling of gene therapy for regenerative cells using intelligent agents.
Adly, Aya Sedky; Aboutabl, Amal Elsayed; Ibrahim, M Shaarawy
Gene therapy is an exciting field that has attracted much interest since the first submission of clinical trials. Preliminary results were very encouraging and prompted many investigators and researchers. However, the ability of stem cells to differentiate into specific cell types holds immense potential for therapeutic use in gene therapy. Realization of this potential depends on efficient and optimized protocols for genetic manipulation of stem cells. It is widely recognized that gain/loss of function approaches using gene therapy are essential for understanding specific genes functions, and such approaches would be particularly valuable in studies involving stem cells. A significant complexity is that the development stage of vectors and their variety are still not sufficient to be efficiently applied in stem cell therapy. The development of scalable computer systems constitutes one step toward understanding dynamics of its potential. Therefore, the primary goal of this work is to develop a computer model that will support investigations of virus' behavior and organization on regenerative tissues including genetically modified stem cells. Different simulation scenarios were implemented, and their results were encouraging compared to ex vivo experiments, where the error rate lies in the range of acceptable values in this domain of application.
Angiogenic gene therapy does not cause retinal pathology.
Prokosch, Verena; Stupp, Tobias; Spaniol, Kristina; Pham, Emmanuel; Nikol, Sigrid
The potential negative influence of angiogenic gene therapy on the development or progression of retinal pathologies such as diabetic retinopathy (DR) or age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has led to the systematic exclusion of affected patients from trials. We investigated the role of nonviral fibroblast factor 1 (NV1FGF) in two phase II, multinational, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, gene therapy trials (TALISMAN 201 and 211). One hundred and fifty-two subjects with critical limb ischemia or claudication were randomized to receive eight intramuscular injections of 2.5 ml of NV1FGF at 0.2 mg/ml or 0.4 mg/dl or placebo. One hundred and fifty-two patients received a plasmid dose of NV1FGF of up to 32 mg or placebo. All patients underwent a systematic ophthalmologic examination at baseline and at 3, 6 or 12 months following gene therapy. Twenty-six of these patients (Münster subgroup) received a retinal fluorescence angiography at baseline and at final examination. Among those 26 patients, four of nine patients with diabetes suffered from nonproliferative DR. Three patients showed non-exsudative AMD. No change of retinal morphology or function was observed in Münster subgroup of both TALISMAN trials independent of the intramuscular NV1FGF dosage applied. Angiogenic gene therapy using NV1FGF is safe even in diabetics. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Approaches and methods in gene therapy for kidney disease
van der Wouden, Els A; Sandovici, Maria; Henning, Robert H; de Zeeuw, Dick; Deelman, Leo E
Renal gene therapy may offer new strategies to treat diseases of native and transplanted kidneys. Several experimental techniques have been developed and employed using nonviral, viral, and cellular vectors. The most efficient vector for in vivo transfection appears to be adenovirus. Glomeruli, bloo
Available Evidence on Leber Congenital Amaurosis and Gene Therapy.
Alkharashi, Maan; Fulton, Anne B
Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a group of severe inherited retinal dystrophies that lead to early childhood blindness. In the last decade, interest in LCA has increased as advances in genetics have been applied to better identify, classify, and treat LCA. To date, 23 LCA genes have been identified. Gene replacement in the RPE65 form of LCA represents a major advance in treatment, although limitations have been recognized. In this article, we review the clinical and genetic features of LCA and evaluate the evidence available for gene therapy in RPE65 disease.
Adenovirus-derived vectors for prostate cancer gene therapy.
de Vrij, Jeroen; Willemsen, Ralph A; Lindholm, Leif; Hoeben, Rob C; Bangma, Chris H; Barber, Chris; Behr, Jean-Paul; Briggs, Simon; Carlisle, Robert; Cheng, Wing-Shing; Dautzenberg, Iris J C; de Ridder, Corrina; Dzojic, Helena; Erbacher, Patrick; Essand, Magnus; Fisher, Kerry; Frazier, April; Georgopoulos, Lindsay J; Jennings, Ian; Kochanek, Stefan; Koppers-Lalic, Daniela; Kraaij, Robert; Kreppel, Florian; Magnusson, Maria; Maitland, Norman; Neuberg, Patrick; Nugent, Regina; Ogris, Manfred; Remy, Jean-Serge; Scaife, Michelle; Schenk-Braat, Ellen; Schooten, Erik; Seymour, Len; Slade, Michael; Szyjanowicz, Pio; Totterman, Thomas; Uil, Taco G; Ulbrich, Karel; van der Weel, Laura; van Weerden, Wytske; Wagner, Ernst; Zuber, Guy
Prostate cancer is a leading cause of death among men in Western countries. Whereas the survival rate approaches 100% for patients with localized cancer, the results of treatment in patients with metastasized prostate cancer at diagnosis are much less successful. The patients are usually presented with a variety of treatment options, but therapeutic interventions in prostate cancer are associated with frequent adverse side effects. Gene therapy and oncolytic virus therapy may constitute new strategies. Already a wide variety of preclinical studies has demonstrated the therapeutic potential of such approaches, with oncolytic prostate-specific adenoviruses as the most prominent vector. The state of the art and future prospects of gene therapy in prostate cancer are reviewed, with a focus on adenoviral vectors. We summarize advances in adenovirus technology for prostate cancer treatment and highlight areas where further developments are necessary.
The feasibility of incorporating Vpx into lentiviral gene therapy vectors
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Samantha A McAllery
Full Text Available While current antiretroviral therapy has significantly improved, challenges still remain in life-long targeting of HIV-1 reservoirs. Lentiviral gene therapy has the potential to deliver protective genes into the HIV-1 reservoir. However, inefficient reverse transcription (RT occurs in HIV-1 reservoirs during lentiviral gene delivery. The viral protein Vpx is capable of increasing lentiviral RT by antagonizing the restriction factor SAMHD1. Incorporating Vpx into lentiviral vectors could substantially increase gene delivery into the HIV-1 reservoir. The feasibility of this Vpx approach was tested in resting cell models utilizing macrophages and dendritic cells. Our results showed Vpx exposure led to increased permissiveness of cells over a period that exceeded 2 weeks. Consequently, significant lower potency of HIV-1 antiretrovirals inhibiting RT and integration was observed. When Vpx was incorporated with anti-HIV-1 genes inhibiting either pre-RT or post-RT stages of the viral life-cycle, transduction levels significantly increased. However, a stronger antiviral effect was only observed with constructs that inhibit pre-RT stages of the viral life cycle. In conclusion this study demonstrates a way to overcome the major delivery obstacle of gene delivery into HIV-1 reservoir cell types. Importantly, incorporating Vpx with pre-RT anti-HIV-1 genes, demonstrated the greatest protection against HIV-1 infection.
Gene therapy for Leber congenital amaurosis: advances and future directions.
Hufnagel, Robert B; Ahmed, Zubair M; Corrêa, Zélia M; Sisk, Robert A
Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) is a congenital retinal dystrophy that results in significant and often severe vision loss at an early age. Comprehensive analysis of the genetic mutations and phenotypic correlations in LCA patients has allowed for significant improvements in understanding molecular pathways of photoreceptor degeneration and dysfunction. The purpose of this article is to review the literature on the subject of retinal gene therapy for LCA, including historical descriptions, preclinical animal studies, and human clinical trials. A literature search of peer-reviewed and indexed publications from 1996-2011 using the PubMed search engine was performed. Key terms included "Leber congenital amaurosis", LCA, RPE65, "cone-rod dystrophy", "gene therapy", and "human trials" in various combinations. Seminal articles prior to 1996 were selected from primary sources and reviews from the initial search. Articles were chosen based on pertinence to clinical, genetic, and therapeutic topics reviewed in this manuscript. Fundus photographs from LCA patients were obtained retrospectively from the clinical practice of one of the authors (R.A.S). Herein, we reviewed the literature on LCA as a genetic disease, the results of human gene therapy trials to date, and possible future directions towards treating inherited retinal diseases at the genetic level. Original descriptions of LCA by Theodor Leber and subsequent research demonstrate the severity of this disease with early-onset blindness. Discoveries of the causative heritable mutations revealed genes and protein products involved in photoreceptor development and visual transduction. Animal models have provided a means to test novel therapeutic strategies, namely gene therapy. Stemming from these experiments, three independent clinical trials tested the safety of subretinal delivery of viral gene therapy to patients with mutations in the RPE65 gene. More recently, efficacy studies have been conducted with encouraging
Neurotrophin gene therapy for sustained neural preservation after deafness.
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Patrick J Atkinson
Full Text Available The cochlear implant provides auditory cues to profoundly deaf patients by electrically stimulating the residual spiral ganglion neurons. These neurons, however, undergo progressive degeneration after hearing loss, marked initially by peripheral fibre retraction and ultimately culminating in cell death. This research aims to use gene therapy techniques to both hold and reverse this degeneration by providing a sustained and localised source of neurotrophins to the deafened cochlea. Adenoviral vectors containing green fluorescent protein, with or without neurotrophin-3 and brain derived neurotrophic factor, were injected into the lower basal turn of scala media of guinea pigs ototoxically deafened one week prior to intervention. This single injection resulted in localised and sustained gene expression, principally in the supporting cells within the organ of Corti. Guinea pigs treated with adenoviral neurotrophin-gene therapy had greater neuronal survival compared to contralateral non-treated cochleae when examined at 7 and 11 weeks post injection. Moreover; there was evidence of directed peripheral fibre regrowth towards cells expressing neurotrophin genes after both treatment periods. These data suggest that neurotrophin-gene therapy can provide sustained protection of spiral ganglion neurons and peripheral fibres after hearing loss.
Skin gene therapy for acquired and inherited disorders.
Carretero, M; Escámez, M J; Prada, F; Mirones, I; García, M; Holguín, A; Duarte, B; Podhajcer, O; Jorcano, J L; Larcher, F; Del Río, M
The rapid advances associated with the Human Genome Project combined with the development of proteomics technology set the bases to face the challenge of human gene therapy. Different strategies must be evaluated based on the genetic defect to be corrected. Therefore, the re-expression of the normal counterpart should be sufficient to reverse phenotype in single-gene inherited disorders. A growing number of candidate diseases are being evaluated since the ADA deficiency was selected for the first approved human gene therapy trial (Blaese et al., 1995). To cite some of them: sickle cell anemia, hemophilia, inherited immune deficiencies, hyper-cholesterolemia and cystic fibrosis. The approach does not seem to be so straightforward when a polygenic disorder is going to be treated. Many human traits like diabetes, hypertension, inflammatory diseases and cancer, appear to be due to the combined action of several genes and environment. For instance, several wizard gene therapy strategies have recently been proposed for cancer treatment, including the stimulation of the immune system of the patient (Xue et al., 2005), the targeting of particular signalling pathways to selectively kill cancer cells (Westphal and Melchner, 2002) and the modulation of the interactions with the stroma and the vasculature (Liotta, 2001; Liotta and Kohn, 2001).
Silica nanoparticle is a possible safe carrier for gene therapy
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
XUE Zhigang; DAI Heping; TANG Baisha; XIA Kun; XIA Jiahui; LIANG Desheng; LI Yumei; LONG Zhigao; PAN Qian; LIU Xionghao; WU Lingqian; ZHU Shaihong; CAI Fang
In order to develop a safe and effective gene therapy carrier, some toxicological and biodynamical experiments were carried out on silica nanoparticles (SiNPs). First we prepared SiNPs with appropriate portions of cyclohexane, deionized water and ethyl silicate, and then transfected the modified SiNPs and GFP plasmid DNA complex into the HT1080 cells to test the effectiveness of transfection for gene therapy. At the same time, we injected the SiNPs into a number of mice through tail vein. Then we made the mice crossed to evaluate the acute, long-term and reproductive toxicity. In vivo distribution analysis and pathological examination were made on both adult mice and their offspring. SiNPs were uniform and had an average diameter of 40 nm, and the modified SiNPs carried exogenous DNA molecules into target cells and the transferred GFP fusion gene was effectively expressed in the cells. The SiNPs injected via tail vein were widely distributed in almost all of tissues, and the injected mice had the ability to reproduce normally. The in vivo and in vitro results of this study clearly show that SiNPs can be used as a safe and effective carrier for gene transfection and gene therapy.
Towards autotrophic tissue engineering: Photosynthetic gene therapy for regeneration.
Chávez, Myra Noemi; Schenck, Thilo Ludwig; Hopfner, Ursula; Centeno-Cerdas, Carolina; Somlai-Schweiger, Ian; Schwarz, Christian; Machens, Hans-Günther; Heikenwalder, Mathias; Bono, María Rosa; Allende, Miguel L; Nickelsen, Jörg; Egaña, José Tomás
The use of artificial tissues in regenerative medicine is limited due to hypoxia. As a strategy to overcome this drawback, we have shown that photosynthetic biomaterials can produce and provide oxygen independently of blood perfusion by generating chimeric animal-plant tissues during dermal regeneration. In this work, we demonstrate the safety and efficacy of photosynthetic biomaterials in vivo after engraftment in a fully immunocompetent mouse skin defect model. Further, we show that it is also possible to genetically engineer such photosynthetic scaffolds to deliver other key molecules in addition to oxygen. As a proof-of-concept, biomaterials were loaded with gene modified microalgae expressing the angiogenic recombinant protein VEGF. Survival of the algae, growth factor delivery and regenerative potential were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. This work proposes the use of photosynthetic gene therapy in regenerative medicine and provides scientific evidence for the use of engineered microalgae as an alternative to deliver recombinant molecules for gene therapy.
Current and future prospects for hemophilia gene therapy.
Ward, Peter; Walsh, Christopher E
Here we review the recent literature on Hemophilia gene transfer/therapy. Gene therapy is one of several new technologies being developed as a treatment for bleeding disorders. We will discuss current and pending clinical efforts and attempt to relate how the field is trending. In doing so, we will focus on the use of recombinant Adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vector-mediated gene transfer since all currently active trials are using this vector. Recent exciting results embody nearly 20 years of preclinical and translational research. After several early clinical attempts, therapeutic factor levels that can now be achieved reflect several modifications of the original vectors. Patterns of results are slowly starting to emerge as different AAV vectors are being tested. As with any new technology, there are drawbacks, and the potential for immune/inflammatory and oncogenic risks have emerged and will be discussed.
[The hair follicle as a target for gene therapy].
Cotsarelis, G
The hair follicle possesses progenitor cells required for continuous hair follicle cycling and for epidermal keratinocytes, melanocytes and Langerhans cells. These different cell types can be the target of topical gene delivery in the skin of the mouse. Using a combination of liposomes and DNA, we demonstrate the feasibility of targeting hair follicle cells in human scalp xenografts. We consider liposome composition and stage of the hair cycle as important parameters influencing transfection of human hair follicles. Transfection is possible only during the early anagen phase. Factors and obstacles for the use of gene therapy in treating alopecia and skin diseases are discussed. A theoretical framework for future treatment of cutaneous and systemic disorders using gene therapy is presented.
Baculoviruses as Vectors for Gene Therapy against Human Prostate Cancer
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Lindsay J. Stanbridge
Full Text Available Current curative strategies for prostate cancer are restricted to the primary tumour, and the effect of treatments to control metastatic disease is not sustained. Therefore, the application of gene therapy to prostate cancer is an attractive alternative. Baculoviruses are highly restricted insect viruses, which can enter, but not replicate in mammalian cells. Baculoviruses can incorporate large amounts of extra genetic material, and will express transgenes in mammalian cells when under the control of a mammalian or strong viral promoter. Successful gene delivery has been achieved both in vitro and in vivo and into both dividing and nondividing cells, which is important since prostate cancers divide relatively slowly. In addition, the envelope protein gp64 is sufficiently mutable to allow targeted transduction of particular cell types. In this review, the advantages of using baculoviruses for prostate cancer gene therapy are explored, and the mechanisms of viral entry and transgene expression are described.
In vivo particle-mediated gene transfer for cancer therapy.
Rakhmilevich, A L; Yang, N S
During the past several years, particle-mediated delivery techniques have been developed as a nonviral technology for gene transfer (1-7). For mammalian somatic tissues, this technology, popularly known as the gene gun method, has been shown effective for transfection of skin, liver, pancreas, muscle, spleen, and other organs in vivo (3,4), brain, mammary, and leukocyte primary cultures or tissue explants ex vivo (2,5-7), and a wide range of cell lines in vitro (3,6,7). In this chapter, we describe the general principles, mechanisms, protocols, and uses of the particle-mediated gene transfer technology for in vivo gene transfer, mainly into skin tissues. Specific applications of this technology to basic studies in molecular biology as well as to gene therapy and genetic immunization against cancer are addressed.
Advances in Ultrasound Mediated Gene Therapy Using Microbubble Contrast Agents
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Shashank R. Sirsi, Mark A. Borden
Full Text Available Microbubble ultrasound contrast agents have the potential to dramatically improve gene therapy treatments by enhancing the delivery of therapeutic DNA to malignant tissue. The physical response of microbubbles in an ultrasound field can mechanically perturb blood vessel walls and cell membranes, enhancing drug permeability into malignant tissue. In this review, we discuss literature that provided evidence of specific mechanisms that enhance in vivo gene delivery utilizing microbubble contrast agents, namely their ability to 1 improving cell membrane permeability, 2 modulate vascular permeability, and 3 enhance endocytotic uptake in cells. Additionally, we review novel microbubble vectors that are being developed in order to exploit these mechanisms and deliver higher gene payloads with greater target specificity. Finally, we discuss some future considerations that should be addressed in the development of next-generation microbubbles in order to improve in vivo microbubble gene delivery. Overall, microbubbles are rapidly gaining popularity as efficient gene carriers, and combined with their functionality as imaging contrast agents, they represent powerful theranostic tools for image guided gene therapy applications.
Advances in Overcoming Immune Responses following Hemophilia Gene Therapy.
Miao, Carol H
Both Clinical trials and pre-clinical experiments for hemophilia gene therapy showed that it is important to overcome potential immune responses against gene transfer vectors and/or transgene products to ensure the success of gene therapy. Recently various approaches have been investigated to prevent or modulate such responses. Gene transfer vectors have been specifically engineered and immunosuppressive regimens have been administered to avoid or manipulate the immune responses against the vectors. In order to prevent cytotoxic lymphocyte or antibody formation induced by transgene expression, novel approaches have been developed, including methods to manipulate antigen presentation, development of variant genes encoding less immunogenic proteins or gene transfer protocols to evade immune responses, as well as immunosuppressive strategies to target either T and/or B cell responses. Most of these successful protocols involve the induction of activated regulatory T cells to create a regulatory immune environment during tolerance induction. Recent development of these strategies to evade vector-specific immune responses and induce long-term immune tolerance specific to the transgene product will be discussed.
Advances in ultrasound mediated gene therapy using microbubble contrast agents.
Sirsi, Shashank R; Borden, Mark A
Microbubble ultrasound contrast agents have the potential to dramatically improve gene therapy treatments by enhancing the delivery of therapeutic DNA to malignant tissue. The physical response of microbubbles in an ultrasound field can mechanically perturb blood vessel walls and cell membranes, enhancing drug permeability into malignant tissue. In this review, we discuss literature that provided evidence of specific mechanisms that enhance in vivo gene delivery utilizing microbubble contrast agents, namely their ability to 1) improving cell membrane permeability, 2) modulate vascular permeability, and 3) enhance endocytotic uptake in cells. Additionally, we review novel microbubble vectors that are being developed in order to exploit these mechanisms and deliver higher gene payloads with greater target specificity. Finally, we discuss some future considerations that should be addressed in the development of next-generation microbubbles in order to improve in vivo microbubble gene delivery. Overall, microbubbles are rapidly gaining popularity as efficient gene carriers, and combined with their functionality as imaging contrast agents, they represent powerful theranostic tools for image guided gene therapy applications.
IL-12 based gene therapy in veterinary medicine.
Pavlin, Darja; Cemazar, Maja; Sersa, Gregor; Tozon, Natasa
The use of large animals as an experimental model for novel treatment techniques has many advantages over the use of laboratory animals, so veterinary medicine is becoming an increasingly important translational bridge between preclinical studies and human medicine. The results of preclinical studies show that gene therapy with therapeutic gene encoding interleukin-12 (IL-12) displays pronounced antitumor effects in various tumor models. A number of different studies employing this therapeutic plasmid, delivered by either viral or non-viral methods, have also been undertaken in veterinary oncology. In cats, adenoviral delivery into soft tissue sarcomas has been employed. In horses, naked plasmid DNA has been delivered by direct intratumoral injection into nodules of metastatic melanoma. In dogs, various types of tumors have been treated with either local or systemic IL-12 electrogene therapy. The results of these studies show that IL-12 based gene therapy elicits a good antitumor effect on spontaneously occurring tumors in large animals, while being safe and well tolerated by the animals. Hopefully, such results will lead to further investigation of this therapy in veterinary medicine and successful translation into human clinical trials.
IL-12 based gene therapy in veterinary medicine
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Pavlin Darja
Full Text Available Abstract The use of large animals as an experimental model for novel treatment techniques has many advantages over the use of laboratory animals, so veterinary medicine is becoming an increasingly important translational bridge between preclinical studies and human medicine. The results of preclinical studies show that gene therapy with therapeutic gene encoding interleukin-12 (IL-12 displays pronounced antitumor effects in various tumor models. A number of different studies employing this therapeutic plasmid, delivered by either viral or non-viral methods, have also been undertaken in veterinary oncology. In cats, adenoviral delivery into soft tissue sarcomas has been employed. In horses, naked plasmid DNA has been delivered by direct intratumoral injection into nodules of metastatic melanoma. In dogs, various types of tumors have been treated with either local or systemic IL-12 electrogene therapy. The results of these studies show that IL-12 based gene therapy elicits a good antitumor effect on spontaneously occurring tumors in large animals, while being safe and well tolerated by the animals. Hopefully, such results will lead to further investigation of this therapy in veterinary medicine and successful translation into human clinical trials.
Terapia gênica para osteoporose Gene therapy for osteoporosis
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Rafael Pacheco da Costa
Full Text Available A osteoporose é considerada um dos problemas de saúde mais comuns e sérios da população idosa mundial. É uma doença crônica e progressiva, caracterizada pela diminuição da massa óssea e deterioração da microarquitetura do tecido ósseo. A terapia gênica representa uma nova abordagem para o tratamento da osteoporose e tem como princípio devolver a função comprometida pelo metabolismo. Esta revisão visa focar os trabalhos relevantes desenvolvidos nos últimos anos, disponibilizados nas bases de dados médicas, e que utilizaram a terapia gênica para o tratamento da osteoporose em modelos animais, bem como, as perspectivas futuras desta terapia. A maioria dos estudos utiliza os genes BMPs, PTH e OPG na tentativa de restabelecer a massa óssea. Apesar da carência de novas moléculas, todos os genes empregados nos estudos se mostraram eficientes no tratamento da doença. Os benefícios que a terapia gênica proporcionará aos pacientes no futuro devem contribuir substancialmente para o aumento na qualidade de vida dos idosos. Em breve, protocolos clínicos envolvendo humanos irão beneficiar os indivíduos com osteoporose.Osteoporosis is considered one of the most common and serious problems affecting the elderly population worldwide. It is a chronic and progressive disease, characterized by decreased bone mass and degeneration of the microarchitecture of the bone tissue. Gene therapy represents a new approach in osteoporosis treatment, and its main function is to restore the compromised function in the metabolism. This review aims to elucidate the main studies on gene therapy in recent years, in the medical databases, that use gene therapy for the treatment of osteoporosis in animal models, as well as the future prospects of this therapy. The majority of the studies use the BMP, PTH and OPG genes, in an attempt to reestablish bone mass. Despite the lack of new molecules, all genes employed in these studies have proven to be
Pluripotent Stem Cells for Gene Therapy of Degenerative Muscle Diseases.
Loperfido, Mariana; Steele-Stallard, Heather B; Tedesco, Francesco Saverio; VandenDriessche, Thierry
Human pluripotent stem cells represent a unique source for cell-based therapies and regenerative medicine. The intrinsic features of these cells such as their easy accessibility and their capacity to be expanded indefinitely overcome some limitations of conventional adult stem cells. Furthermore, the possibility to derive patient-specific induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells in combination with the current development of gene modification methods could be used for autologous cell therapies of some genetic diseases. In particular, muscular dystrophies are considered to be a good candidate due to the lack of efficacious therapeutic treatments for patients to date, and in view of the encouraging results arising from recent preclinical studies. Some hurdles, including possible genetic instability and their efficient differentiation into muscle progenitors through vector/transgene-free methods have still to be overcome or need further optimization. Additionally, engraftment and functional contribution to muscle regeneration in pre-clinical models need to be carefully assessed before clinical translation. This review offers a summary of the advanced methods recently developed to derive muscle progenitors from pluripotent stem cells, as well as gene therapy by gene addition and gene editing methods using ZFNs, TALENs or CRISPR/Cas9. We have also discussed the main issues that need to be addressed for successful clinical translation of genetically corrected patient-specific pluripotent stem cells in autologous transplantation trials for skeletal muscle disorders.
Pancreatic Cancer Gene Therapy: From Molecular Targets to Delivery Systems
Fillat, Cristina; Jose, Anabel; Ros, Xavier Bofill-De; Mato-Berciano, Ana; Maliandi, Maria Victoria; Sobrevals, Luciano
The continuous identification of molecular changes deregulating critical pathways in pancreatic tumor cells provides us with a large number of novel candidates to engineer gene-targeted approaches for pancreatic cancer treatment. Targets—both protein coding and non-coding—are being exploited in gene therapy to influence the deregulated pathways to facilitate cytotoxicity, enhance the immune response or sensitize to current treatments. Delivery vehicles based on viral or non-viral systems as well as cellular vectors with tumor homing characteristics are a critical part of the design of gene therapy strategies. The different behavior of tumoral versus non-tumoral cells inspires vector engineering with the generation of tumor selective products that can prevent potential toxic-associated effects. In the current review, a detailed analysis of the different targets, the delivery vectors, the preclinical approaches and a descriptive update on the conducted clinical trials are presented. Moreover, future possibilities in pancreatic cancer treatment by gene therapy strategies are discussed. PMID:24212620
Bacteriophages and medical oncology: targeted gene therapy of cancer.
Bakhshinejad, Babak; Karimi, Marzieh; Sadeghizadeh, Majid
Targeted gene therapy of cancer is of paramount importance in medical oncology. Bacteriophages, viruses that specifically infect bacterial cells, offer a variety of potential applications in biomedicine. Their genetic flexibility to go under a variety of surface modifications serves as a basis for phage display methodology. These surface manipulations allow bacteriophages to be exploited for targeted delivery of therapeutic genes. Moreover, the excellent safety profile of these viruses paves the way for their potential use as cancer gene therapy platforms. The merge of phage display and combinatorial technology has led to the emergence of phage libraries turning phage display into a high throughput technology. Random peptide libraries, as one of the most frequently used phage libraries, provide a rich source of clinically useful peptide ligands. Peptides are known as a promising category of pharmaceutical agents in medical oncology that present advantages such as inexpensive synthesis, efficient tissue penetration and the lack of immunogenicity. Phage peptide libraries can be screened, through biopanning, against various targets including cancer cells and tissues that results in obtaining cancer-homing ligands. Cancer-specific peptides isolated from phage libraries show huge promise to be utilized for targeting of various gene therapy vectors towards malignant cells. Beyond doubt, bacteriophages will play a more impressive role in the future of medical oncology.
Gene therapy for PIDs: progress, pitfalls and prospects.
Mukherjee, Sayandip; Thrasher, Adrian J
Substantial progress has been made in the past decade in treating several primary immunodeficiency disorders (PIDs) with gene therapy. Current approaches are based on ex-vivo transfer of therapeutic transgene via viral vectors to patient-derived autologous hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) followed by transplantation back to the patient with or without conditioning. The overall outcome from all the clinical trials targeting different PIDs has been extremely encouraging but not without caveats. Malignant outcomes from insertional mutagenesis have featured prominently in the adverse events associated with these trials and have warranted intense pre-clinical investigation into defining the tendencies of different viral vectors for genomic integration. Coupled with issues pertaining to transgene expression, the therapeutic landscape has undergone a paradigm shift in determining safety, stability and efficacy of gene therapy approaches. In this review, we aim to summarize the progress made in the gene therapy trials targeting ADA-SCID, SCID-X1, CGD and WAS, review the pitfalls, and outline the recent advancements which are expected to further enhance favourable risk benefit ratios for gene therapeutic approaches in the future.
Pancreatic Cancer Gene Therapy: From Molecular Targets to Delivery Systems
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Maria Victoria Maliandi
Full Text Available The continuous identification of molecular changes deregulating critical pathways in pancreatic tumor cells provides us with a large number of novel candidates to engineer gene-targeted approaches for pancreatic cancer treatment. Targets—both protein coding and non-coding—are being exploited in gene therapy to influence the deregulated pathways to facilitate cytotoxicity, enhance the immune response or sensitize to current treatments. Delivery vehicles based on viral or non-viral systems as well as cellular vectors with tumor homing characteristics are a critical part of the design of gene therapy strategies. The different behavior of tumoral versus non-tumoral cells inspires vector engineering with the generation of tumor selective products that can prevent potential toxic-associated effects. In the current review, a detailed analysis of the different targets, the delivery vectors, the preclinical approaches and a descriptive update on the conducted clinical trials are presented. Moreover, future possibilities in pancreatic cancer treatment by gene therapy strategies are discussed.
The Pathway From Genes to Gene Therapy in Glaucoma: A Review of Possibilities for Using Genes as Glaucoma Drugs.
Borrás, Teresa
Treatment of diseases with gene therapy is advancing rapidly. The use of gene therapy has expanded from the original concept of re-placing the mutated gene causing the disease to the use of genes to con-trol nonphysiological levels of expression or to modify pathways known to affect the disease. Genes offer numerous advantages over conventional drugs. They have longer duration of action and are more specific. Genes can be delivered to the target site by naked DNA, cells, nonviral, and viral vectors. The enormous progress of the past decade in molecular bi-ology and delivery systems has provided ways for targeting genes to the intended cell/tissue and safe, long-term vectors. The eye is an ideal organ for gene therapy. It is easily accessible and it is an immune-privileged site. Currently, there are clinical trials for diseases affecting practically every tissue of the eye, including those to restore vision in patients with Leber congenital amaurosis. However, the number of eye trials compared with those for systemic diseases is quite low (1.8%). Nevertheless, judg-ing by the vast amount of ongoing preclinical studies, it is expected that such number will increase considerably in the near future. One area of great need for eye gene therapy is glaucoma, where a long-term gene drug would eliminate daily applications and compliance issues. Here, we review the current state of gene therapy for glaucoma and the possibilities for treating the trabecular meshwork to lower intraocular pressure and the retinal ganglion cells to protect them from neurodegeneration.
MR Imaging and Gene Therapy of Breast Cancer
can be used in differential 0730-725X/00/$ - see front matter 0 2000 Elsevier Science Inc . All rights reserved. P11: S0730-725X(00)001 19-3 312 M-Y Su... Science Inc . All rights reserved. Keywords: Gene therapy; Cancer therapy; Vascularity 1. Introduction very practical. It would be extremely useful to...optimization of treatment regiments. The vascularity changes measured by dynamic MRI may provide a means to serve for this purpose. © 2000 Elsevier
To Your Health: NLM update transcript - First gene therapy cancer treatment
... Your Health: NLM update Transcript First gene therapy cancer treatment : 09/11/2017 To use the sharing features ... up on weekly topics. The first gene therapy treatment for cancer recently was approved by the U.S. Food and ...
77 FR 73472 - Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
... From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide advice...
Bystander or No Bystander for Gene Directed Enzyme Prodrug Therapy
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Adam V. Patterson
Full Text Available Gene directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT of cancer aims to improve the selectivity of chemotherapy by gene transfer, thus enabling target cells to convert nontoxic prodrugs to cytotoxic drugs. A zone of cell kill around gene-modified cells due to transfer of toxic metabolites, known as the bystander effect, leads to tumour regression. Here we discuss the implications of either striving for a strong bystander effect to overcome poor gene transfer, or avoiding the bystander effect to reduce potential systemic effects, with the aid of three successful GDEPT systems. This review concentrates on bystander effects and drug development with regard to these enzyme prodrug combinations, namely herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-TK with ganciclovir (GCV, cytosine deaminase (CD from bacteria or yeast with 5-fluorocytodine (5-FC, and bacterial nitroreductase (NfsB with 5-(azaridin-1-yl-2,4-dinitrobenzamide (CB1954, and their respective derivatives.
Experimental Studies on PNP Suicide Gene Therapy of Hepatoma
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
To investigate the killing effect of PNP/MeP-dR suicide gene system on hepatoma cells,pcDNA3. 0/PNP, an eukaryotic expression vector harboring E. coli PNP gene, was transfected into human hepatoma HepG2 cells by liposome-mediated method. A HepG2 cell line with stable PNP gene expression, HepG2/PNP, was established with presence of G418 selection. The cell growth curves were determined with trypan blue staining. The sensitivity of HepG2/PNP to MePdR and bystander effects were assayed by MTT and FCM methods. The enzymatic activity of the product of PNP gene was determined by HPLC method. The cytotoxic effects of MeP-dR on HepG2/PNP cells were obvious (IC50 =4.5μmol/L) and all HepG2/PNP cells were killed 4 days after the treatment with 100μmol/L MeP~dR. In mixed cultures containing increasing percentages of HepG2/PNP cells, total population killing was demonstrated when HepG2/PNP cells accounted for as few as 5% of all HepG2 cells 8 days after the treatment with 100μmol MeP-dR. Highpressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) demonstrated that the PNP enzyme could convert MePdR into 6-MP. PNP/MeP-dR suicide gene system had an advantage over traditional suicide gene systems for hepatoma gene therapy. Our e results suggest that high-level bystander effects of this system result in significant anti-tumor responses to hepatoma gene therapy, especially in vivo.
Gene mutation-based and specific therapies in precision medicine.
Wang, Xiangdong
Precision medicine has been initiated and gains more and more attention from preclinical and clinical scientists. A number of key elements or critical parts in precision medicine have been described and emphasized to establish a systems understanding of precision medicine. The principle of precision medicine is to treat patients on the basis of genetic alterations after gene mutations are identified, although questions and challenges still remain before clinical application. Therapeutic strategies of precision medicine should be considered according to gene mutation, after biological and functional mechanisms of mutated gene expression or epigenetics, or the correspondent protein, are clearly validated. It is time to explore and develop a strategy to target and correct mutated genes by direct elimination, restoration, correction or repair of mutated sequences/genes. Nevertheless, there are still numerous challenges to integrating widespread genomic testing into individual cancer therapies and into decision making for one or another treatment. There are wide-ranging and complex issues to be solved before precision medicine becomes clinical reality. Thus, the precision medicine can be considered as an extension and part of clinical and translational medicine, a new alternative of clinical therapies and strategies, and have an important impact on disease cures and patient prognoses.
Gene and stem cell therapy of the hair follicle.
Hoffman, Robert M
The hair follicle is a highly complex appendage of the skin containing a multiplicity of cell types. The follicle undergoes constant cycling through the life of the organism including growth and resorption with growth dependent on specific stem cells. The targeting of the follicle by genes and stem cells to change its properties, in particular, the nature of the hair shaft is discussed. Hair follicle delivery systems are described such as liposomes and viral vectors for gene therapy. The nature of the hair follicle stem cells is discussed, in particular, its pluripotency.
Engineering adeno-associated viruses for clinical gene therapy.
Kotterman, Melissa A; Schaffer, David V
Clinical gene therapy has been increasingly successful owing both to an enhanced molecular understanding of human disease and to progressively improving gene delivery technologies. Among these technologies, delivery vectors based on adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) have emerged as safe and effective and, in one recent case, have led to regulatory approval. Although shortcomings in viral vector properties will render extension of such successes to many other human diseases challenging, new approaches to engineer and improve AAV vectors and their genetic cargo are increasingly helping to overcome these barriers.
Genomic discovery of potent chromatin insulators for human gene therapy.
Liu, Mingdong; Maurano, Matthew T; Wang, Hao; Qi, Heyuan; Song, Chao-Zhong; Navas, Patrick A; Emery, David W; Stamatoyannopoulos, John A; Stamatoyannopoulos, George
Insertional mutagenesis and genotoxicity, which usually manifest as hematopoietic malignancy, represent major barriers to realizing the promise of gene therapy. Although insulator sequences that block transcriptional enhancers could mitigate or eliminate these risks, so far no human insulators with high functional potency have been identified. Here we describe a genomic approach for the identification of compact sequence elements that function as insulators. These elements are highly occupied by the insulator protein CTCF, are DNase I hypersensitive and represent only a small minority of the CTCF recognition sequences in the human genome. We show that the elements identified acted as potent enhancer blockers and substantially decreased the risk of tumor formation in a cancer-prone animal model. The elements are small, can be efficiently accommodated by viral vectors and have no detrimental effects on viral titers. The insulators we describe here are expected to increase the safety of gene therapy for genetic diseases.
Advances in Non-Viral DNA Vectors for Gene Therapy
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Cinnamon L. Hardee
Full Text Available Uses of viral vectors have thus far eclipsed uses of non-viral vectors for gene therapy delivery in the clinic. Viral vectors, however, have certain issues involving genome integration, the inability to be delivered repeatedly, and possible host rejection. Fortunately, development of non-viral DNA vectors has progressed steadily, especially in plasmid vector length reduction, now allowing these tools to fill in specifically where viral or other non-viral vectors may not be the best options. In this review, we examine the improvements made to non-viral DNA gene therapy vectors, highlight opportunities for their further development, address therapeutic needs for which their use is the logical choice, and discuss their future expansion into the clinic
Advances in Non-Viral DNA Vectors for Gene Therapy
Hardee, Cinnamon L.; Arévalo-Soliz, Lirio Milenka; Hornstein, Benjamin D.; Zechiedrich, Lynn
Uses of viral vectors have thus far eclipsed uses of non-viral vectors for gene therapy delivery in the clinic. Viral vectors, however, have certain issues involving genome integration, the inability to be delivered repeatedly, and possible host rejection. Fortunately, development of non-viral DNA vectors has progressed steadily, especially in plasmid vector length reduction, now allowing these tools to fill in specifically where viral or other non-viral vectors may not be the best options. In this review, we examine the improvements made to non-viral DNA gene therapy vectors, highlight opportunities for their further development, address therapeutic needs for which their use is the logical choice, and discuss their future expansion into the clinic. PMID:28208635
Prevention of peritoneal adhesions: A promising role for gene therapy
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Hussein M Atta
Adhesions are the most frequent complication of abdominopelvic surgery, yet the extent of the problem, and its serious consequences, has not been adequately recognized. Adhesions evolved as a life-saving mechanism to limit the spread of intraperitoneal inflammatory conditions. Three different pathophysiological mechanisms can independently trigger adhesion formation. Mesothelial cell injury and loss during operations, tissue hypoxia and inflammation each promotes adhesion formation separately, and potentiate the effect of each other. Studies have repeatedly demonstrated that interruption of a single pathway does not completely prevent adhesion formation. This review summarizes the pathogenesis of adhesion formation and the results of single gene therapy interventions. It explores the promising role of combinatorial gene therapy and vector modifications for the prevention of adhesion formation in order to stimulate new ideas and encourage rapid advancements in this field.
[Successful gene therapy of mice with congenital erythropoietic porphyria].
de Verneuil, Hubert; Robert-Richard, Elodie; Ged, Cécile; Mazurier, Frédéric; Richard, Emmanuel; Moreau-Gaudry, François
Porphyrias are a group of disorders due to a genetic deficiency in one of the heme biosynthetic pathway enzymes. Congenital erythropoietic porphyria (CEP) is the most severe type characterized by a deficiency in uroporphyrinogen III synthase (UROS) activity. Bone marrow transplantation represents a curative treatment for patients, as long as human leucocyte antigen-compatible donor is available. We used a recently obtained murine model to check the feasibility of gene therapy in this disease. Lentivirus-mediated transfer of the human UROS cDNA into hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) from Uros(mut 248) mice resulted in a complete and long-term enzymatic, metabolic and phenotypic correction of the disease, favored by a survival advantage of corrected red blood cells. These results demonstrate for the first time that the cure of this mouse model of CEP at moderate transduction level supports the proof of concept of a gene therapy in this disease by transplantation of genetically modified HSCs.
75 FR 66381 - Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
... HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... be open to the public. Name of Committee: Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... Lentiviral Vector Based Gene Therapy Products. FDA intends to make background material available to...
76 FR 9028 - Guidance for Industry: Potency Tests for Cellular and Gene Therapy Products; Availability
... Industry: Potency Tests for Cellular and Gene Therapy Products'' dated January 2011. The guidance document provides manufacturers of cellular and gene therapy (CGT) products with recommendations for developing... document entitled ``Guidance for Industry: Potency Tests for Cellular and Gene Therapy Products''...
77 FR 63840 - Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
... HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee..., Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide advice and..., Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, and...
78 FR 79699 - Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
... No. FDA-2013-N-0001] Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting... the public. Name of Committee: Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. General..., Tissue, and Gene Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), FDA. On February...
76 FR 22405 - Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
... HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... be open to the public. Name of Committee: Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... gene therapy products for the treatment of retinal disorders. Topics to be considered include...
78 FR 44133 - Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
... HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... be open to the public. Name of Committee: Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... on guidance documents issued from the Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies, Center...
77 FR 65693 - Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Amendment of Notice
... HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... Register of October 17, 2012, FDA announced that a meeting of the Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies..., Office of Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA. On...
76 FR 81513 - Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
... HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee..., Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide advice and... Gene Therapies, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA. FDA intends to make...
Ocular gene therapy: an evaluation of recombinant adeno-associated virus-mediated gene therapy interventions for the treatment of ocular disease.
Roy, Kamolika; Stein, Linda; Kaushal, Shalesh
Both gene replacement therapy and alteration of host gene expression are playing increasingly important roles in the treatment of ocular diseases. Ocular gene therapy may provide alternatives to current treatments for eye diseases that are either greatly invasive and thus run the risk of complications, that offer only short-term relief from disease symptoms, or that are unable to directly treat vision loss. The success of three separate phase I clinical trials investigating a gene therapy intervention for the treatment of the retinal degenerative disorder Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) has unveiled the therapeutic potential of gene therapy. Preliminary results have demonstrated ocular gene transfer, using nonpathogenic recombinant adeno-associated viral (rAAV) vectors specifically, to be a safe, effective, and long-term treatment for LCA, a previously untreatable disorder. Nonpathogenic rAAV vectors offer the potential for long-term treatment. Many of the genes implicated in human ocular diseases have been identified, and animal models for such diseases have been developed, which have greatly facilitated the application of experimental rAAV-mediated gene therapy. This review highlights the key features of rAAV-mediated gene therapy that make it the most suitable gene therapy treatment approach for ocular diseases. Furthermore, it summarizes the current progress of rAAV-mediated gene therapy interventions/applications for a wide variety of ophthalmologic disorders.
Disability, gene therapy and eugenics - a challenge to John Harris
Reindal, S. M.
This article challenges the view of disability presented by Harris in his article, "Is gene therapy a form of eugenics?"1 It is argued that his definition of disability rests on an individual model of disability, where disability is regarded as a product of biological determinism or "personal tragedy" in the individual. Within disability theory this view is often called "the medical model" and it has been criticised for not being able to deal with the term "disability", but only with impairme...
Gene Therapy Strategies for Alzheimer's Disease: An Overview.
Alves, Sandro; Fol, Romain; Cartier, Nathalie
Key neuropathological hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease (AD) are extracellular amyloid plaques and intracellular accumulation of hyperphosphorylated Tau protein. The mechanisms underlying these neuropathological changes remain unclear. So far, research on AD therapy has had limited success in terms of symptomatic treatments although it has also had several failures for disease-modifying drugs. Gene transfer strategies to the brain have contributed to evaluate in animal models many interesting tracks, some of which should deserve clinical applications in AD patients in the future.
Baculovirus vectors in experimental gene- and vaccine therapy
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Strokovskaya L. I.
Full Text Available The article provides a brief overview of the literature on target design, exploration properties and effectiveness of the application of recombinant baculoviruses in model systems in vivo. The results of experiments with wild and recombinant baculoviruses are analysed in regard to the priority areas of biomedicine such as tissue regeneration, gene therapy of cancer, development of vaccines against infectious diseases and malignancies
Mobile genetic elements and cancer. From mutations to gene therapy.
Kozeretska, I A; Demydov, S V; Ostapchenko, L I
In the present review, an association between cancer and the activity of the non-LTR retroelements L1, Alu, and SVA, as well as endogenous retroviruses, in the human genome, is analyzed. Data suggesting that transposons have been involved in embryogenesis and malignization processes, are presented. Events that lead to the activation of mobile elements in mammalian somatic cells, as well as the use of mobile elements in genetic screening and cancer gene therapy, are reviewed.
New frontiers in the therapy of primary immunodeficiency: From gene addition to gene editing.
Kohn, Donald B; Kuo, Caroline Y
The most severe primary immune deficiency diseases (PIDs) have been successfully treated with allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for more than 4 decades. However, such transplantations have the best outcomes when there is a well-matched donor available because immune complications, such as graft-versus-host disease, are greater without a matched sibling donor. Gene therapy has been developed as a method to perform autologous transplantations of a patient's own stem cells that are genetically corrected. Through an iterative bench-to-bedside-and-back process, methods to efficiently add new copies of the relevant gene to hematopoietic stem cells have led to safe and effective treatments for several PIDs, including forms of severe combined immune deficiency, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, and chronic granulomatous disease. New methods for gene editing might allow additional PIDs to be treated by gene therapy because they will allow the endogenous gene to be repaired and expressed under its native regulatory elements, which are essential for genes involved in cell processes of signaling, activation, and proliferation. Gene therapy is providing exciting new treatment options for patients with PIDs, and advances are sure to continue.
DNA repair and gene therapy: implications for translational uses.
Limp-Foster, M; Kelley, M R
Gene therapy has been proposed to have implications in the treatment of cancer. By genetically manipulating the hematopoietic stem cell compartment with genes that confer resistance to chemotherapeutic agents, the dose escalation that is necessary to effectively treat the cancers could potentially be achieved. DNA repair genes are some of the potential candidates to confer increased resistance to chemotherapeutic agents. Although initial focus in this area has been on the direct reversal protein (MGMT), its protective ability is limited to those agents that produce O(6)-methylGuanine cross-links-agents that are not extensively used clinically (e.g., nitrosoureas). Furthermore, most alkylating agents attack more sites in DNA other than O(6)-methylGuanine, such that the protections afforded by MGMT may prevent the initial cytotoxicity, but at a price of increased mutational burden and potential secondary leukemias. Therefore, some of the genes that are being tested as candidates for gene transfer are base excision repair (BER) genes. We and others have found that overexpression of selective BER genes confers resistance to chemotherapeutic agents such as thiotepa, ionizing radiation, bleomycin, and other agents. As these "proof of concept" analyses mature, many more clinically relevant chemotherapeutic agents can be tested for BER protective ability.
C peptides as entry inhibitors for gene therapy.
Egerer, Lisa; Kiem, Hans-Peter; von Laer, Dorothee
Peptides derived from the C-terminal heptad repeat 2 region of the HIV-1 gp41 envelope glycoprotein, so-called C peptides, are very potent HIV-1 fusion inhibitors. Antiviral genes encoding either membrane-anchored (ma) or secreted (iSAVE) C peptides have been engineered and allow direct in vivo production of the therapeutic peptides by genetically modified host cells. Membrane-anchored C peptides expressed in the HIV-1 target cells by T-cell or hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy efficiently prevent virus entry into the modified cells. Such gene-protection confers a selective survival advantage and allows accumulation of the genetically modified cells. Membrane-anchored C peptides have been successfully tested in a nonhuman primate model of AIDS and were found to be safe in a phase I clinical trial in AIDS patients transplanted with autologous gene-modified T-cells. Secreted C peptides have the crucial advantage of not only protecting genetically modified cells from HIV-1 infection, but also neighboring cells, thus suppressing virus replication even if only a small fraction of cells is genetically modified. Accordingly, various cell types can be considered as potential in vivo producer cells for iSAVE-based gene therapeutics, which could even be modified by direct in vivo gene delivery in future. In conclusion, C peptide gene therapeutics may provide a strong benefit to AIDS patients and could present an effective alternative to current antiretroviral drug regimens.
Cytokine and Immuno-Gene Therapy for Solid Tumors
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Chuan-Yuan Li; Qian Huang; Hsiang-Fu Kung
Despite recent progress in our understanding of cancer biology and in many areas of cancer treatment, the success rate for cancer therapy remains dismal. Immunotherapy for cancer has long been an exciting field for many cancer researchers due to the possibility to mobilize the body's own immune system to eradicate cancer not only locally but also systemically. Since its initial discovery, cytokine-based immunotherapy has been vigorously and extensively investigated for cancer treatment due to the perception of it as a relatively easily purifiable, injectable form of cancer treatment agent. However, so far most cytokine-based therapy trials have fallen short of expectations. One of main obstacles is the difficulty to achieve therapeutically relevant dosage in patients without generating excessive normal tissue toxicity. The emergence of novel gene therapy approach to deliver therapeutic cytokine to tumors locally generated great excitement since it has the potential of generating sustained high local concentration of immunostimulatory cytokine without raising the systemic levels of the cytokines, which is responsible for most of the observed toxicity. In this review, we will attempt to provide an overview of the field and discuss some of the problems associated with cytokine-based immuno-gene therapy and potential solutions.Cellular & Molecular Immunology. 2005;2(2):81-91.
Cytokine and Immuno-Gene Therapy for Solid Tumors
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Chuan-YuanLi; QianHuang; Hsiang-FuKung
Despite recent progress in our understanding of cancer biology and in many areas of cancer treatment, the success rate for cancer therapy remains dismal. Immunotherapy for cancer has long been an exciting field for many cancer researchers due to the possibility to mobilize the body's own immune system to eradicate cancer not only locally but also systemically. Since its initial discovery, cytokine-based immunotherapy has been vigorously and extensively investigated for cancer treatment due to the perception of it as a relatively easily purifiable, injectable form of cancer treatment agent. However, so far most cytokine-based therapy trials have fallen short ofexpectations. One of main obstacles is the difficulty to achieve therapeutically relevant dosage in patients without generating excessive normal tissue toxicity. The emergence of novel gene therapy approach to deliver therapeutic cytokine to tumors locally generated great excitement since it has the potential of generating sustained high local concentration of immunostimulatory cytokine without raising the systemic levels of the cytokines, which is responsible for most of the observed toxicity. In this review, we will attempt to provide an overview of the field and discuss some of the problems associated with cytokine-based immuno-gene therapy and potential solutions. Cellular & Molecular Immunology. 2005;2(2):81-91.
Emerging cellular and gene therapies for congenital anemias.
Ludwig, Leif S; Khajuria, Rajiv K; Sankaran, Vijay G
Congenital anemias comprise a group of blood disorders characterized by a reduction in the number of peripherally circulating erythrocytes. Various genetic etiologies have been identified that affect diverse aspects of erythroid physiology and broadly fall into two main categories: impaired production or increased destruction of mature erythrocytes. Current therapies are largely focused on symptomatic treatment and are often based on transfusion of donor-derived erythrocytes and management of complications. Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation represents the only curative option currently available for the majority of congenital anemias. Recent advances in gene therapy and genome editing hold promise for the development of additional curative strategies for these blood disorders. The relative ease of access to the hematopoietic stem cell compartment, as well as the possibility of genetic manipulation ex vivo and subsequent transplantation in an autologous manner, make blood disorders among the most amenable to cellular therapies. Here we review cell-based and gene therapy approaches, and discuss the limitations and prospects of emerging avenues, including genome editing tools and the use of pluripotent stem cells, for the treatment of congenital forms of anemia. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Pleiotrophin gene therapy for peripheral ischemia: evaluation of full-length and truncated gene variants.
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Qizhi Fang
Full Text Available Pleiotrophin (PTN is a growth factor with both pro-angiogenic and limited pro-tumorigenic activity. We evaluated the potential for PTN to be used for safe angiogenic gene therapy using the full length gene and a truncated gene variant lacking the domain implicated in tumorigenesis. Mouse myoblasts were transduced to express full length or truncated PTN (PTN or T-PTN, along with a LacZ reporter gene, and injected into mouse limb muscle and myocardium. In cultured myoblasts, PTN was expressed and secreted via the Golgi apparatus, but T-PTN was not properly secreted. Nonetheless, no evidence of uncontrolled growth was observed in cells expressing either form of PTN. PTN gene delivery to myocardium, and non-ischemic skeletal muscle, did not result in a detectable change in vascularity or function. In ischemic hindlimb at 14 days post-implantation, intramuscular injection with PTN-expressing myoblasts led to a significant increase in skin perfusion and muscle arteriole density. We conclude that (1 delivery of the full length PTN gene to muscle can be accomplished without tumorigenesis, (2 the truncated PTN gene may be difficult to use in a gene therapy context due to inefficient secretion, (3 PTN gene delivery leads to functional benefit in the mouse acute ischemic hindlimb model.
Serotype Chimeric Human Adenoviruses for Cancer GeneTherapy
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Akseli Hemminki
Full Text Available Cancer gene therapy consists of numerous approaches where the common denominator is utilization of vectors for achieving therapeutic effect. A particularly potent embodiment of the approach is virotherapy, in which the replication potential of an oncolytic virus is directed towards tumor cells to cause lysis, while normal cells are spared. Importantly, the therapeutic effect of the initial viral load is amplified through viral replication cycles and production of progeny virions. All cancer gene therapy approaches rely on a sufficient level of delivery of the anticancer agent into target cells. Thus,enhancement of delivery to target cells, and reduction of delivery to non-target cells, in an approach called transductional targeting, is attractive. Both genetic and non-genetic retargeting strategies have been utilized. However, in the context of oncolytic viruses, it is beneficial to have the specific modification included in progeny virions and hence genetic modification may be preferable. Serotype chimerism utilizes serotype specific differences in receptor usage, liver tropism and seroprevalence in order to gain enhanced infection of target tissue. This review will focus on serotype chimeric adenoviruses for cancer gene therapy applications.
FGF-4 gene therapy GENERX--Collateral Therapeutics.
Collateral Therapeutics and Schering AG in Germany are developing a gene therapy product, GENERX for coronary artery disease. Based on the terms of the agreement, Schering or its affliates will be responsible for conducting and financing phase II/III clinical trials which are currently underway in the US and Europe. In particular, Berlex Labs (the US subsidiary of Schering AG), is involved in developing the gene therapy in the US. GENERX is an angiogenic gene therapy which triggers the production of a protein that stimulates new blood vessel growth providing an alternative route for blood to bypass clogged and blocked arteries in the heart. GENERX involves a one-time, non-surgical delivery of an adenovirus vector containing the human fibroblast growth factor-4 (FGF-4) into coronary arteries via a standard catheter. The FGF-4 gene was licensed from New York University. Collateral Therapeutics has been granted a US patent for "gene transfer-mediated angiogenesis therapy" for the nonsurgical administration of angiogenic genes for coronary and peripheral vascular disease. The patented technology has been licensed from the University of California. Collateral and Berlex have initiated pivotal phase IIb/III trials with GENERX in the US and Europe. The US-based study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of GENERX in patients with stable exertional angina due to coronary artery disease. The European-based study will evaluate patients with advanced coronary artery disease who are not considered candidates for interventions such as angioplasty and bypass surgery and/or patients who are unlikely to have positive outcomes from such interventions. Both studies, of a multicentre, randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled design, will evaluate 2 dose levels of GENERX which will be non-surgically administered to the heart via intracoronary infusion through a standard cardiac catheter. Collateral also plans to develop a non-surgical gene therapy product using the FGF-4 gene
Positron emission tomography reporter genes and reporter probes: gene and cell therapy applications.
Yaghoubi, Shahriar S; Campbell, Dean O; Radu, Caius G; Czernin, Johannes
Positron emission tomography (PET) imaging reporter genes (IRGs) and PET reporter probes (PRPs) are amongst the most valuable tools for gene and cell therapy. PET IRGs/PRPs can be used to non-invasively monitor all aspects of the kinetics of therapeutic transgenes and cells in all types of living mammals. This technology is generalizable and can allow long-term kinetics monitoring. In gene therapy, PET IRGs/PRPs can be used for whole-body imaging of therapeutic transgene expression, monitoring variations in the magnitude of transgene expression over time. In cell or cellular gene therapy, PET IRGs/PRPs can be used for whole-body monitoring of therapeutic cell locations, quantity at all locations, survival and proliferation over time and also possibly changes in characteristics or function over time. In this review, we have classified PET IRGs/PRPs into two groups based on the source from which they were derived: human or non-human. This classification addresses the important concern of potential immunogenicity in humans, which is important for expansion of PET IRG imaging in clinical trials. We have then discussed the application of this technology in gene/cell therapy and described its use in these fields, including a summary of using PET IRGs/PRPs in gene and cell therapy clinical trials. This review concludes with a discussion of the future direction of PET IRGs/PRPs and recommends cell and gene therapists collaborate with molecular imaging experts early in their investigations to choose a PET IRG/PRP system suitable for progression into clinical trials.
Positron Emission Tomography Reporter Genes and Reporter Probes: Gene and Cell Therapy Applications
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Shahriar S. Yaghoubi, Dean O. Campbell, Caius G. Radu, Johannes Czernin
Full Text Available Positron emission tomography (PET imaging reporter genes (IRGs and PET reporter probes (PRPs are amongst the most valuable tools for gene and cell therapy. PET IRGs/PRPs can be used to non-invasively monitor all aspects of the kinetics of therapeutic transgenes and cells in all types of living mammals. This technology is generalizable and can allow long-term kinetics monitoring. In gene therapy, PET IRGs/PRPs can be used for whole-body imaging of therapeutic transgene expression, monitoring variations in the magnitude of transgene expression over time. In cell or cellular gene therapy, PET IRGs/PRPs can be used for whole-body monitoring of therapeutic cell locations, quantity at all locations, survival and proliferation over time and also possibly changes in characteristics or function over time. In this review, we have classified PET IRGs/PRPs into two groups based on the source from which they were derived: human or non-human. This classification addresses the important concern of potential immunogenicity in humans, which is important for expansion of PET IRG imaging in clinical trials. We have then discussed the application of this technology in gene/cell therapy and described its use in these fields, including a summary of using PET IRGs/PRPs in gene and cell therapy clinical trials. This review concludes with a discussion of the future direction of PET IRGs/PRPs and recommends cell and gene therapists collaborate with molecular imaging experts early in their investigations to choose a PET IRG/PRP system suitable for progression into clinical trials.
Human gene therapy and imaging in neurological diseases
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Jacobs, Andreas H.; Winkler, Alexandra [Max Planck-Institute for Neurological Research, Center of Molecular Medicine (CMMC) and Department of Neurology, Cologne (Germany); MPI for Neurological Research, Laboratory for Gene Therapy and Molecular Imaging, Cologne (Germany); Castro, Maria G.; Lowenstein, Pedro [University of California Los Angeles (United States). Department of Medicine
Molecular imaging aims to assess non-invasively disease-specific biological and molecular processes in animal models and humans in vivo. Apart from precise anatomical localisation and quantification, the most intriguing advantage of such imaging is the opportunity it provides to investigate the time course (dynamics) of disease-specific molecular events in the intact organism. Further, molecular imaging can be used to address basic scientific questions, e.g. transcriptional regulation, signal transduction or protein/protein interaction, and will be essential in developing treatment strategies based on gene therapy. Most importantly, molecular imaging is a key technology in translational research, helping to develop experimental protocols which may later be applied to human patients. Over the past 20 years, imaging based on positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been employed for the assessment and ''phenotyping'' of various neurological diseases, including cerebral ischaemia, neurodegeneration and brain gliomas. While in the past neuro-anatomical studies had to be performed post mortem, molecular imaging has ushered in the era of in vivo functional neuro-anatomy by allowing neuroscience to image structure, function, metabolism and molecular processes of the central nervous system in vivo in both health and disease. Recently, PET and MRI have been successfully utilised together in the non-invasive assessment of gene transfer and gene therapy in humans. To assess the efficiency of gene transfer, the same markers are being used in animals and humans, and have been applied for phenotyping human disease. Here, we review the imaging hallmarks of focal and disseminated neurological diseases, such as cerebral ischaemia, neurodegeneration and glioblastoma multiforme, as well as the attempts to translate gene therapy's experimental knowledge into clinical applications and the way in which this process is being
Progress in studies of gene therapy for Huntington's disease
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JIN Fan-ying
Full Text Available Huntington's disease (HD is a kind of inherited neurodegenerative disorder characterized by movement problems, cognitive decline and psychiatry disturbance. HD is caused by mutation in gene IT -15 involving the expansion of a trinucleotide (CAG repeat encoding glutamine, which leads to abnormal conformation of huntingtin (Htt protein and finally emerge cytotoxic functions. Currently, HD remains a fatal untreatable disease. Gene therapy for HD discussed in this review is under preclinical studies. Silencing of mutant IT-15 via RNA interference (RNAi or antisense oligonucleotide (ASO has shown some effectiveness in mouse model studies. Increasing the clearance of mutant Htt protein could be achieved by viral-mediated delivery of anti-Htt intrabodies (iAbs or induction of autophagy, and beneficial results have been observed. Ectopic expression of neurotrophic factors, such as nerve growth factor (NGF and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF, mediated either by viral vectors or transplantation of genetically modified cells, has also been proved to be effective. Other gene-modifying methods aiming at correction of transcriptional dysregulation by histone modification, activation of endogenous neural stem cells, and normalization of calcium signaling and mitochondrial function, are also under intensive research. Gene therapy for Huntington's disease is promising, yet a long way remains from preclinical studies to clinical trials.
Apoptosis as a target for gene therapy in rheumatoid arthritis
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Gabriel Adrián Rabinovich
Full Text Available Rheumatoid arthritis (RA is characterized by chronic inflammation of the synovial joints resulting from hyperplasia of synovial fibroblasts and infiltration of lymphocytes, macrophages and plasma cells, all of which manifest signs of activation. All these cells proliferate abnormally, invade bone and cartilage, produce an elevated amount of pro-inflammatory cytokines, metalloproteinases and trigger osteoclast formation and activation. Some of the pathophysiological consequences of the disease may be explained by the inadequate apoptosis, which may promote the survival of autoreactive T cells, macrophages or synovial fibroblasts. Although RA does not result from single genetic mutations, elucidation of the molecular mechanisms implicated in joint destruction has revealed novel targets for gene therapy. Gene transfer strategies include inhibition of pro-inflammatory cytokines, blockade of cartilage-degrading metalloproteinases, inhibition of synovial cell activation and manipulation of the Th1-Th2 cytokine balance. Recent findings have iluminated the idea that induction of apoptosis in the rheumatoid joint can be also used to gain therapeutic advantage in the disease. In the present review we will discuss different strategies used for gene transfer in RA and chronic inflammation. Particularly, we will highlight the importance of programmed cell death as a novel target for gene therapy using endogenous biological mediators, such as galectin-1, a beta-galactoside-binding protein that induces apoptosis of activated T cells and immature thymocytes.
Liver-targeted gene therapy: Approaches and challenges.
Aravalli, Rajagopal N; Belcher, John D; Steer, Clifford J
The liver plays a major role in many inherited and acquired genetic disorders. It is also the site for the treatment of certain inborn errors of metabolism that do not directly cause injury to the liver. The advancement of nucleic acid-based therapies for liver maladies has been severely limited because of the myriad untoward side effects and methodological limitations. To address these issues, research efforts in recent years have been intensified toward the development of targeted gene approaches using novel genetic tools, such as zinc-finger nucleases, transcription activator-like effector nucleases, and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats as well as various nonviral vectors such as Sleeping Beauty transposons, PiggyBac transposons, and PhiC31 integrase. Although each of these methods uses a distinct mechanism of gene modification, all of them are dependent on the efficient delivery of DNA and RNA molecules into the cell. This review provides an overview of current and emerging therapeutic strategies for liver-targeted gene therapy and gene repair.
Gene therapy for autosomal dominant disorders of keratin.
Lewin, Alfred S; Glazer, Peter M; Milstone, Leonard M
Dominant mutations that interfere with the assembly of keratin filaments cause painful and disfiguring epidermal diseases like pachyonychia congenita and epidermolysis bullosa simplex. Genetic therapies for such diseases must either suppress the production of the toxic proteins or correct the genetic defect in the chromosome. Because epidermal skin cells may be genetically modified in tissue culture or in situ, gene correction is a legitimate goal for keratin diseases. In addition, recent innovations, such as RNA interference in animals, make an RNA knockdown approach plausible in the near future. Although agents of RNA reduction (small interfering RNA, ribozymes, triplex oligonucleotides, or antisense DNA) can be delivered as nucleotides, the impermeability of the skin to large charged molecules presents a serious impediment. Using viral vectors to deliver genes for selective inhibitors of gene expression presents an attractive alternative for long-term treatment of genetic disease in the skin.
Anti-EGFR immunonanoparticles containing IL12 and salmosin genes for targeted cancer gene therapy.
Kim, Jung Seok; Kang, Seong Jae; Jeong, Hwa Yeon; Kim, Min Woo; Park, Sang Il; Lee, Yeon Kyung; Kim, Hong Sung; Kim, Keun Sik; Park, Yong Serk
Tumor-directed gene delivery is of major interest in the field of cancer gene therapy. Varied functionalizations of non-viral vectors have been suggested to enhance tumor targetability. In the present study, we prepared two different types of anti-EGF receptor (EGFR) immunonanoparticles containing pDNA, neutrally charged liposomes and cationic lipoplexes, for tumor-directed transfection of cancer therapeutic genes. Even though both anti-EGFR immunonanoparticles had a high binding affinity to the EGFR-positive cancer cells, the anti-EGFR immunolipoplex formulation exhibited approximately 100-fold higher transfection to the target cells than anti-EGFR immunoliposomes. The lipoplex formulation also showed a higher transfection to SK-OV-3 tumor xenografts in mice. Thus, IL12 and/or salmosin genes were loaded in the anti-EGFR immunolipoplexes and intravenously administered to mice carrying SK-OV-3 tumors. Co-transfection of IL12 and salmosin genes using anti-EGFR immunolipoplexes significantly reduced tumor growth and pulmonary metastasis. Furthermore, combinatorial treatment with doxorubicin synergistically inhibited tumor growth. These results suggest that anti-EGFR immunolipoplexes containing pDNA encoding therapeutic genes could be utilized as a gene-transfer modality for cancer gene therapy.
胰腺癌:基因治疗的前景%Pancreatic cancer-Outlook:gene therapy
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
J.-Matthias L(o)hr
Gene therapy offers an elegant alternative to toxic chemotherapy regimens, mostly without severe side effects.Cancer gene therapy was among the first applications. Following the enthusiasm in the early nineties, a more rationale view is the recent way to look at it. This tutorial review looks upon the tools of gene therapy and the principle elements (vector, promoter, targeting, therapeutic gene). The principles of gene therapy such as gene directed enzyme prodrug therapy (GDEPT)and gene directed tumor vaccination are explained. Further, published protocols and clinical studies for pancreatic carcinoma gene therapy are reviewed. Finally, an outlook is given on the latest developments, some of them beyond conventional gene therapy.
Recent advances in the rational design of silica-based nanoparticles for gene therapy.
Niut, Yuting; Popatt, Amirali; Yu, Meihua; Karmakar, Surajit; Gu, Wenyi; Yu, Chengzhong
Gene therapy has attracted much attention in modern society and provides a promising approach for treating genetic disorders, diseases and cancers. Safe and effective vectors are vital tools to deliver genetic molecules to cells. This review summarizes recent advances in the rational design of silica-based nanoparticles and their applications in gene therapy. An overview of different types of genetic agents available for gene therapy is provided. The engineering of various silica nanoparticles is described, which can be used as versatile complexation tools for genetic agents and advanced gene therapy. Several challenges are raised and future research directions in the area of gene therapy using silica-based nanoparticles are proposed.
Molecular Imaging of Gene Expression and Efficacy following Adenoviral-Mediated Brain Tumor Gene Therapy
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Alnawaz Rehemtulla
Full Text Available Cancer gene therapy is an active area of research relying upon the transfer and subsequent expression of a therapeutic transgene into tumor cells in order to provide for therapeutic selectivity. Noninvasive assessment of therapeutic response and correlation of the location, magnitude, and duration of transgene expression in vivo would be particularly useful in the development of cancer gene therapy protocols by facilitating optimization of gene transfer protocols, vector development, and prodrug dosing schedules. In this study, we developed an adenoviral vector containing both the therapeutic transgene yeast cytosine deaminase (yCD along with an optical reporter gene (luciferase. Following intratumoral injection of the vector into orthotopic 9L gliomas, anatomical and diffusion-weighted MR images were obtained over time in order to provide for quantitative assessment of overall therapeutic efficacy and spatial heterogeneity of cell kill, respectively. In addition, bioluminescence images were acquired to assess the duration and magnitude of gene expression. MR images revealed significant reduction in tumor growth rates associated with yCD/5-fluorocytosine (5FC gene therapy. Significant increases in mean tumor diffusion values were also observed during treatment with 5FC. Moreover, spatial heterogeneity in tumor diffusion changes were also observed revealing that diffusion magnetic resonance imaging could detect regional therapeutic effects due to the nonuniform delivery and/or expression of the therapeutic yCD transgene within the tumor mass. In addition, in vivo bioluminescence imaging detected luciferase gene expression, which was found to decrease over time during administration of the prodrug providing a noninvasive surrogate marker for monitoring gene expression. These results demonstrate the efficacy of the yCD/5FC strategy for the treatment of brain tumors and reveal the feasibility of using multimodality molecular and functional imaging
Treating hearing disorders with cell and gene therapy
Gillespie, Lisa N.; Richardson, Rachael T.; Nayagam, Bryony A.; Wise, Andrew K.
Hearing loss is an increasing problem for a substantial number of people and, with an aging population, the incidence and severity of hearing loss will become more significant over time. There are very few therapies currently available to treat hearing loss, and so the development of new therapeutic strategies for hearing impaired individuals is of paramount importance to address this unmet clinical need. Most forms of hearing loss are progressive in nature and therefore an opportunity exists to develop novel therapeutic approaches to slow or halt hearing loss progression, or even repair or replace lost hearing function. Numerous emerging technologies have potential as therapeutic options. This paper details the potential of cell- and gene-based therapies to provide therapeutic agents to protect sensory and neural cells from various insults known to cause hearing loss; explores the potential of replacing lost sensory and nerve cells using gene and stem cell therapy; and describes the considerations for clinical translation and the challenges that need to be overcome.
[Ribozyme riboswitch based gene expression regulation systems for gene therapy applications: progress and challenges].
Feng, Jing-Xian; Wang, Jia-wen; Lin, Jun-sheng; Diao, Yong
Robust and efficient control of therapeutic gene expression is needed for timing and dosing of gene therapy drugs in clinical applications. Ribozyme riboswitch provides a promising building block for ligand-controlled gene-regulatory system, based on its property that exhibits tunable gene regulation, design modularity, and target specificity. Ribozyme riboswitch can be used in various gene delivery vectors. In recent years, there have been breakthroughs in extending ribozyme riboswitch's application from gene-expression control to cellular function and fate control. High throughput screening platforms were established, that allow not only rapid optimization of ribozyme riboswitch in a microbial host, but also straightforward transfer of selected devices exhibiting desired activities to mammalian cell lines in a predictable manner. Mathematical models were employed successfully to explore the performance of ribozyme riboswitch quantitively and its rational design predictably. However, to progress toward gene therapy relevant applications, both precision rational design of regulatory circuits and the biocompatibility of regulatory ligand are still of crucial importance.
An overview of the history, applications, advantages, disadvantages and prospects of gene therapy.
Jafarlou, M; Baradaran, B; Saedi, T A; Jafarlou, V; Shanehbandi, D; Maralani, M; Othman, F
Gene therapy has become a significant issue in science-related news. The principal concept of gene therapy is an experimental technique that uses genes to treat or prevent disease. Although gene therapy was originally conceived as a way to treat life-threatening disorders (inborn defects, cancers) refractory to conventional treatment, it is now considered for many nonlife-threatening conditions, such as those adversely impacting a patients quality of life. An extensive range of efficacious vectors, delivery techniques, and approaches for developing gene-based interventions for diseases have evolved in the last decade. The lack of suitable treatment has become a rational basis for extending the scope of gene therapy. The aim of this review is to investigate the general methods by which genes are transferred and to give an overview to clinical applications. Maximizing the potential benefits of gene therapy requires efficient and sustained therapeutic gene expression in target cells, low toxicity, and a high safety profile. Gene therapy has made substantial progress albeit much slower than was initially predicted. This review also describes the basic science associated with many gene therapy vectors and the present progress of gene therapy carried out for various surface disorders and diseases. The conclusion is that, with increased pathobiological understanding and biotechnological improvements, gene therapy will become a standard part of clinical practice.
Ovarian cancer gene therapy using HPV-16 pseudovirion carrying the HSV-tk gene.
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Chien-Fu Hung
Full Text Available Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from all gynecological cancers and conventional therapies such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy usually fail to control advanced stages of the disease. Thus, there is an urgent need for alternative and innovative therapeutic options. We reason that cancer gene therapy using a vector capable of specifically delivering an enzyme-encoding gene to ovarian cancer cells will allow the cancer cell to metabolize a harmless prodrug into a potent cytotoxin, which will lead to therapeutic effects. In the current study, we explore the use of a human papillomavirus (HPV pseudovirion to deliver a herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-tk gene to ovarian tumor cells. We found that the HPV-16 pseudovirion was able to preferentially infect murine and human ovarian tumor cells when administered intraperitoneally. Furthermore, intraperitoneal injection of HPV-16 pseudovirions carrying the HSV-tk gene followed by treatment with ganciclovir led to significant therapeutic anti-tumor effects in murine ovarian cancer-bearing mice. Our data suggest that HPV pseudovirion may serve as a potential delivery vehicle for ovarian cancer gene therapy.
Achromatopsia as a potential candidate for gene therapy.
Pang, Ji-Jing; Alexander, John; Lei, Bo; Deng, Wentao; Zhang, Keqing; Li, Qiuhong; Chang, Bo; Hauswirth, William W
Achromatopsia is an autosomal recessive retinal disease involving loss of cone function that afflicts approximately 1 in 30,000 individuals. Patients with achromatopsia usually have visual acuities lower than 20/200 because of the central vision loss, photophobia, complete color blindness and reduced cone-mediated electroretinographic (ERG) amplitudes. Mutations in three genes have been found to be the primary causes of achromatopsia, including CNGB3 (beta subunit of the cone cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel), CNGA3 (alpha subunit of the cone cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel), and GNAT2 (cone specific alpha subunit of transducin). Naturally occurring mouse models with mutations in Cnga3 (cpfl5 mice) and Gnat2 (cpfl3 mice) were discovered at The Jackson Laboratory. A natural occurring canine model with CNGB3 mutations has also been found. These animal models have many of the central phenotypic features of the corresponding human diseases. Using adeno-associated virus (AAV)-mediated gene therapy, we and others show that cone function can be restored in all three models. These data suggest that human achromatopsia may be a good candidate for corrective gene therapy.
Toward a stem cell gene therapy for breast cancer.
Li, ZongYi; Liu, Ying; Tuve, Sebastian; Xun, Ye; Fan, Xiaolong; Min, Liang; Feng, Qinghua; Kiviat, Nancy; Kiem, Hans-Peter; Disis, Mary Leonora; Lieber, André
Current approaches for treatment of late-stage breast cancer rarely result in a long-term cure. In part this is due to tumor stroma that prevents access of systemically or intratumorally applied therapeutics. We propose a stem cell gene therapy approach for controlled tumor stroma degradation that uses the pathophysiologic process of recruitment of inflammatory cells into the tumor. This approach involves genetic modification of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and their subsequent transplantation into tumor-bearing mice. We show that inducible, intratumoral expression of relaxin (Rlx) either by transplanting tumor cells that contained the Rlx gene or by transplantation of mouse HSCs transduced with an Rlx-expressing lentivirus vector delays tumor growth in a mouse model of breast cancer. The antitumor effect of Rlx was mediated through degradation of tumor stroma, which provided increased access of infiltrating antitumor immune cells to their target tumor cells. Furthermore, we have shown in a human/mouse chimeric model that genetically modified HSCs expressing a transgene can access the tumor site. Our findings are relevant for cancer gene therapy and immunotherapy.
Cationic Polyene Phospholipids as DNA Carriers for Ocular Gene Therapy
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Susana Machado
Full Text Available Recent success in the treatment of congenital blindness demonstrates the potential of ocular gene therapy as a therapeutic approach. The eye is a good target due to its small size, minimal diffusion of therapeutic agent to the systemic circulation, and low immune and inflammatory responses. Currently, most approaches are based on viral vectors, but efforts continue towards the synthesis and evaluation of new nonviral carriers to improve nucleic acid delivery. Our objective is to evaluate the efficiency of novel cationic retinoic and carotenoic glycol phospholipids, designated C20-18, C20-20, and C30-20, to deliver DNA to human retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE cells. Liposomes were produced by solvent evaporation of ethanolic mixtures of the polyene compounds and coformulated with 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine (DOPE or cholesterol (Chol. Addition of DNA to the liposomes formed lipoplexes, which were characterized for binding, size, biocompatibility, and transgene efficiency. Lipoplex formulations of suitable size and biocompatibility were assayed for DNA delivery, both qualitatively and quantitatively, using RPE cells and a GFP-encoding plasmid. The retinoic lipoplex formulation with DOPE revealed a transfection efficiency comparable to the known lipid references 3β-[N-(N′,N′-dimethylaminoethane-carbamoyl]-cholesterol (DC-Chol and 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-ethylphosphocholine (EPC and GeneJuice. The results demonstrate that cationic polyene phospholipids have potential as DNA carriers for ocular gene therapy.
Animal models for prenatal gene therapy: choosing the right model.
Mehta, Vedanta; Peebles, Donald; David, Anna L
Testing in animal models is an essential requirement during development of prenatal gene therapy for -clinical application. Some information can be derived from cell lines or cultured fetal cells, such as the efficiency of gene transfer and the vector dose that might be required. Fetal tissues can also be maintained in culture for short periods of time and transduced ex vivo. Ultimately, however, the use of animals is unavoidable since in vivo experiments allow the length and level of transgene expression to be measured, and provide an assessment of the effect of the delivery procedure and the gene therapy on fetal and neonatal development. The choice of animal model is determined by the nature of the disease and characteristics of the animal, such as its size, lifespan, and immunology, the number of fetuses and their development, parturition, and the length of gestation and the placentation. The availability of a disease model is also critical. In this chapter, we discuss the various animal models that can be used and consider how their characteristics can affect the results obtained. The projection to human application and the regulatory hurdles are also presented.
Progress and Prospects of Anti-HBV Gene Therapy Development
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Mohube B. Maepa
Full Text Available Despite the availability of an effective vaccine against hepatitis B virus (HBV, chronic infection with the virus remains a major global health concern. Current drugs against HBV infection are limited by emergence of resistance and rarely achieve complete viral clearance. This has prompted vigorous research on developing better drugs against chronic HBV infection. Advances in understanding the life cycle of HBV and improvements in gene-disabling technologies have been impressive. This has led to development of better HBV infection models and discovery of new drug candidates. Ideally, a regimen against chronic HBV infection should completely eliminate all viral replicative intermediates, especially covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA. For the past few decades, nucleic acid-based therapy has emerged as an attractive alternative that may result in complete clearance of HBV in infected patients. Several genetic anti-HBV strategies have been developed. The most studied approaches include the use of antisense oligonucleotides, ribozymes, RNA interference effectors and gene editing tools. This review will summarize recent developments and progress made in the use of gene therapy against HBV.
Gene therapy clinical trials worldwide 1989-2004-an overview.
Edelstein, Michael L; Abedi, Mohammad R; Wixon, Jo; Edelstein, Richard M
In 1989, Rosenberg et al. performed the first human gene therapy trial when they used a retrovirus to introduce the gene coding for resistance to neomycin into human tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes before infusing them into five patients with advanced melanoma. This study demonstrated the feasibility of using retroviral gene transduction in humans and set the stage for further studies. Since then, over 900 clinical trials have been completed, are ongoing or have been approved worldwide. These trials have been designed to establish feasibility and safety, to demonstrate the reality of expression of therapeutic protein(s) in vivo by the genes transferred and, in some cases, to show therapeutic benefit. There is no single source of information that presents an overview of all the clinical trials undertaken worldwide. In 1997 we set up a database to bring all the information on clinical trials together as comprehensively and as globally as possible. The data were compiled and are regularly updated from official agency sources, the published literature, presentations at conferences and from information kindly provided by investigators or trial sponsors themselves. As of January 31, 2004, we have identified 918 trials in 24 countries. The USA accounts for two-thirds of these trials. Cancer is by far the most common disease indication, followed by inherited monogenic diseases, and cardiovascular diseases. Viral vectors have been the most frequently used vehicles for transferring genes into human cells, with retroviruses and adenoviruses representing the vast majority. Plasmid (naked) DNA and other non-viral vectors have been used in one-quarter of the trials. Over 100 distinct genes have been transferred. This article aims to provide a descriptive overview of the clinical trials that, to the best of our knowledge, have been or are being performed worldwide. Details of the data presented, including an interactive, searchable database that currently holds information on 918
Gene therapy for osteoporosis: evaluation in a murine ovariectomy model.
Baltzer, A W; Whalen, J D; Wooley, P; Latterman, C; Truchan, L M; Robbins, P D; Evans, C H
Various cytokines and cytokine antagonists hold promise as new therapeutic agents for osteoporosis, but their application is hindered by delivery problems. Gene transfer offers an attractive technology with which to obviate these restrictions. Its utility was evaluated in an animal model of osteoporosis. Disease was induced by surgical ovariectomy and monitored by measuring bone weight after 12 days, and by histomorphometry after 5 weeks. Genes were transferred to the mice by intramedullary injection of adenoviral vectors. LacZ and luciferase marker genes were used to identify the bone marrow cells transduced by this procedure, and to track the possible spread of transgenes to other organs. The effect on bone loss of transferring a cDNA encoding the human interleukin-1 receptor antagonist (IL-1Ra) was then evaluated. The intramedullary injection of adenoviral vectors transduced lining osteoblasts, osteocytes and cells within the bone marrow. Luciferase activity persisted within the injected femora and adjacent musculature for at least 3 weeks, and in the draining lymph nodes for 2 weeks. Transient, low level expression was present in the liver, but no luciferase was detected at any time in the lung or spleen. Intramedullary introduction of the IL-1Ra gene resulted in circulation of the corresponding protein at concentrations that peaked on day 3, and returned to baseline by day 12. Transfer of the IL-1Ra gene strongly reduced the early loss of bone mass occurring in response to ovariectomy. Furthermore, it completely inhibited the loss of matrix detected by histomorphometry at 5 weeks. The protective effect of this gene was not restricted to bones receiving intramedullary injection of the vector, but occurred in all bones that were evaluated. This proof of concept encourages further development of gene therapy approaches to the treatment of osteoporosis.
Non-syndromic retinal ciliopathies: translating gene discovery into therapy.
Estrada-Cuzcano, Alejandro; Roepman, Ronald; Cremers, Frans P M; den Hollander, Anneke I; Mans, Dorus A
Homozygosity mapping and exome sequencing have accelerated the discovery of gene mutations and modifier alleles implicated in inherited retinal degeneration in humans. To date, 158 genes have been found to be mutated in individuals with retinal dystrophies. Approximately one-third of the gene defects underlying retinal degeneration affect the structure and/or function of the 'connecting cilium' in photoreceptors. This structure corresponds to the transition zone of a prototypic cilium, a region with increasing relevance for ciliary homeostasis. The connecting cilium connects the inner and outer segments of the photoreceptor, mediating bi-directional transport of phototransducing proteins required for vision. In fact, the outer segment, connecting cilium and associated basal body, forms a highly specialized sensory cilium, fully dedicated to photoreception and subsequent signal transduction to the brain. At least 21 genes that encode ciliary proteins are implicated in non-syndromic retinal dystrophies such as cone dystrophy, cone-rod dystrophy, Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), macular degeneration or retinitis pigmentosa (RP). The generation and characterization of vertebrate retinal ciliopathy animal models have revealed insights into the molecular disease mechanism which are indispensable for the development and evaluation of therapeutic strategies. Gene augmentation therapy has proven to be safe and successful in restoring long-term sight in mice, dogs and humans suffering from LCA or RP. Here, we present a comprehensive overview of the genes, mutations and modifier alleles involved in non-syndromic retinal ciliopathies, review the progress in dissecting the associated retinal disease mechanisms and evaluate gene augmentation approaches to antagonize retinal degeneration in these ciliopathies.
Research progress of gene target therapy for refractory epilepsy
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Xing-hua TANG
Full Text Available Nowadays, the strategies of gene therapy for the treatment of refractory epilepsy (RE mainly include modulating neurotransmitter systems, neuropeptide Y (NPY and neurotrophic factors. Among them, the hot target spots include γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA and its receptor, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA and its receptor, galanin, NPY and neurotrophic factors. This paper reviews the chief research results, and advantages and disadvantages of studies, and provides evidence for the treatment of refractory epilepsy. doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1672-6731.2014.12.004
Tissue-Engineered Skeletal Muscle Organoids for Reversible Gene Therapy
Vandenburgh, Herman; DelTatto, Michael; Shansky, Janet; Lemaire, Julie; Chang, Albert; Payumo, Francis; Lee, Peter; Goodyear, Amy; Raven, Latasha
Genetically modified murine skeletal myoblasts were tissue engineered in vitro into organ-like structures (organoids) containing only postmitotic myofibers secreting pharmacological levels of recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH). Subcutaneous organoid Implantation under tension led to the rapid and stable appearance of physiological sera levels of rhGH for up to 12 weeks, whereas surgical removal led to its rapid disappearance. Reversible delivery of bioactive compounds from postimtotic cells in tissue engineered organs has several advantages over other forms of muscle gene therapy.
Promising and delivering gene therapies for vision loss.
Carvalho, Livia S; Vandenberghe, Luk H
The maturity in our understanding of the genetics and the pathogenesis of disease in degenerative retinal disorders has intersected in past years with a novel treatment paradigm in which a genetic intervention may lead to sustained therapeutic benefit, and in some cases even restoration of vision. Here, we review this prospect of retinal gene therapy, discuss the enabling technologies that have led to first-in-human demonstrations of efficacy and safety, and the road that led to this exciting point in time. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Gene therapy during cardiac surgery: role of surgical technique to minimize collateral organ gene expression.
Katz, Michael G; Swain, JaBaris D; Fargnoli, Anthony S; Bridges, Charles R
Effective gene therapy for heart failure has not yet been achieved clinically. The aim of this study is to quantitatively assess the cardiac isolation efficiency of the molecular cardiac surgery with recirculating delivery (MCARD™) and to evaluate its efficacy as a means to limit collateral organ gene expression. 10(14) genome copies (GC) of recombinant adeno-associated viral vector 6 encoding green fluorescent protein under control of the cytomegalovirus promoter was delivered to the nine arrested sheep hearts. Blood samples were assessed using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT QPCR). Collateral organ gene expression was assessed at four-weeks using immunohistochemical staining. The blood vector GC concentration in the cardiac circuit during complete isolation trended from 9.59±0.73 to 9.05±0.65 (log GC/cm(3)), and no GC were detectable in the systemic circuit (P800-fold (P99% isolation efficiency. Conversely, incomplete isolation resulted in equalization of vector GC concentration in the circuits, leading to robust collateral organ gene expression. MCARD™ is an efficient, clinically translatable myocardial delivery platform for cardiac specific gene therapy. The cardiac surgical techniques utilized are critically important to limit collateral organ gene expression.
Study of thrombopoietin for gene therapy of thrombocytopenia
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
崇松; 卢大儒; 李昌本; 邱信芳; 薛京伦
Thrombopoietin (TPO) is likely to be a potent, specific and reliable medication in the treatment of thrombocytopenia. A TPO-highly-expressed plasmid pcDNA3-TPO was constructed and a primary study was made on the expression of TPO cDNA in vitro and gene transfer study for thrombocytopenia in vivo. rhTPO showed complete and stable bioactivity by a series of indicators. High expression of TPO was detected in plasma from healthy mice or thrombocytopenia mice model receiving direct intramuscular injection of pcDNA3-TPO. And the platelet level of healthy mice peaked to 1.9-fold of baseline. Mice with CTX-induced thrombocytopenia achieved profound nadirs, acceleration of recovery, even 1.8—2.0-fold supranormal levels of peripheral platelet counts. The results offered experimental support for clinical application of gene therapy for thrombocytopenia via direct intramuscular injection of TPO cDNA.
Gene therapy and angiogenesis in patients with coronary artery disease
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Kastrup, Jens
Not all patients with severe coronary artery disease can be treated satisfactorily with current recommended medications and revascularization techniques. Various vascular growth factors have the potential to induce angiogenesis in ischemic tissue. Clinical trials have only evaluated the effect...... of VEGF and FGF in patients with coronary artery disease. The initial small and unblinded studies with either recombinant growth factor proteins or genes encoding growth factors were encouraging, demonstrating both clinical improvement and evidence of angiogenesis. However, subsequent larger double...... an improvement in clinical results can be obtained with a cocktail of growth factors or by a combination of gene and stem cell therapy in patients with severe coronary artery disease, which cannot be treated effectively with current treatment strategies....
Gene Therapy Approaches For The Treatment Of Retinal Disorders
Petit, Lolita; Punzo, Claudio
There is an impelling need to develop effective therapeutic strategies for patients with retinal disorders. Gleaning from the large quantity of information gathered over the past two decades on the mechanisms governing degeneration of the retina, it is now possible to devise innovative therapies based on retinal gene transfer. Different gene-based approaches are under active investigation. They include strategies to correct the specific genetic defect in inherited retinal diseases, strategies to delay the onset of blindness independently of the disease-causing mutations and strategies to reactivate residual cells at late stages of the diseases. In this review, we discuss the status of application of these technologies, outlining the future therapeutic potential for many forms of retinal blinding diseases. PMID:27875674
Beta-Adrenergic gene therapy for cardiovascular disease
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Koch Walter J
Full Text Available Abstract Gene therapy using in vivo recombinant adenovirus-mediated gene transfer is an effective technique that offers great potential to improve existing drug treatments for the complex cardiovascular diseases of heart failure and vascular smooth muscle intimal hyperplasia. Cardiac-specific adenovirus-mediated transfer of the carboxyl-terminus of the β-adrenergic receptor kinase (βARKct, acting as a Gβγ-β-adrenergic receptor kinase (βARK1 inhibitor, improves basal and agonist-induced cardiac performance in both normal and failing rabbit hearts. In addition, βARKct adenovirus infection of vascular smooth muscle is capable of significantly diminishing neointimal proliferation after angioplasty. Therefore, further investigation is warranted to determine whether inhibition of βARK1 activity and sequestration of Gβγ via an adenovirus that encodes the βARKct transgene might be a useful clinical tool for the treatment of cardiovascular pathologies.
75 FR 54351 - Cell and Gene Therapy Clinical Trials in Pediatric Populations; Public Workshop
... HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cell and Gene Therapy Clinical Trials in Pediatric... public workshop entitled ``Cell and Gene Therapy Clinical Trials in Pediatric Populations.'' The purpose... therapy clinical researchers, and other stakeholders regarding best practices related to cell and...
Long-term follow-up of cancer patients treated with gene therapy medicinal products.
Galli, Maria Cristina
European Union requirements are discussed for the long-term follow-up of advanced therapy medicinal products, as well as how they can be applied to cancer patients treated with gene therapy medicinal products in the context of clinical trials, as described in a specific guideline issued by Gene Therapy Working Party at the European Medicine Agency.
Targeted gene repair: the ups and downs of a promising gene therapy approach.
de Semir, David; Aran, Josep M
As a novel form of molecular medicine based on direct actions over the genes, targeted gene repair has raised consideration recently above classical gene therapy strategies based on genetic augmentation or complementation. Targeted gene repair relies on the local induction of the cell's endogenous DNA repair mechanisms to attain a therapeutic gene conversion event within the genome of the diseased cell. Successful repair has been achieved both in vitro and in vivo with a variety of corrective molecules ranging from oligonucleotides (chimeraplasts, modified single-stranded oligonucleotides, triplex-forming oligonucleotides), to small DNA fragments (small fragment homologous replacement (SFHR)), and even viral vectors (AAV-based). However, controversy on the consistency and lack of reproducibility of early experiments regarding frequencies and persistence of targeted gene repair, particularly for chimeraplasty, has flecked the field. Nevertheless, several hurdles such as inefficient nuclear uptake of the corrective molecules, and misleading assessment of targeted repair frequencies have been identified and are being addressed. One of the key bottlenecks for exploiting the overall potential of the different targeted gene repair modalities is the lack of a detailed knowledge of their mechanisms of action at the molecular level. Several studies are now focusing on the assessment of the specific repair pathway(s) involved (homologous recombination, mismatch repair, etc.), devising additional strategies to increase their activity (using chemotherapeutic drugs, chimeric nucleases, etc.), and assessing the influence of the cell cycle in the regulation of the repair process. Until therapeutic correction frequencies for single gene disorders are reached both in cellular and animal models, precision and undesired side effects of this promising gene therapy approach will not be thoroughly evaluated.
Adenovirus as a gene therapy vector for hematopoietic cells.
Marini, F C; Yu, Q; Wickham, T; Kovesdi, I; Andreeff, M
Adenovirus (Adv)-mediated gene transfer has recently gained new attention as a means to deliver genes for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) or progenitor cell gene therapy. In the past, HSCs have been regarded as poor Adv targets, mainly because they lack the specific Adv receptors required for efficient and productive Adv infection. In addition, the nonintegrating nature of Adv has prevented its application to HSC and bone marrow transduction protocols where long-term expression is required. There is even controversy as to whether Adv can infect hematopoietic cells at all. In fact, the ability of Adv to infect epithelium-based targets and its inability to effectively transfect HSCs have been used in the development of eradication schemes that use Adv to preferentially infect and "purge" tumor cell-contaminating HSC grafts. However, there are data supporting the existence of productive Adv infections into HSCs. Such protocols involve the application of cytokine mixtures, high multiplicities of infection, long incubation periods, and more recently, immunological and genetic modifications to Adv itself to enable it to efficiently transfer genes into HSCs. This is a rapidly growing field, both in terms of techniques and applications. This review examines the two sides of the Adv/CD34 controversy as well as the current developments in this field.
Towards gene therapy based on femtosecond optical transfection
Antkowiak, M.; Torres-Mapa, M. L.; McGinty, J.; Chahine, M.; Bugeon, L.; Rose, A.; Finn, A.; Moleirinho, S.; Okuse, K.; Dallman, M.; French, P.; Harding, S. E.; Reynolds, P.; Gunn-Moore, F.; Dholakia, K.
Gene therapy poses a great promise in treatment and prevention of a variety of diseases. However, crucial to studying and the development of this therapeutic approach is a reliable and efficient technique of gene and drug delivery into primary cell types. These cells, freshly derived from an organ or tissue, mimic more closely the in vivo state and present more physiologically relevant information compared to cultured cell lines. However, primary cells are known to be difficult to transfect and are typically transfected using viral methods, which are not only questionable in the context of an in vivo application but rely on time consuming vector construction and may also result in cell de-differentiation and loss of functionality. At the same time, well established non-viral methods do not guarantee satisfactory efficiency and viability. Recently, optical laser mediated poration of cell membrane has received interest as a viable gene and drug delivery technique. It has been shown to deliver a variety of biomolecules and genes into cultured mammalian cells; however, its applicability to primary cells remains to be proven. We demonstrate how optical transfection can be an enabling technique in research areas, such as neuropathic pain, neurodegenerative diseases, heart failure and immune or inflammatory-related diseases. Several primary cell types are used in this study, namely cardiomyocytes, dendritic cells, and neurons. We present our recent progress in optimizing this technique's efficiency and post-treatment cell viability for these types of cells and discuss future directions towards in vivo applications.
Combination therapy of murine liver cancer with IL-12 gene and HSV-TK gene
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Objective: To investigate the synergistic anti-tumor effects of murine IL-12 gene and HSV-TK gene therapy in mice bearing liver cancer. Methods: Mouse liver cancer MM45T. Li (H-2d) cells were transfected with retroviral vector containing IL-12 gene or HSV-TK gene insert. Gene-modified liver cancer cells, MM45T. Li/IL-12 and MM45T. Li/TK, with stable expression of IL-12 and TK were obtained. Balb/c mice were inoculated subcutaneously with 2′ 105 MM45T. Li cells. When the tumor reached a size of 0.5-1.0 cm, a mixture of MM45T.Li/TK cells and 60Co-irradiated MM45T. Li/IL-12 cell were injected intratumoraly. Ganciclovir (GCV) was injected ip (40 mg.kg-1.d-1) for 10 days. Intratumoral injection of 60Co-irradiated MM45T. Li/IL-12 cells was repeated twice in one week apart. Mice with distant tumors were treated according to the same protocol. CTL activity of spleen cells was measured by 51Cr-release assay and phenotype of tumor infiltrating lymphocytes by immunohistochemical staining. Results: In mice treated with MM45T. Li/IL-12 or MM45T. Li/TK+GCV individually led to moderate reduction in tumor growth, but neither could eradicate the tumor completely, while in 60% of mice treated with a mixture of MM45T. Li/IL-12 and MM45T. Li/TK cells plus GCV, complete tumor regression was observed, with no tumor recurrence for two months. The growth of distant tumor was also inhibited significantly in mice similarly treated. Most of the mice received combined gene therapy plus GCV had abundant CD4+, CD8+T lymphocyte infiltration. Their CTL activity was significantly higher than in mice received single gene therapy. Conclusion Combination therapy with IL-12 gene and HSV-TK gene plus GCV is effective for mouse liver cancer.
Experimental gene therapy using p21Waf1 gene for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma by gene gun technology.
Tanaka, Yuichi; Fujii, Teruhiko; Yamana, Hideaki; Kato, Seiya; Morimatsu, Minoru; Shirouzu, Kazuo
In our previous study, the proliferation rate of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma cell lines, which poorly expressed p21Waf1, was found to be regulated by p21Waf1 gene transfection using adenovirus vector. In the present study, in order to examine the effect of p21Waf1 gene therapy in esophageal cancer, we used gene gun technology, which proved to be a powerful method to introduce the p21Waf1 gene into esophageal cancer cells. p21Waf1 transfection to KE3 and YES2 cells (weakly expressed p21Waf1 protein cells) showed a high expression of p21Waf1 protein after applying this gene gun technique. In KE3 and YES2 cells, statistical significant growth inhibition was observed after p21Waf1 transfection compared with LacZ transfection (KE3, p=0.0009; YES2, pgun technique significantly inhibited the low basal p21Waf1 expressed esophageal cancer cell growth in vitro and in vivo. Furthermore, p21Waf1 transfection strongly enhanced the effect of 5Fu suggesting that p21Waf1 may prove beneficial in chemotherapy combined with gene therapy using gene gun technology in patients with esophageal cancer who have a low level of p21Waf1 expressed tumor.
Application of Herpesvirus Saimiri as an Alternative Gene Therapy Vector
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Tuna Toptan
Full Text Available Herpesvirus saimiri is the prototype rhadinovirus and is closely related to human Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus. Herpesvirus saimiri strains of subgroup C transduce a broad spectrum of cancer cells and primary cells including human T lymphocytes very efficiently and enable stable transgene expression. Herpesvirus saimiri as a gene therapy vector is favorable because of its large packaging capacity, extensive cell tropism, and long-termed persistence as non-integrating episomes and thus exhibits numerous advantages over commonly used viral vectors. In order to use Herpesvirus saimiri as a secure and versatile gene therapy vehicle, it should be easily manipulated and modified. The recent advances in molecular cloning of large genomic fragments such as virus genomes as bacterial artificial chromosomes facilitated the functional studies and manipulation of herpesviruses using the recombination system of bacteria. Among these, red-recombination based and ldquo;en passant and rdquo; mutagenesis method enables seamless genome modification such as deletion, insertion and point mutation very easily and efficiently. [Archives Medical Review Journal 2016; 25(1.000: 41-51
Influential Factors and Synergies for Radiation-Gene Therapy on Cancer
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Mei Lin
Full Text Available Radiation-gene therapy, a dual anticancer strategy of radiation therapy and gene therapy through connecting radiation-inducible regulatory sequence to therapeutic gene, leading to the gene being induced to express by radiation while radiotherapy is performed and finally resulting in a double synergistic antitumor effect of radiation and gene, has become one of hotspots in the field of cancer treatment in recent years. But under routine dose of radiation, especially in the hypoxia environment of solid tumor, it is difficult for this therapy to achieve desired effect because of low activity of radiation-inducible regulatory elements, low level and transient expression of target gene induced by radiation, inferior target specificity and poor biosecurity, and so on. Based on the problems existing in radiation-gene therapy, many efforts have been devoted to the curative effect improvement of radiation-gene therapy by various means to increase radiation sensitivity or enhance target gene expression and the expression's controllability. Among these synergistic techniques, gene circuit, hypoxic sensitization, and optimization of radiation-induced sequence exhibit a good application potential. This review provides the main influential factors to radiation-gene therapy on cancer and the synergistic techniques to improve the anticancer effect of radiation-gene therapy.
Clinical development of gene therapy needs a tailored approach: a regulatory perspective from the European Union.
Narayanan, Gopalan; Cossu, Giulio; Galli, Maria Cristina; Flory, Egbert; Ovelgonne, Hans; Salmikangas, Paula; Schneider, Christian K; Trouvin, Jean-Hugues
Gene therapy is a rapidly evolving field that needs an integrated approach, as acknowledged in the concept article on the revision of the guideline on gene transfer medicinal products. The first gene therapy application for marketing authorization was approved in the International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) region in 2012, the product being Alipogene tiparvovec. The regulatory process for this product has been commented on extensively, highlighting the challenges posed by such a novel technology. Here, as current or previous members of the Committee for Advanced Therapies, we share our perspectives and views on gene therapy as a treatment modality based on current common understanding and regulatory experience of gene therapy products in the European Union to date. It is our view that a tailored approach is needed for a given gene therapy product in order to achieve successful marketing authorization.
Gene therapy trials for the treatment of high-grade gliomas
High-grade gliomas remain relatively resistant to current therapy. Local recurrence is a common feature and the majority of patients progress despite conventional therapy. One modality-gene therapy-has shown a lot of promise in early preclinical and clinical studies aimed at advancing the treatment of this disease. In this review, we provide a comprehensive overview of clinical trials involving gene therapy in the field of neuro-oncology. The use of different delivery vehicles, including lipo...
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Xu Lingfei; Ge Kai; Zheng Zhongcheng; Sun Lanying; Liu Xinyuan
Objective: To establish a retroviral-mediated suicide gene therapy system for experimental glioma and test its efficacy. Methods: C6 rat glioma cells were infected with recombinant retrovirus containing HSV-tk gene. The C6/tk cell line which stably expressed tk was selected and cloned. The sensitivities of C6/tk cells to several nucleoside analogues, such as GCV, BVdU, ACV were compared by the growth inhibition studies. Antitumor effects were also observed after GCV treatment in nude mice bearing tumors derived from C6/tk cells. Results:The growth inhibition studies showed that GCV was the most efficient prodrug in this system. C6/tk cells were highly sensitive to GCV, with an IC50<0.2 μmol/L, being 500-fold less than that in tk-negative C6 cells. In vivo studies showed significant tumor inhibition in the treatment group. Conclusion: Glioma cells can be eradicated by using retroviral-mediated suicide gene system in vitro as well as in vivo.
Large Animal Models for Foamy Virus Vector Gene Therapy
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Peter A. Horn
Full Text Available Foamy virus (FV vectors have shown great promise for hematopoietic stem cell (HSC gene therapy. Their ability to efficiently deliver transgenes to multi-lineage long-term repopulating cells in large animal models suggests they will be effective for several human hematopoietic diseases. Here, we review FV vector studies in large animal models, including the use of FV vectors with the mutant O6-methylguanine-DNA methyltransferase, MGMTP140K to increase the number of genetically modified cells after transplantation. In these studies, FV vectors have mediated efficient gene transfer to polyclonal repopulating cells using short ex vivo transduction protocols designed to minimize the negative effects of ex vivo culture on stem cell engraftment. In this regard, FV vectors appear superior to gammaretroviral vectors, which require longer ex vivo culture to effect efficient transduction. FV vectors have also compared favorably with lentiviral vectors when directly compared in the dog model. FV vectors have corrected leukocyte adhesion deficiency and pyruvate kinase deficiency in the dog large animal model. FV vectors also appear safer than gammaretroviral vectors based on a reduced frequency of integrants near promoters and also near proto-oncogenes in canine repopulating cells. Together, these studies suggest that FV vectors should be highly effective for several human hematopoietic diseases, including those that will require relatively high percentages of gene-modified cells to achieve clinical benefit.
ETS Gene Fusions as Predictive Biomarkers of Resistance to Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer
Award Number: W81XWH-10-1-0582 TITLE: ETS Gene Fusions as Predictive Biomarkers of Resistance to Radiation Therapy for Prostate Cancer PRINCIPAL...ETS gene fusion status associated with clinical outcomes following radiation therapy , by analyzing both the collected biomarker and clinical data...denotes absence of an ERG fusion). ETS gene fusions status did not predict outcomes following radiation therapy , as demonstrated by Kaplan Meier
Combined anti-tumor necrosis factor-α therapy and DMARD therapy in rheumatoid arthritis patients reduces inflammatory gene expression in whole blood compared to DMARD therapy alone
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Carl K Edwards
Full Text Available Periodic assessment of gene expression for diagnosis and monitoring in rheumatoid arthritis (RA may provide a readily available and useful method to detect subclinical disease progression and follow responses to therapy with disease modifying anti-rheumatic agents (DMARDs or anti-TNF-α therapy. We used quantitative real-time PCR to compare peripheral blood gene expression profiles in active ("unstable" RA patients on DMARDs, stable RA patients on DMARDs, and stable RA patients treated with a combination of a DMARD and an anti-TNF-α agent (infliximab or etanercept to healthy human controls. The expression of 48 inflammatory genes were compared between healthy controls (N=122, unstable DMARD patients (N=18, stable DMARD patients (N=26, and stable patients on combination therapy (N=20. Expression of 13 genes was very low or undetectable in all study groups. Compared to healthy controls, patients with unstable RA on DMARDs exhibited increased expression of 25 genes, stable DMARD patients exhibited increased expression of 14 genes and decreased expression of five genes, and combined therapy patients exhibited increased expression of six genes and decreased expression of 10 genes. These findings demonstrate that active RA is associated with increased expression of circulating inflammatory markers whereas increases in inflammatory gene expression are diminished in patients with stable disease on either DMARD or anti-TNF-α therapy. Furthermore, combination DMARD and anti-TNF-α therapy is associated with greater reductions in circulating inflammatory gene expression compared to DMARD therapy alone. These results suggest that assessment of peripheral blood gene expression may prove useful to monitor disease progression and response to therapy.
Hepatocyte growth factor gene therapy reduces ventricular arrhythmia in animal models of myocardial ischemia.
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Full Text Available
It was recently reported that gene therapy using hepatocyte growth factor (HGF has the potential to preserve cardiac function after myocardial ischemia. We speculated that this HGF gene therapy could also prevent ventricular arrhythmia. To investigate this possibility, we examined the antiarrhythmic effect of HGF gene therapy in rat acute and old myocardial infarction models. Myocardial ischemia was induced by ligation of the left descending coronary artery. Hemagglutinating virus of Japan (HVJ-coated liposome containing HGF genes were injected directly into the myocardium fourteen days before programmed pacing. Ventricular fibrillation (VFwas induced by programmed pacing. The VF duration was reduced and the VF threshold increased after HGF gene therapy ( p< 0.01. Histological analyses revealed that the number of vessels in the ischemic border zone was greatly increased after HGF gene injection. These findings revealed that HGF gene therapy has an anti-arrhythmic effect after myocardial ischemia.
The latest advances of experimental research on targeted gene therapy for prostate cancer
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Dongliang Pan; Lianchao Jin; Xianghua Zhang
The absence of ef ective therapies for castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) establishes the need to de-velop novel therapeutic modality, such as targeted gene therapy, which is ideal for the treatment of CRPC. But its application has been limited due to lack of favorable gene vector and the reduction of"bystander ef ect". Consequently, scientists al over the world focus their main experimental research on the fol owing four aspects:targeted gene, vector, transfer means and comprehensive therapy. In this paper, we reviewed the latest advances of experimental research on targeted gene therapy for prostate cancer .
[Collaborative study on regulatory science for facilitating clinical development of gene therapy products for genetic diseases].
Uchida, Eriko; Igarashi, Yuka; Sato, Yoji
Gene therapy products are expected as innovative medicinal products for intractable diseases such as life-threatening genetic diseases and cancer. Recently, clinical developments by pharmaceutical companies are accelerated in Europe and the United States, and the first gene therapy product in advanced countries was approved for marketing authorization by the European Commission in 2012. On the other hand, more than 40 clinical studies for gene therapy have been completed or ongoing in Japan, most of them are conducted as clinical researches by academic institutes, and few clinical trials have been conducted for approval of gene therapy products. In order to promote the development of gene therapy products, revision of the current guideline and/or preparation of concept paper to address the evaluation of the quality and safety of gene therapy products are necessary and desired to clearly show what data should be submitted before First-in-Human clinical trials of novel gene therapy products. We started collaborative study with academia and regulatory agency to promote regulatory science toward clinical development of gene therapy products for genetic diseases based on lentivirus and adeno-associated virus vectors; National Center for Child Health and Development (NCCHD), Nippon Medical School and PMDA have been joined in the task force. At first, we are preparing pre-draft of the revision of the current gene therapy guidelines in this project.
Gene therapy in glaucoma-part 2: Genetic etiology and gene mapping.
Mahdy, Mohamed Abdel-Monem Soliman
Glaucoma diagnosis, identification of people at risk, initiation of treatment and timing of surgical intervention remains a problem. Despite new and improving diagnostic and therapeutic options for glaucoma, blindness from glaucoma is increasing and glaucoma remains a major public health problem. The role of heredity in ocular disease is attracting greater attention as the knowledge and recent advances of Human Genome Project and the HapMap Project have made genetic analysis of many human disorders possible.Glaucoma offers a variety of potential targets for gene therapy. All risk factors for glaucoma and their underlying causes are potentially susceptible to modulation by gene transfer.The discovery of genes responsible for glaucoma has led to the development of new methods of Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)-based diagnosis and treatment. As genetic defects responsible for glaucoma are identified and the biochemical mechanisms underlying the disease are recognized, new methods of therapy can be developed. It is of utmost importance for the ophthalmologists and glaucoma specialists to be familiar with and understand the basic molecular mechanisms, genes responsible for glaucoma and the ways of genetic treatment. METHOD OF LITERATURE SEARCH: The literature was searched on the Medline database, using the PubMed interface.
Lung gene therapy-How to capture illumination from the light already present in the tunnel.
Xia, Emily; Munegowda, Manjunatha Ankathatti; Cao, Huibi; Hu, Jim
Gene therapy has been considered as the most ideal medical intervention for genetic diseases because it is intended to target the cause of diseases instead of disease symptoms. Availability of techniques for identification of genetic mutations and for in vitro manipulation of genes makes it practical and attractive. After the initial hype in 1990s and later disappointments in clinical trials for more than a decade, light has finally come into the tunnel in recent years, especially in the field of eye gene therapy where it has taken big strides. Clinical trials in gene therapy for retinal degenerative diseases such as Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) and choroideremia demonstrated clear therapeutic efficacies without apparent side effects. Although these successful examples are still rare and sporadic in the field, they provide the proof of concept for harnessing the power of gene therapy to treat genetic diseases and to modernize our medication. In addition, those success stories illuminate the path for the development of gene therapy treating other genetic diseases. Because of the differences in target organs and cells, distinct barriers to gene delivery exist in gene therapy for each genetic disease. It is not feasible for authors to review the current development in the entire field. Thus, in this article, we will focus on what we can learn from the current success in gene therapy for retinal degenerative diseases to speed up the gene therapy development for lung diseases, such as cystic fibrosis.
Simian virus 40 vectors for pulmonary gene therapy
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Oppenheim Ariella
Full Text Available Abstract Background Sepsis remains the leading cause of death in critically ill patients. One of the primary organs affected by sepsis is the lung, presenting as the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS. Organ damage in sepsis involves an alteration in gene expression, making gene transfer a potential therapeutic modality. This work examines the feasibility of applying simian virus 40 (SV40 vectors for pulmonary gene therapy. Methods Sepsis-induced ARDS was established by cecal ligation double puncture (2CLP. SV40 vectors carrying the luciferase reporter gene (SV/luc were administered intratracheally immediately after sepsis induction. Sham operated (SO as well as 2CLP rats given intratracheal PBS or adenovirus expressing luciferase served as controls. Luc transduction was evaluated by in vivo light detection, immunoassay and luciferase mRNA detection by RT-PCR in tissue harvested from septic rats. Vector abundance and distribution into alveolar cells was evaluated using immunostaining for the SV40 VP1 capsid protein as well as by double staining for VP1 and for the surfactant protein C (proSP-C. Immunostaining for T-lymphocytes was used to evaluate the cellular immune response induced by the vector. Results Luc expression measured by in vivo light detection correlated with immunoassay from lung tissue harvested from the same rats. Moreover, our results showed vector presence in type II alveolar cells. The vector did not induce significant cellular immune response. Conclusion In the present study we have demonstrated efficient uptake and expression of an SV40 vector in the lungs of animals with sepsis-induced ARDS. These vectors appear to be capable of in vivo transduction of alveolar type II cells and may thus become a future therapeutic tool.
A preliminary step of a novel strategy in suicide gene therapy with lentiviral vector
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Jahan Afrooz Ghanbari
Conclusion: In this step of our strategy, we demonstrated that modification of orientation and location of promoter may overcome some issues in lentiviral suicide gene therapy, especially when toxin or apoptosis-inducing genes are used.
Bacteriophages and biotechnology: vaccines, gene therapy and antibacterials.
Clark, Jason R; March, John B
In recent years it has been recognized that bacteriophages have several potential applications in the modern biotechnology industry: they have been proposed as delivery vehicles for protein and DNA vaccines; as gene therapy delivery vehicles; as alternatives to antibiotics; for the detection of pathogenic bacteria; and as tools for screening libraries of proteins, peptides or antibodies. This diversity, and the ease of their manipulation and production, means that they have potential uses in research, therapeutics and manufacturing in both the biotechnology and medical fields. It is hoped that the wide range of scientists, clinicians and biotechnologists currently researching or putting phages to practical use are able to pool their knowledge and expertise and thereby accelerate progress towards further development in this exciting field of biotechnology.
A novel strategy for cancer gene therapy: RNAi
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
PAN Qiuwei; CAI Rong; LIU Xinyuan; QIAN Cheng
RNA interference (RNAi) induces genesilencing at a level of posttranscription mediated bydouble stranded RNA. There are numerous methods for delivery of small double-stranded interference RNA (siRNA) to the target cells, including nonviral and viral vectors. Among these methods, viral vectors are the more efficient vehicles. The expression of short hairpin RNA (shRNA) by viral vectors in target cells can be cut by Dicer enzyme to become ~21 bp siRNA, which could guide degradation of cognate mRNA. RNAi technology can be directed against cancer using a variety of strategies, including the inhibition of overexpressed oncogenes, promoting apoptosis, regulating cell cycle, antiangiogenesis and enhancing the efficacy of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. Since RNAi technology has become an excellent strategy for cancer gene therapy, this review outlines the latest developments and applications of such a novel technology.
Alphavirus vectors for vaccine production and gene therapy.
Lundstrom, Kenneth
Alphavirus vectors demonstrate high expression of heterologous proteins in a broad range of host cells. Replication-deficient as well as replication-competent variants exist. Systemic delivery of many viral antigens has elicited strong antibody responses in immunized mice and primates, and protection against challenges with lethal viruses was obtained. Similarly, prophylactic vaccination was established against tumor challenges. Attention has been paid to the engineering of improved targeting to immunologically active cells, such as dendritic cells. In the area of gene therapy, intratumoral injections of alphavirus vectors have resulted in potentially promising tumor rejection. Moreover, encapsulation of alphavirus particles into liposomes demonstrated efficient tumor targeting in mice with severe combined immunodeficiency, which permitted the initiation of clinical trials for patients with advanced kidney carcinoma and melanoma.
New therapies for the failing heart: trans-genes versus trans-cells.
Lionetti, Vincenzo; Recchia, Fabio A
During the past 30 years, hundreds of pharmacological agents have been developed for the treatment of heart failure; yet few of them ultimately have been tested in patients. Such a disconcerting debacle has spurred the search for non pharmacological therapies, including those based on cardiac delivery of transgenes and stem cells. Cardiac gene therapy preceded stem cell therapy by approximately 10 years; however, both of them already have known an initial phase of enormous enthusiasm followed by moderate-to-strong skepticism, not necessarily justified. The aim of the present review is to discuss succinctly some key aspects of these 2 biological therapies and to argue that, after a phase of disillusionment, gene therapy for the failing heart likely will have the chance to regain the stage. In fact, discoveries in stem cell biology might revitalize gene therapy and, vice versa, gene therapy might potentiate synergistically the regenerative capacity of stem cells. Copyright 2010. Published by Mosby, Inc.
Adenovirus-based p53 gene therapy in ovarian cancer.
Santoso, J T; Tang, D C; Lane, S B; Hung, J; Reed, D J; Muller, C Y; Carbone, D P; Lucci, J A; Miller, D S; Mathis, J M
Mutations of the p53 tumor suppressor gene are the most common molecular genetic abnormality to be described in ovarian cancer. To determine the feasibility of mutant p53 as a molecular target for gene therapy in ovarian cancer, we constructed an adenovirus vector containing the wild-type p53 gene. The ability of this adenovirus construct (Ad-CMV-p53) to express p53 protein was examined by Western blot analysis in the H358 lung cancer cell line, which has a homozygous deletion of the p53 gene. The ability of the adenovirus vector system to infect ovarian cancer cells was tested using an adenovirus containing the beta-galactosidase reporter gene under the control of the CMV promoter (Ad-CMV-beta gal). The ovarian cancer cell line 2774, which contains an Arg273His p53 mutation, was infected with Ad-CMV-beta gal, and the infected cells were assayed for beta-galactosidase activity after 24 hr. To test the ability of wild-type p53 to inhibit cell growth, the 2774 cell line was infected with Ad-CMV-p53 or Ad-CMV-beta gal, and the effect of these agents on the growth of 2774 cells was determined using an in vitro growth inhibition assay. Western blot analysis of lysates from H358 cells infected with Ad-CMV-p53 showed expression of wild-type p53 protein. When 2774 cells were infected with Ad-CMV-beta gal at a multiplicity of infection (m.o.i.) of 10 PFU/cell, > 90% of cells showed beta-galactosidase activity, demonstrating that these cells are capable of efficient infection by the adenovirus vector. Growth of 2774 cells infected with Ad-CMV-p53 was inhibited by > 90% compared to noninfected cells. The ability of the adenovirus vector to mediate high-level expression of infected genes and the inhibitory effect of Ad-CMV-p53 on the 2774 cell line suggests that the Ad-CMV-p53 could be further developed into a therapeutic agent for ovarian cancer.
[Advances in the application of gene therapy for Parkinson's disease with adeno-associated virus].
Chen, Yang; Lü, Ying-Hui; Li, Zhao-Fa
Vectors used to carry foreign genes play an important role in gene therapy, among which, the adeno-associated virus (AAV) has many advantages, such as nonpathogenicity, low immunogenicity, stable and long-term expression and multiple-tissue-type infection, etc. These advantages have made AAV one of the most potential vectors in gene therapy, and widely used in many clinical researches, for example, Parkinson's disease. This paper introduces the biological characteristics of AAV and the latest research progress of AAV carrying neurotrophic factor, dopamine synthesis related enzymes and glutamic acid decarboxylase gene in the gene therapy of Parkinson's disease.
Isolated growth hormone deficiency type 2: from gene to therapy.
Miletta, Maria Consolata; Lochmatter, Didier; Pektovic, Vibor; Mullis, Primus-E
Isolated growth hormone deficiency type-2 (IGHD-2), the autosomal-dominant form of GH deficiency, is mainly caused by specific splicing mutations in the human growth hormone (hGH) gene (GH-1). These mutations, occurring in and around exon 3, cause complete exon 3 skipping and produce a dominant-negative 17.5 kD GH isoform that reduces the accumulation and secretion of wild type-GH (wt-GH). At present, patients suffering from IGHD-2 are treated with daily injections of recombinant human GH (rhGH) in order to reach normal height. However, this type of replacement therapy, although effective in terms of growth, does not prevent toxic effects of the 17.5-kD mutant on the pituitary gland, which can eventually lead to other hormonal deficiencies. Considering a well-known correlation between the clinical severity observed in IGHD-2 patients and the increased expression of the 17.5-kD isoform, therapies that specifically target this isoform may be useful in patients with GH-1 splicing defects. This chapter focuses on molecular strategies that could represent future directions for IGHD-2 treatment.
Nanoexplosive gene therapy using triplex-forming oligonucleotides
Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)
Oh, Eun Jung; Min, Hye Jung; Choe, Jae Gol; Park, Gil Hong; Kim, Meyoung Kon [College of Medicine, Korea Univ., Seoul (Korea, Republic of)
Triplex forming oligonucleotides (TFO) labeled with Auger emitter could be ideal vehicles for delivering radiation energy to specific DNA sequences, and followed by double-stranded DNA breaks and subsequent inactivation of targeted genes. We designed TFOs targeting the selected DNA fragments (i.e., estrogen receptors and N-myc promoter) and labeled with {sup 125}I and {sup 111}In. Various Cancer cells, e.g., MCF-7 (breast adenocarcinoma), MCF-10A (immortalized breast cells), Jurkat (T-cell leukemia), ARO (thyroid cancer), SNU-449 (Colon Caner), and HL-60 (polymyelocytic leukemia), were prepared and treated with radiolabeled TFO for 24 h. After the incubation, subcellular fractions (i.e., cell nucleus, cytoplasm and cultured medium) were collected and measured radioactivity by a gamma scintillation counter, respectively. The mean value of % injected dose for each fraction was ranged as follows: nucleus, 4.4-20%; cytoplasm, 8.2-29%; and medium, 64-87%. Therefore, we speculated that TFO labeled with Auger emitter could be a next-generation therapeutic tool in nanoexplosive gene therapy.
Gene therapy as a potential tool for treating neuroblastoma-a focused review.
Kumar, M D; Dravid, A; Kumar, A; Sen, D
Neuroblastoma, a solid tumor caused by rapid division of undifferentiated neuroblasts, is the most common childhood malignancy affecting children aged genes is restored to normalcy. Gene therapy is a powerful tool with the potential to inhibit the deleterious effects of oncogenes by inserting corrected/normal genes into the genome. Both viral and non-viral vector-based gene therapies have been developed and adopted to deliver the target genes into neuroblastoma cells. These attempts have given hope to bringing in a new regime of treatment against neuroblastoma. A few gene-therapy-based treatment strategies have been tested in limited clinical trials yielding some positive results. This mini review is an attempt to provide an overview of the available options of gene therapy to treat neuroblastoma.
In vivo characteristics of cationic liposomes as delivery vectors for gene therapy
Audouy, SAL; de Leij, LFMH; Hoekstra, D; Molema, G
After a decade of clinical trials, gene therapy seems to have found its place between excessive ambitions and feasible aims, with encouraging results obtained in recent years. Intracellular delivery of genetic material is the key step in gene therapy. Optimization of delivery vectors is of major imp
78 FR 15726 - Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
... HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... portion of the meeting will be closed to the public. Name of Committee: Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide advice and recommendations...
An evolutionary-game model of tumour-cell interactions: possible relevance to gene therapy
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Bach, Lars Arve; Bentzen, Søren; Alsner, Jan
interpretations of gene therapy. Two prototypical strategies for gene therapy are suggested, both of them leading to extinction of the malignant phenotype: one approach would be to reduce the relative proportion of the cooperating malignant cell type below a certain critical value. Another approach would...
76 FR 18768 - Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
... HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... portion of the meeting will be closed to the public. Name of Committee: Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. General Function of the Committee: To provide advice and recommendations...
76 FR 64951 - Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting
... From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Food and Drug Administration Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee... be open to the public. Name of Committee: Cellular, Tissue and Gene Therapies Advisory...
Thoracoscopic monitoring for pericardial application of local drug or gene therapy
Tio, RA; Grandjean, JG; Suurmeijer, AJH; van Gilst, WH; van Veldhuisen, DJ; van Boven, AJ
Cardiovascular gene therapy is a promising new approach for a variety of diseases. As far as gene therapy aimed at the myocardium is concerned a new transcutaneous delivery method may be into the pericardial sac. Objective: To evaluate the safety and applicability of the percutaneous pericardial
Evaluation of β-globin gene therapy constructs in single-copy transgenic mice.
J. Ellis (James); K.C. Tan-Un; P. Pasceri; A. Harper; X. Wu; P.J. Fraser (Peter); F.G. Grosveld (Frank)
textabstractEffective gene therapy constructs based on retrovirus or adeno-associated virus vectors will require regulatory elements that direct expression of genes transduced at single copy. Most beta-globin constructs designed for therapy of beta-thalassemias are regulated by the 5'HS2 component o
Thoracoscopic monitoring for pericardial application of local drug or gene therapy
Tio, RA; Grandjean, JG; Suurmeijer, AJH; van Gilst, WH; van Veldhuisen, DJ; van Boven, AJ
Cardiovascular gene therapy is a promising new approach for a variety of diseases. As far as gene therapy aimed at the myocardium is concerned a new transcutaneous delivery method may be into the pericardial sac. Objective: To evaluate the safety and applicability of the percutaneous pericardial del
The path to successful commercialization of cell and gene therapies: empowering patient advocates.
Bauer, Gerhard; Abou-El-Enein, Mohamed; Kent, Alastair; Poole, Brian; Forte, Miguel
Often, novel gene and cell therapies provide hope for many people living with incurable diseases. To facilitate and accelerate a successful regulatory approval and commercialization path for effective, safe and affordable cell and gene therapies, the involvement of patient advocacy groups (PAGs) should be considered early in the development process. This report provides a thorough overview of the various roles PAGs play in the clinical translation of cell and gene therapies and how they can bring about positive changes in the regulatory process, infrastructure improvements and market stability. Copyright © 2017 International Society for Cellular Therapy. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
The Regulatory Pathway for Advanced Cell Therapy and Gene Therapy Products in Brazil: A Road to Be Built.
de Freitas, Daniel Roberto Coradi
The regulation of cell therapy and gene therapy products is a major challenge for the Brazilian state. From a legal point of view, the legislative apparatus, including constitutional, prohibits the marketing and patent of human substances. From the point of view of the organization of the state bureaucracy, the responsibilities for the regulation of research and application of these technologies in humans may involve up to four different institutions. The National Agency for Health Surveillance (ANVISA) has been the protagonist in structuring the regulation of cell therapy and gene therapy in Brazil, and steps have been taken to ensure quality of these products. However, obstacles such as the commercialization of these therapies and the need to determine whether these products will be regulated following the assumptions adopted in Brazil for drugs and biological products or for human blood and tissues still remain.
Overview of gene therapy clinical progress including cancer treatment with gene-modified T cells.
Brenner, Malcolm K; Okur, Fatma V
It is now twenty years since the first legal gene transfer studies were approved, and there has been considerable disappointment in the slow rate of progress that followed the initial studies. Gradually, however, as the limitations of available vectors are acknowledged and overcome, and with advances in our understanding of the molecular and cell biology of genetic diseases and of cancer, unequivocal successes are now being reported. In this paper we describe the remaining major roadblocks to successful gene therapy and outline approaches to overcome them. We also illustrate how genetically modified immune system cells are already being used for the effective treatment of hematological and other malignancies, and how these approaches are being modified so that they can be effective in treating a broader range of malignancies.
Multifunctional Virus-Nanoshell Assembly for Targeted Hyperthermia and Viral Gene Therapy for Breast Cancer
cancer cells in synergy with gene therapy. We proposed to develop virus- nanoshell assemblies by attaching adeno-associated virus (AAV) to gold... nanoshells (Au NS) through chemical bonds. We have successfully completed majority of tasks 1 and 2 of our Statement of Work. Specifically, we have...therapy, virus, Au nanoshell Multifunctional Virus- Nanoshell Assembly for Targeted Hyperthermia and Viral Gene Therapy for Breast Cancer Dr. Fang Wei
Advances of Driver Gene and Targeted Therapy of Non-small Cell Lung Cancer
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Dan ZHANG
Full Text Available Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the worldwide. The discovery of drive gene makes tumor treatment is no longer "one-size-fits-all". Targeted therapy to change the present situation of cancer drugs become "bullet" with eyes, the effect is visible and bring a revolution in the treatment of lung cancer. The diver gene and targeted therapy have became the new cedule of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC. Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO has showed 11 kinds of diver genes. Here, we review the functional and structural characteristics and the targeted therapy in the 11 kinds of driver gene mutations.
[Advances of driver gene and targeted therapy of non-small cell lung cancer].
Zhang, Dan; Huang, Yan; Wang, Hongyang
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the worldwide. The discovery of drive gene makes tumor treatment is no longer "one-size-fits-all". Targeted therapy to change the present situation of cancer drugs become "bullet" with eyes, the effect is visible and bring a revolution in the treatment of lung cancer. The diver gene and targeted therapy have became the new cedule of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) has showed 11 kinds of diver genes. Here, we review the functional and structural characteristics and the targeted therapy in the 11 kinds of driver gene mutations.
Retinal structure and function in achromatopsia: implications for gene therapy.
Sundaram, Venki; Wilde, Caroline; Aboshiha, Jonathan; Cowing, Jill; Han, Colin; Langlo, Christopher S; Chana, Ravinder; Davidson, Alice E; Sergouniotis, Panagiotis I; Bainbridge, James W; Ali, Robin R; Dubra, Alfredo; Rubin, Gary; Webster, Andrew R; Moore, Anthony T; Nardini, Marko; Carroll, Joseph; Michaelides, Michel
To characterize retinal structure and function in achromatopsia (ACHM) in preparation for clinical trials of gene therapy. Cross-sectional study. Forty subjects with ACHM. All subjects underwent spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), microperimetry, and molecular genetic testing. Foveal structure on SD-OCT was graded into 5 distinct categories: (1) continuous inner segment ellipsoid (ISe), (2) ISe disruption, (3) ISe absence, (4) presence of a hyporeflective zone (HRZ), and (5) outer retinal atrophy including retinal pigment epithelial loss. Foveal and outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness was measured and presence of hypoplasia determined. Photoreceptor appearance on SD-OCT imaging, foveal and ONL thickness, presence of foveal hypoplasia, retinal sensitivity and fixation stability, and association of these parameters with age and genotype. Forty subjects with a mean age of 24.9 years (range, 6-52 years) were included. Disease-causing variants were found in CNGA3 (n = 18), CNGB3 (n = 15), GNAT2 (n = 4), and PDE6C (n = 1). No variants were found in 2 individuals. In all, 22.5% of subjects had a continuous ISe layer at the fovea, 27.5% had ISe disruption, 20% had an absent ISe layer, 22.5% had an HRZ, and 7.5% had outer retinal atrophy. No significant differences in age (P = 0.77), mean retinal sensitivity (P = 0.21), or fixation stability (P = 0.34) across the 5 SD-OCT categories were evident. No correlation was found between age and foveal thickness (P = 0.84) or between age and foveal ONL thickness (P = 0.12). The lack of a clear association of disruption of retinal structure or function in ACHM with age suggests that the window of opportunity for intervention by gene therapy is wider in some individuals than previously indicated. Therefore, the potential benefit for a given subject is likely to be better predicted by specific measurement of photoreceptor structure rather than simply by age. The ability to directly assess cone photoreceptor
Combined anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha therapy and DMARD therapy in rheumatoid arthritis patients reduces inflammatory gene expression in whole blood compared to DMARD therapy alone
Edwards, C.K., 3rd; Green, J.S.; Volk, H.D.; Schiff, M.; Kotzin, B.L.; Mitsuya, H.; Kawaguchi, T.; Sakata, K.M.; Cheronis, J.; Trollinger, D.; Bankaitis-Davis, D.; Dinarello, C.A.; Norris, D.A.; Bevilacqua, M.P.; Fujita, M.; Burmester, G.R.
Periodic assessment of gene expression for diagnosis and monitoring in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may provide a readily available and useful method to detect subclinical disease progression and follow responses to therapy with disease modifying anti-rheumatic agents (DMARDs) or anti-TNF-alpha therapy
Intrinsic Bio-Signature of Gene Delivery Nanocarriers May Impair Gene Therapy Goals
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Jaleh Barar
Full Text Available Non-viral lipid/polymeric vectors have widely been used as nanocarriers (NCs for gene delivery. They possess large surface area to volume ratio and are able to interact with biomolecules through functional moieties, resulting in inadvertent biological impacts, in particular at genomic level. Thus, their genomic bio-signature needs to be investigated prior to use in vivo. Using high-throughput microarray and qPCR gene expression profiling techniques, we have reported the genomic impacts of lipid/polymeric NCs. Given the fact that the ultimate objectives of gene therapy may inevitably be impaired by nonspecific intrinsic genomic impacts of these NCs, here, we highlight their nonspecific genomic bio-signature. We envision that better understanding on the genotoxicity of gene delivery NCs, as guiding premise, will help us to develop much safer NCs and also to accelerate their translation into clinical use and to provide pivotal information on safety liabilities early in discovery and developments process prior to its inevitable consequences in vivo.
Combining gene therapy and fetal hemoglobin induction for treatment of β-thalassemia.
Breda, Laura; Rivella, Stefano; Zuccato, Cristina; Gambari, Roberto
β-thalassemias are caused by nearly 300 mutations of the β-globin gene, leading to a low or absent production of adult hemoglobin (HbA). Two major therapeutic approaches have recently been proposed: gene therapy and induction of fetal hemoglobin (HbF) with the objective of achieving clinically relevant levels of Hbs. The objective of this article is to describe the development of therapeutic strategies based on a combination of gene therapy and induction of HbFs. An increase of β-globin gene expression in β-thalassemia cells can be achieved by gene therapy, although de novo production of clinically relevant levels of adult Hb may be difficult to obtain. On the other hand, an increased production of HbF is beneficial in β-thalassemia. The combination of gene therapy and HbF induction appears to be a pertinent strategy to achieve clinically relevant results.
Gene Therapy of Ovarian Cancer%卵巢癌的基因治疗
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
杨宏英; 卢玉波
卵巢癌的发生是多基因参与的过程,随着对癌基因、抑癌基因的深入研究,提出基因治疗是癌症治疗的最新策略.卵巢癌基因治疗的方法包括突变补偿、分子化疗、基因免疫治疗等措施,基因治疗将为临床治疗卵巢癌提供新的途径.%Ovarian cancer correlates with a serials of genes. Since oncogene and tumor suppressor gene have been studied thoroughly, it is tho ught that gene therapy is the newest strategy of cancer treatment. There are many types of gene therapy: Gene complement, moleculchemotherapy, immune-based gene therapy etc. Gene therapy will provide a novel way of ovarian cancer treatment.
Viral vectors for cystic fibrosis gene therapy: What does the future hold?
Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)
Uta Griesenbach
Full Text Available Uta Griesenbach1, Makoto Inoue2, Mamoru Hasegawa2, Eric WFW Alton11Department of Gene Therapy, Imperial College London, UK; The UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium; 2DNAVEC Corporation, Tsukuba, JapanAbstract: Gene transfer to the airway epithelium has been more difficult than originally anticipated, largely because of significant extra- and intracellular barriers in the lung. In general, viral vectors are more adapted to overcoming these barriers than nonviral gene transfer agents and are, therefore, more efficient in transferring genes into recipient cells. Viral vectors derived from adenovirus, adeno-associated virus, and Sendai virus, which all have a natural tropism for the airway epithelium, have been evaluated for cystic fibrosis (CF gene therapy. Although these vectors transduce airway epithelial cells efficiently, gene expression is transient and repeated administration is inefficient. They are, therefore, unlikely to be suitable for CF gene therapy. More recently, lentiviruses (LV have been assessed for lung gene transfer. In contrast to retroviruses, they transduce nondividing cells and randomly integrate into the genome. However, LVs do not have a natural tropism for the lung, and a significant amount of effort has been put into pseudotyping these vectors with proteins suitable for airway gene transfer. Several studies have shown that LV-mediated transduction leads to persistent gene expression (for the lifetime of the animal in the airways and, importantly, repeated administration is feasible. Thus, appropriately pseudotyped LV vectors are promising candidates for CF gene therapy. Here, we will review preclinical and clinical research related to viral CF gene therapy.Keywords: cystic fibrosis, gene therapy, adenovirus, AAV, lentivirus, Sendai virus
Hyperbaric oxygen in chronic traumatic brain injury: oxygen, pressure, and gene therapy.
Harch, Paul G
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a treatment for wounds in any location and of any duration that has been misunderstood for 353 years. Since 2008 it has been applied to the persistent post-concussion syndrome of mild traumatic brain injury by civilian and later military researchers with apparent conflicting results. The civilian studies are positive and the military-funded studies are a mixture of misinterpreted positive data, indeterminate data, and negative data. This has confused the medical, academic, and lay communities. The source of the confusion is a fundamental misunderstanding of the definition, principles, and mechanisms of action of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. This article argues that the traditional definition of hyperbaric oxygen therapy is arbitrary. The article establishes a scientific definition of hyperbaric oxygen therapy as a wound-healing therapy of combined increased atmospheric pressure and pressure of oxygen over ambient atmospheric pressure and pressure of oxygen whose main mechanisms of action are gene-mediated. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy exerts its wound-healing effects by expression and suppression of thousands of genes. The dominant gene actions are upregulation of trophic and anti-inflammatory genes and down-regulation of pro-inflammatory and apoptotic genes. The combination of genes affected depends on the different combinations of total pressure and pressure of oxygen. Understanding that hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a pressure and oxygen dose-dependent gene therapy allows for reconciliation of the conflicting TBI study results as outcomes of different doses of pressure and oxygen.
Yamasaki, Tomohiro; Wakao, Shohei; Kawaji, Hiroshi; Suzuki, Tomo; Kamio, Yoshinobu; AMANO, SHINJI; Sameshima, Tetsuro; Sakai, Naoto; TOKUYAMA, TSUTOMU; Dezawa, Mari; Namba, Hiroki
INTRODUCTION: We have been investigating cell-based glioma gene therapy using various kinds of stem cells transduced with the herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase gene (HSVtk). In our previous study, we used SSEA3/CD105 double-positive multilineage-differentiating stress-enduring (Muse) cells transduced with HSVtk (Muse-tk cells) as the vehicle for HSVtk/ganciclovir (GCV) gene therapy. We demonstrated a potent in vitro tumoricidal bystander effect for various glioma cells. In the present stu...
Development of gene therapy: potential in severe combined immunodeficiency due to adenosine deaminase deficiency.
Montiel-Equihua, C. A.; Thrasher, A. J.; Gaspar, H B
The history of stem cell gene therapy is strongly linked to the development of gene therapy for severe combined immunodeficiencies (SCID) and especially adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficient SCID. Here we discuss the developments achieved in over two decades of clinical and laboratory research that led to the establishment of a protocol for the autologous transplant of retroviral vector-mediated gene-modified hematopoietic stem cells, which has proved to be both successful and, to date, safe. P...
Combining Cytotoxic and Immune-Mediated Gene Therapy to Treat Brain Tumors
Curtin, James; King, Gwendalyn; Candolfi, Marianela; Greeno, Remy; Kroeger, Kurt; Lowenstein, Pedro; Castro,Maria
Glioblastoma (GBM) is a type of intracranial brain tumor, for which there is no cure. In spite of advances in surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, patients die within a year of diagnosis. Therefore, there is a critical need to develop novel therapeutic approaches for this disease. Gene therapy, which is the use of genes or other nucleic acids as drugs, is a powerful new treatment strategy which can be developed to treat GBM. Several treatment modalities are amenable for gene therapy implem...
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Ju Dianwen; Cao Xuetao; Yu Yizhi; Tao Qun; Wang Baomei; Wan Tao
In the present report, antitumor effect of combined transfer of suicide gene and cytokine gene was studied.Adenovirus engineered to express E. Coli. Cytosine deaminase (AdCD) and/or adenovirus engineered toexpress murine granulocyte-macrophage colonystimulating factor (AdGMCSF) were used for the treatment of leukemia-bearing mice. The mice were inoculated s.c. With FBL-3 erythroleukemia cells and 3days later received intratumoral injection of AdCD in the presence or absence of AdGMCSF followed by intraperitoneal 5-fluorocytosine (5FC) treatment. The results demonstrated that mice received combined therapy of AdCD/5FC and AdGMCSF developed tumors most slowly and survived much longer when compared with mice treated with AdCD/5FC alone, AdGMCSF alone, AdlacZ/5FC or PBS. Combined transfer of CD gene and GM-CSF gene achieved higher specific CTL activity than control therapies. Pathological examination illustrated that the tumor mass showed obvious necrosis and inflammatory cell infiltration in mice after combined therapy. The results demonstrated that combined transfer of suicide gene and cytokine gene could synergistically inhibit the growth of leukemia in mice and induce antitumor immunity of the host. The combination therapy might be a potential approach for cancer gene therapy.
Targeted delivery of genes to endothelial cells and cell- and gene-based therapy in pulmonary vascular diseases.
Suen, Colin M; Mei, Shirley H J; Kugathasan, Lakshmi; Stewart, Duncan J
Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a devastating disease that, despite significant advances in medical therapies over the last several decades, continues to have an extremely poor prognosis. Gene therapy is a method to deliver therapeutic genes to replace defective or mutant genes or supplement existing cellular processes to modify disease. Over the last few decades, several viral and nonviral methods of gene therapy have been developed for preclinical PAH studies with varying degrees of efficacy. However, these gene delivery methods face challenges of immunogenicity, low transduction rates, and nonspecific targeting which have limited their translation to clinical studies. More recently, the emergence of regenerative approaches using stem and progenitor cells such as endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have offered a new approach to gene therapy. Cell-based gene therapy is an approach that augments the therapeutic potential of EPCs and MSCs and may deliver on the promise of reversal of established PAH. These new regenerative approaches have shown tremendous potential in preclinical studies; however, large, rigorously designed clinical studies will be necessary to evaluate clinical efficacy and safety.
Range of retinal diseases potentially treatable by AAV-vectored gene therapy.
Hauswirth, William W; Li, Quihong; Raisler, Brian; Timmers, Adrian M; Berns, Kenneth I; Flannery, John G; LaVail, Matthew M; Lewin, Alfred S
Viable strategies for retinal gene therapy must be designed to cope with the genetic nature of the disease and/or the primary pathologic process responsible for retinal malfunction. For dominant gene defects the aim must be to destroy the presumably toxic gene product, for recessive gene defects the direct approach aims to provide a wild-type copy of the gene to the affected retinal cell type, and for diseases of either complex or unknown genetic origin, more general cell survival strategies that deal with preserving affected retinal cells are often the best and only option. Hence examples of each type of therapy will be briefly discussed in several animal models, including ribozyme therapy for autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa in the transgenic P23H opsin rat, beta-PDE gene augmentation therapy for autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa in the rd mouse, glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) gene therapy for autosomal dominant RP in the transgenic S334ter opsin rat and pigment epithelial cell-derived neurotrophic factor (PEDF) gene therapy for neovascular retinal disease in rodents. Each employs a recombinant AAV vectored passenger gene controlled by one of several promoters supporting either photoreceptor-specific expression or more general retinal cell expression depending on the therapeutic requirements.
Plant thymidine kinase 1: a novel efficient suicide gene for malignant glioma therapy
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Khan, Z.; Knecht, Wolfgang; Willer, Mette
The prognosis for malignant gliomas remains poor, and new treatments are urgently needed. Targeted suicide gene therapy exploits the enzymatic conversion of a prodrug, such as a nucleoside analog, into a cytotoxic compound. Although this therapeutic strategy has been considered a promising regimen...... suicide gene therapy system in combination with stem cell mediated gene delivery promises new treatment of malignant gliomas....... for central nervous system (CNS) tumors, several obstacles have been encountered such as inefficient gene transfer to the tumor cells, limited prodrug penetration into the CNS, and inefficient enzymatic activity of the suicide gene. We report here the cloning and successful application of a novel thymidine...
Keratinocyte growth factor gene therapy ameliorates ulcerative colitis in rats
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Chun-Jie Liu; Ji-De Jin; Tong-De Lv; Zu-Ze Wu; Xiao-Qin Ha
AIM: To investigate the effect of keratinocyte growth factor (KGF) gene therapy in acetic acid-induced ulcerative colitis in rat model. METHODS: The colitis of Sprague-Dawley rats was induced by intrarectal infusion of 1 mL 5% (v/v) acetic acid. Twenty-four hours after exposed to acetic acid, rats were divided into three experimental groups: control group, attenuated Salmonella typhimurium Ty21a strain (SP) group and SP strain carrying human KGF gene (SPK) group, and they were separately administered orally with 10% NaHCO3, SP or SPK. Animals were sacrificed and colonic tissues were harvested respectively on day 3, 5, 7 and 10 after administration. Weights of rats, colonic weight/ length ratio and stool score were evaluated. Histological changes of colonic tissues were examined by hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining method. The expression of KGF, KGF receptor (KGFR) and TNF-α were measured either by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay or Western blotting. Immunohistochemistry was used to detect the cellular localization of KGFR and Ki67. In addition, superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents in the homogenate were measured. RESULTS: Body weight and colonic weight/length ratio were declined in SPK group compared with SP and control groups (body weight: 272.78 ± 17.92 g vs 243.72 ± 14.02 g and 240.68 ± 12.63 g, P < 0.01; colonic weight/length ratio: 115.76 ± 7.47 vs 150.32 ± 5.99 and 153.67 ± 5.50 mg/cm, P < 0.01). Moreover, pathological changes of damaged colon were improved in SPK group as well. After administration of SPK strain, KGF expression increased markedly from the 3rd d, and remained at a high level till the 10th d. Furthermore, KGFR expression and Ki67 expression elevated, whereas TNF-α expression was inhibited in SPK group. In the group administered with SPK, SOD activity increased significantly (d 5: 26.18 ± 5.84 vs 18.12 ± 3.30 and 18.79 ± 4.74 U/mg, P < 0.01; d 7: 35.48 ± 3.35 vs 22.57 ± 3.44 and 21.69 ± 3.94 U
Dual-therapeutic reporter genes fusion for enhanced cancer gene therapy and imaging.
Sekar, T V; Foygel, K; Willmann, J K; Paulmurugan, R
Two of the successful gene-directed enzyme prodrug therapies include herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase (HSV1-TK) enzyme-ganciclovir prodrug and the Escherichia coli nitroreductase (NTR) enzyme-CB1954 prodrug strategies; these enzyme-prodrug combinations produce activated cytotoxic metabolites of the prodrugs capable of tumor cell death by inhibiting DNA synthesis and killing quiescent cells, respectively. Both these strategies also affect significant bystander cell killing of neighboring tumor cells that do not express these enzymes. We have developed a dual-combination gene strategy, where we identified HSV1-TK and NTR fused in a particular orientation can effectively kill tumor cells when the tumor cells are treated with a fusion HSV1-TK-NTR gene- along with a prodrug combination of GCV and CB1954. In order to determine whether the dual-system demonstrate superior therapeutic efficacy than either HSV1-TK or NTR systems alone, we conducted both in vitro and in vivo tumor xenograft studies using triple negative SUM159 breast cancer cells, by evaluating the efficacy of cell death by apoptosis and necrosis upon treatment with the dual HSV1-TK genes-GCV-CB1954 prodrugs system, and compared the efficiency to HSV1-TK-GCV and NTR-CB1954. Our cell-based studies, tumor regression studies in xenograft mice, histological analyses of treated tumors and bystander studies indicate that the dual HSV1-TK-NTR-prodrug system is two times more efficient even with half the doses of both prodrugs than the respective single gene-prodrug system, as evidenced by enhanced apoptosis and necrosis of tumor cells in vitro in culture and xenograft of tumor tissues in animals.
Antiangiogenic Metargidin Peptide (AMEP) Gene Therapy in Disseminated Melanoma
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Spanggaard, Iben; Gehl, Julie
Gene delivery by electroporation is an efficient method for transfecting genes into various tissues including tumors. Here we present the treatment protocol used in a phase 1 study on gene electrotransfer of plasmid DNA encoding an antiangiogenic peptide into cutaneous melanoma.......Gene delivery by electroporation is an efficient method for transfecting genes into various tissues including tumors. Here we present the treatment protocol used in a phase 1 study on gene electrotransfer of plasmid DNA encoding an antiangiogenic peptide into cutaneous melanoma....
Strategies used in the clinical trials of gene therapy for cancer.
Ajith, Thekkuttuparambil Ananthanarayanan
Advances in understanding and manipulating genes have set the stage for scientists to alter a person's genetic material to prevent or treat diseases. Over the past decade, somatic gene therapy has been increasingly applied in clinical trials where the genetic material (DNA and RNA) introduced into a person's cell. Mutation and inactivation of the tumor suppressor genes are the unified concept of the development of tumor in humans. Therefore, researchers have discovered potential of gene therapies in the treatment of cancer. Among the clinical trials of gene therapy conducted so far, approximately 66% were for the treatment of cancer which includes cancer of prostate, head and neck, kidneys, lungs, breast and skin. Introducing a wild type p53 gene, enhancing the immune system to protect against the cancer cells, enhancing the apoptosis of cancer cells and inhibiting the process of angiogenesis in the tumor are some of the clinical trials that are achieved through the gene therapy. Broad spectrum of delivery constructs, including viral vectors, liposomes, cationic polymers and dendrimers, cell-penetrating peptides, semiconductor quantum dots, and gold and magnetic nanoparticles have been investigated. A well designed vector is the most forward approach to increase the safety of gene therapy. Though, Gendicine and Oncorine have been marketed, gene therapy is still in its infancy stages in cancer research. More experimental and clinical trials using well-designed and effective doses of vectors are needed to ensure the therapeutic efficacy of gene therapy for its clinical use against a wide variety of cancers. This review article discuses about the various strategies used in clinical trials of gene therapy for cancer.
Photothermal combined gene therapy achieved by polyethyleneimine-grafted oxidized mesoporous carbon nanospheres.
Meng, Ying; Wang, Shanshan; Li, Chengyi; Qian, Min; Yan, Xueying; Yao, Shuangchao; Peng, Xiyue; Wang, Yi; Huang, Rongqin
Combining controllable photothermal therapy and efficacious gene therapy in a single platform holds great promise in cancer therapy due to the enhanced combined therapeutic effects. Herein, polyethyleneimine-grafted oxidized mesoporous carbon nanospheres (OP) were developed for combined photothermal combined gene therapy in vitro and in vivo. The synthesized OP was characterized to have three dimensional spherical structure with uniformed diameter, ordered mesopores with graphitic domains, high water dispersion with zeta potential of +22 mV, and good biocompatibility. Consequently, OP was exploited as the photothermal convertor with strong NIR absorption and the gene vector via electrostatic interaction, which therefore cannot only deliver the therapeutic gene (pING4) to tumors for gene therapy, but also can eliminate the tumors by photothermal ablation. Moreover, the improved gene therapy accompanied by the NIR photothermally enhanced gene release was also well achieved based on OP. The excellent combined therapeutic effects demonstrated in vitro and in vivo suggested the OP's potential for cancer therapy.
The intricacies of neurotrophic factor therapy for retinal ganglion cell rescue in glaucoma: a case for gene therapy
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Marianna Foldvari
Full Text Available Regeneration of damaged retinal ganglion cells (RGC and their axons is an important aspect of reversing vision loss in glaucoma patients. While current therapies can effectively lower intraocular pressure, they do not provide extrinsic support to RGCs to actively aid in their protection and regeneration. The unmet need could be addressed by neurotrophic factor gene therapy, where plasmid DNA, encoding neurotrophic factors, is delivered to retinal cells to maintain sufficient levels of neurotrophins in the retina. In this review, we aim to describe the intricacies in the design of the therapy including: the choice of neurotrophic factor, the site and route of administration and target cell populations for gene delivery. Furthermore, we also discuss the challenges currently being faced in RGC-related therapy development with special considerations to the existence of multiple RGC subtypes and the lack of efficient and representative in vitro models for rapid and reliable screening in the drug development process.
The intricacies of neurotrophic factor therapy for retinal ganglion cell rescue in glaucoma:a case for gene therapy
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Marianna Foldvari; Ding Wen Chen
Regeneration of damaged retinal ganglion cells (RGC) and their axons is an important aspect of reversing vision loss in glaucoma patients. While current therapies can effectively lower intraocular pressure, they do not provide extrinsic support to RGCs to actively aid in their protection and regeneration. The unmet need could be addressed by neurotrophic factor gene therapy, where plasmid DNA, encoding neurotrophic factors, is delivered to retinal cells to maintain sufifcient levels of neurotrophins in the retina. In this review, we aim to describe the intricacies in the design of the therapy including: the choice of neurotrophic factor, the site and route of administration and target cell populations for gene delivery. Furthermore, we also dis-cuss the challenges currently being faced in RGC-related therapy development with special considerations to the existence of multiple RGC subtypes and the lack of efifcient and representativein vitro models for rapid and reliable screening in the drug development process.
自杀基因联合细胞因子的癌症治疗%Combined therapy of suicide gene and cytokine gene for cancer
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
王红孝; 袁家英; 张建华; 潘伯荣
@@ INTRODUCTION The transfer of suicide genes into tumor cells is currently being used in a variety of clinical gene therapy trials for the treatment of cancer, and suicide gene therapy is the transduction of a gene that transforms a non-toxic into a toxic substance[1].
Chimeric adeno-associated virus and bacteriophage: a potential targeted gene therapy vector for malignant glioma.
Asavarut, Paladd; O'Neill, Kevin; Syed, Nelofer; Hajitou, Amin
The incipient development of gene therapy for cancer has fuelled its progression from bench to bedside in mere decades. Of all malignancies that exist, gliomas are the largest class of brain tumors, and are renowned for their aggressiveness and resistance to therapy. In order for gene therapy to achieve clinical success, a multitude of barriers ranging from glioma tumor physiology to vector biology must be overcome. Many viral gene delivery systems have been subjected to clinical investigation; however, with highly limited success. In this review, the current progress and challenges of gene therapy for malignant glioma are discussed. Moreover, we highlight the hybrid adeno-associated virus and bacteriophage vector as a potential candidate for targeted gene delivery to brain tumors.
Molecular Imaging of Biological Gene Delivery Vehicles for Targeted Cancer Therapy: Beyond Viral Vectors
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Min, Jung Joon; Nguyen, Vu H. [Chonnam National University Medical School, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of); Gambhir, Sanjiv S. [Stanford University, California(United States)
Cancer persists as one of the most devastating diseases in the world. Problems including metastasis and tumor resistance to chemotherapy and radiotherapy have seriously limited the therapeutic effects of present clinical treatments. To overcome these limitations, cancer gene therapy has been developed over the last two decades for a broad spectrum of applications, from gene replacement and knockdown to vaccination, each with different requirements for gene delivery. So far, a number of genes and delivery vectors have been investigated, and significant progress has been made with several gene therapy modalities in clinical trials. Viral vectors and synthetic liposomes have emerged as the vehicles of choice for many applications. However, both have limitations and risks that restrict gene therapy applications, including the complexity of production, limited packaging capacity, and unfavorable immunological features. While continuing to improve these vectors, it is important to investigate other options, particularly nonarrival biological agents such as bacteria, bacteriophages, and bacteria-like particles. Recently, many molecular imaging techniques for safe, repeated, and high-resolution in vivo imaging of gene expression have been employed to assess vector-mediated gene expression in living subjects. In this review, molecular imaging techniques for monitoring biological gene delivery vehicles are described, and the specific use of these methods at different steps is illustrated. Linking molecular imaging to gene therapy will eventually help to develop novel gene delivery vehicles for preclinical study and support the development of future human applications.
[Advances in research on radioiodine therapy of carcinoma mediated by gene transfer technology].
Mu, Da; Kuang, Anren
Radioiodine therapy of carcinoma could be mediated by transferring the genes which participate in the process of iodine metabolism in thyroid. The correlative genes are sodium/iodine symporter gene, thyroid peroxidase gene and the specific thyroid transcription factors, and others. The objective gene can specifically express in carcinoma by inserting the tissue-specific promoter/enhancer upstream of them, so radioiodine could be used to treat varied carcinomas. The radioiodine uptake in carcinoma cells was obviously increased and the radioiodine therapy of carcinoma was effective after those genes had expressed in carcinoma cells. The main problem was that the effective half-time of radioiodine in cells was too short to produce the ideal effect of radioiodine therapy. Moreover, 211At and 188Re could be transferred by sodium/iodine symporter and they could be used to treat the carcinoma that is capable of radioiodine uptake.
Current status of gene therapy for breast cancer: progress and challenges
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McCrudden CM
Full Text Available Cian M McCrudden, Helen O McCarthySchool of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UKAbstract: Breast cancer is characterized by a series of genetic mutations and is therefore ideally placed for gene therapy intervention. The aim of gene therapy is to deliver a nucleic acid-based drug to either correct or destroy the cells harboring the genetic aberration. More recently, cancer gene therapy has evolved to also encompass delivery of RNA interference technologies, as well as cancer DNA vaccines. However, the bottleneck in creating such nucleic acid pharmaceuticals lies in the delivery. Deliverability of DNA is limited as it is prone to circulating nucleases; therefore, numerous strategies have been employed to aid with biological transport. This review will discuss some of the viral and nonviral approaches to breast cancer gene therapy, and present the findings of clinical trials of these therapies in breast cancer patients. Also detailed are some of the most recent developments in nonviral approaches to targeting in breast cancer gene therapy, including transcriptional control, and the development of recombinant, multifunctional bio-inspired systems. Lastly, DNA vaccines for breast cancer are documented, with comment on requirements for successful pharmaceutical product development.Keywords: breast cancer, gene therapy, nonviral, clinical trial
The Future of Hemophilia Treatment: Longer-Acting Factor Concentrates versus Gene Therapy.
Giangrande, Paul
Gene therapy is the only novel technology that currently offers the prospect of a lasting cure for hemophilia and freedom from the burden of repeated injections. Recent data from a handful of patients who have undergone gene therapy for hemophilia B are very encouraging with a sustained factor IX (FIX) level of 0.05 IU/mL maintained for over 4 years. While this level is above the current usual target trough levels, it falls well short of the level that patients on prophylaxis with longer-acting products can expect. Prophylaxis is also associated with high peak levels, which permits patients to maintain an active lifestyle. A major barrier to widespread adoption of gene therapy is a high seroprevalence of antibodies to adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors in the general population. Young children would be the best candidates for gene therapy in view of much lower seroprevalence to AAV in infants. A stable level of FIX early in life would prevent the onset of joint bleeds and the development of arthropathy. The recent experience with apolipoprotein tiparvovec (Glybera; uniQure, Amsterdam, the Netherlands) indicates that gene therapy is unlikely to prove to be a cheap therapeutic option. It is also quite possible that other new technologies that do not require viral vectors (such as stem cell therapy) may overtake gene therapy during development and make it redundant. Thieme Medical Publishers 333 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10001, USA.
Ultrasound-targeted microbubble destruction in gene therapy: A new tool to cure human diseases
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Jun Wu
Full Text Available Human gene therapy has made significant advances in less than two decades. Within this short period of time, gene therapy has proceeded from the conceptual stage to technology development and laboratory research, and finally to clinical trials for the treatment of a variety of deadly diseases. Cardiovascular disease, cancer, and stroke are leading causes of death worldwide. Despite advances in medical, interventional, radiation and surgical treatments, the mortality rate remains high, and the need for novel therapies is great. Gene therapy provides an efficient approach to disease treatment. Notable advances in gene therapy have been made for genetic disorders, including severe combined immune deficiency, chronic granulomatus disorder, hemophilia and blindness, as well as for acquired diseases, including cancer and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. However, lack of an efficient delivery system to target cells as well as the difficulty of sustained expression of transgenes has hindered advancements in gene therapy. Ultrasound targeted microbubble destruction (UTMD is a promising approach for target-specific gene delivery, and it has been successfully investigated for the treatment of many diseases in the past decade. In this paper, we review UTMD-mediated gene delivery for the treatment of cardiovascular diseases, cancer and stroke.
Carbon nanotubes as vectors for gene therapy: past achievements, present challenges and future goals.
Bates, Katie; Kostarelos, Kostas
Promising therapeutic and prophylactic effects have been achieved following advances in the gene therapy research arena, giving birth to the new generation of disease-modifying therapeutics. The greatest challenge that gene therapy vectors still face is the ability to deliver sufficient genetic payloads in order to enable efficient gene transfer into target cells. A wide variety of viral and non-viral gene therapy vectors have been developed and explored over the past 10years, including carbon nanotubes. In this review we will address the application of carbon nanotubes as non-viral vectors in gene therapy with the aim to give a perspective on the past achievements, present challenges and future goals. A series of important topics concerning carbon nanotubes as gene therapy vectors will be addressed, including the benefits that carbon nanotubes offer over other non-viral delivery systems. Furthermore, a perspective is given on what the ideal genetic cargo to deliver using carbon nanotubes is and finally the geno-pharmacological impact of carbon nanotube-mediated gene therapy is discussed.
Leber's congenital amaurosis and the role of gene therapy in congenital retinal disorders
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Walid Sharif
Full Text Available Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA and recent gene therapy advancement for treating inherited retinopathies were extensive literature reviewed using MEDLINE, PubMed and EMBASE. Adeno-associated viral vectors were the most utilised vectors for ocular gene therapy. Cone photoreceptor cells might use an alternate pathway which was not reliant of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE derived retinoid isomerohydrolase (RPE65 to access the 11-cis retinal dehydechromophore. Research efforts dedicated on the progression of a gene-based therapy for the treatment of LCA2. Such gene therapy approaches were extremely successful in canine, porcine and rodent LCA2 models. The recombinant AAV2.hRPE65v2 adeno-associated vector contained the RPE65 cDNA and was replication deficient. Its in vitro injection in target cells induced RPE65 protein production. The gene therapy trials that were so far conducted for inherited retinopathies have generated promising results. Phase I clinical trials to cure LCA and choroideremia demonstrated that adeno-associated viral vectors containing RPE genes and photoreceptors respectively, could be successfully administered to inherited retinopathy patients. A phase III trial is presently ongoing and if successful, it will lead the way to additional gene therapy attempts to cure monogenic, inherited retinopathies.
Leber's congenital amaurosis and the role of gene therapy in congenital retinal disorders.
Sharif, Walid; Sharif, Zuhair
Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA) and recent gene therapy advancement for treating inherited retinopathies were extensive literature reviewed using MEDLINE, PubMed and EMBASE. Adeno-associated viral vectors were the most utilised vectors for ocular gene therapy. Cone photoreceptor cells might use an alternate pathway which was not reliant of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) derived retinoid isomerohydrolase (RPE65) to access the 11-cis retinal dehydechromophore. Research efforts dedicated on the progression of a gene-based therapy for the treatment of LCA2. Such gene therapy approaches were extremely successful in canine, porcine and rodent LCA2 models. The recombinant AAV2.hRPE65v2 adeno-associated vector contained the RPE65 cDNA and was replication deficient. Its in vitro injection in target cells induced RPE65 protein production. The gene therapy trials that were so far conducted for inherited retinopathies have generated promising results. Phase I clinical trials to cure LCA and choroideremia demonstrated that adeno-associated viral vectors containing RPE genes and photoreceptors respectively, could be successfully administered to inherited retinopathy patients. A phase III trial is presently ongoing and if successful, it will lead the way to additional gene therapy attempts to cure monogenic, inherited retinopathies.
Cancer-targeted BikDD gene therapy elicits protective antitumor immunity against lung cancer.
Sher, Yuh-Pyng; Liu, Shih-Jen; Chang, Chun-Mien; Lien, Shu-Pei; Chen, Chien-Hua; Han, Zhenbo; Li, Long-Yuan; Chen, Jin-Shing; Wu, Cheng-Wen; Hung, Mien-Chie
Targeted cancer-specific gene therapy is a promising strategy for treating metastatic lung cancer, which is a leading cause of lung cancer-related deaths. Previously, we developed a cancer-targeted gene therapy expression system with high tumor specificity and strong activity that selectively induced lung cancer cell killing without affecting normal cells in immunocompromised mice. Here, we found this cancer-targeted gene therapy, SV-BikDD, composed of the survivin promoter in the VP16-GAL4-WPRE integrated systemic amplifier system to drive the apoptotic gene BikDD, not only caused cytotoxic effects in cancer cells but also elicited a cancer-specific cytotoxic T lymphocyte response to synergistically increase the therapeutic effect and further develop an effective systemic antitumoral immunity against rechallenges of tumorigenic dose of parental tumor cells inoculated at distant sites in immunocompetent mice. In addition, this cancer-targeted gene therapy does not elicit an immune response against normal tissues, but CMV-BikDD treatment does. The therapeutic vector could also induce proinflammatory cytokines to activate innate immunity and provide some benefits in antitumor gene therapy. Thus, this study provides a promising strategy with benefit of antitumoral immune response worthy of further development in clinical trials for treating lung cancer via cancer-targeted gene therapy.
Plasticity of the human visual system after retinal gene therapy in patients with Leber's congenital amaurosis.
Ashtari, Manzar; Zhang, Hui; Cook, Philip A; Cyckowski, Laura L; Shindler, Kenneth S; Marshall, Kathleen A; Aravand, Puya; Vossough, Arastoo; Gee, James C; Maguire, Albert M; Baker, Chris I; Bennett, Jean
Much of our knowledge of the mechanisms underlying plasticity in the visual cortex in response to visual impairment, vision restoration, and environmental interactions comes from animal studies. We evaluated human brain plasticity in a group of patients with Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA), who regained vision through gene therapy. Using non-invasive multimodal neuroimaging methods, we demonstrated that reversing blindness with gene therapy promoted long-term structural plasticity in the visual pathways emanating from the treated retina of LCA patients. The data revealed improvements and normalization along the visual fibers corresponding to the site of retinal injection of the gene therapy vector carrying the therapeutic gene in the treated eye compared to the visual pathway for the untreated eye of LCA patients. After gene therapy, the primary visual pathways (for example, geniculostriate fibers) in the treated retina were similar to those of sighted control subjects, whereas the primary visual pathways of the untreated retina continued to deteriorate. Our results suggest that visual experience, enhanced by gene therapy, may be responsible for the reorganization and maturation of synaptic connectivity in the visual pathways of the treated eye in LCA patients. The interactions between the eye and the brain enabled improved and sustained long-term visual function in patients with LCA after gene therapy.
Mesenchymal stromal cells retrovirally transduced with prodrug-converting genes are suitable vehicles for cancer gene therapy.
Ďuriniková, E; Kučerová, L; Matúšková, M
Mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSC) possess a set of several fairly unique properties which make them ideally suitable both for cellular therapies and regenerative medicine. These include: relative ease of isolation, the ability to differentiate along mesenchymal and non-mesenchymal lineages in vitro and the ability to be extensively expanded in culture without a loss of differentiative capacity. MSC are not only hypoimmunogenic, but they mediate immunosuppression upon transplantation, and possess pronounced anti-inflammatory properties. They are able to home to damaged tissues, tumors, and metastases following systemic administration. The ability of homing holds big promise for tumor-targeted delivery of therapeutic agents. Viruses are naturally evolved vehicles efficiently transferring their genes into host cells. This ability made them suitable for engineering vector systems for the delivery of genes of interest. MSC can be retrovirally transduced with genes encoding prodrug-converting genes (suicide genes), which are not toxic per se, but catalyze the formation of highly toxic metabolites following the application of a nontoxic prodrug. The homing ability of MSC holds advantages compared to virus vehicles which display many shortcomings in effective delivery of the therapeutic agents. Gene therapies mediated by viruses are limited by their restricted ability to track cancer cells infiltrating into the surrounding tissue, and by their low migratory capacity towards tumor. Thus combination of cellular therapy and gene delivery is an attractive option - it protects the vector from immune surveillance, and supports targeted delivery of a therapeutic gene/protein to the tumor site.
The Application of Nanoparticles in Gene Therapy and Magnetic Resonance Imaging
The combination of nanoparticles, gene therapy, and medical imaging has given rise to a new field known as gene theranostics, in which a nanobioconjugate is used to diagnose and treat the disease. The process generally involves binding between a vector carrying the genetic information and a nanoparticle, which provides the signal for imaging. The synthesis of this probe generates a synergic effect, enhancing the efficiency of gene transduction and imaging contrast. We discuss the latest approaches in the synthesis of nanoparticles for magnetic resonance imaging, gene therapy strategies, and their conjugation and in vivo application. PMID:21484943
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Ye. S. Kulikov
Full Text Available Introduction: The leading mechanisms and causes of severe therapy resistant asthma are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to define global patterns of gene expression in adults with severe therapy-resistant asthma in dynamic during treatment period.Methods: Performed 24-week prospective interventional study in parallel groups. Severe asthma patients was aposterior divided at therapy sensitive and resistant patients according to ATS criteria. Global transcriptome profile was characterized using the Affymetrix HuGene ST1.0 chip. Cluster analysis was performed.Results and conclusion: According to our data several mechanisms of therapy resistance may be considered: increased levels of nitric oxide and beta2-agonists nitration, dysregulation of endogenous steroids secretion and involvement in the pathogenesis of Staphylococcus aureus. Absence of suppression of gene expression KEGG-pathway "asthma" may reflect the low efficiency or long period of anti-inflammatory therapy effect realization.
Utilizing social media to study information-seeking and ethical issues in gene therapy
DEFF Research Database (Denmark)
Robillard, Julie M; Whiteley, Louise Emma; Johnson, Thomas Wade
The field of gene therapy is rapidly evolving, and while hopes of treating disorders of the central nervous system and ethical concerns have been articulated within the academic community, little is known about views and opinions of different stakeholder groups....
Effective gene-viral therapy for telomerase-positive cancers by selective replicative-competent adenovirus combining with endostatin gene
Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)
Zhang Q; Liu C; Jiang M; Fang G; Liu X; Wu M; Qian Q; Nie M; Sham J; Su C; Xue H; Chua D; Wang W; Cui Z; Liu Y
Gene-viral therapy, which uses replication-selective transgene-expressing viruses to manage tumors, can exploit the virtues of gene therapy and virotherapy and overcome the limitations of conventional gene therapy. Using a human telomerase reverse transcriptase-targeted replicative adenovirus as an antiangiogenic gene transfer vector to target new angiogenesis and making use of its unrestrained proliferation are completely new concepts in tumor management. CNHK300-mE is a selective replication transgene-expressing adenovirus constructed to carry mouse endostatin gene therapeutically. Infection with CNHK300-mE was associated with selective replication of the adenovirus and production of mouse endostatin in telomerase-positive cancer cells. Endostatin secreted from a human gastric cell line, SGC-7901, infected with CNHK300-mE was significantly higher than that infected with nonreplicative adenovirus Ad-mE in vitro (800±94.7 ng/ml versus 132.9±9.9 ng/ml) and in vivo (610±42 ng/ml versus 126 +/- 13 ng/ml). Embryonic chorioallantoic membrane assay showed that the mouse endostatin secreted by CNHK300-mE inhibited angiogenesis efficiently and also induced distortion of pre-existing vasculature. CNHK300-mE exhibited a superior suppression of xenografts in nude mice compared with CNHK300 and Ad-mE. In summary, we provided a more efficient gene-viral therapy strategy by combining oncolysis with antiangiogenesis.
Non-syndromic retinal ciliopathies: translating gene discovery into therapy
Estrada-Cuzcano, A.; Roepman, R.; Cremers, F.P.; Hollander, A.I. den; Mans, D.A.
Homozygosity mapping and exome sequencing have accelerated the discovery of gene mutations and modifier alleles implicated in inherited retinal degeneration in humans. To date, 158 genes have been found to be mutated in individuals with retinal dystrophies. Approximately one-third of the gene defect
Intra-Articular Lubricin Gene Therapy for Post-Traumatic Arthritis
C (LubC) in adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors and retroviral vectors and have begun to assess intra-articular PRG4 gene therapy as a means to...mitigate OA in ACL-deficient joints in the rabbit. 2. KEYWORDS: ACL replacement, post-traumatic OA, PRG4, lubricin, gene therapy, adeno-associated virus ...was completed. Histologic processing of tissues was completed. Results will be gathered and analyzed for statistical significance and write -ups begun
Gene therapy takes a cue from HAART: combinatorial antiviral therapeutics reach the clinic.
Shah, Priya S; Schaffer, David V
For the first time, scientists have tested a combination of three RNA-based gene therapies, delivered via a lentiviral vector, to target HIV in patients. This study not only demonstrates the safety and long-term viability of this approach, but also highlights areas in which focused improvements in gene therapy strategies may provide the most impact in increasingly translating promise in the laboratory to efficacy in the clinic.
Progress and problems with the use of viral vectors for gene therapy.
Thomas, Clare E; Ehrhardt, Anja; Kay, Mark A
Gene therapy has a history of controversy. Encouraging results are starting to emerge from the clinic, but questions are still being asked about the safety of this new molecular medicine. With the development of a leukaemia-like syndrome in two of the small number of patients that have been cured of a disease by gene therapy, it is timely to contemplate how far this technology has come, and how far it still has to go.
Gene therapy for severe combined immunodeficiency due to adenosine deaminase deficiency.
Montiel-Equihua, Claudia A; Thrasher, Adrian J; Gaspar, H Bobby
The severe combined immunodeficiency caused by the absence of adenosine deaminase (SCID-ADA) was the first monogenic disorder for which gene therapy was developed. Over 30 patients have been treated worldwide using the current protocols, and most of them have experienced clinical benefit; importantly, in the absence of any vector-related complications. In this document, we review the progress made so far in the development and establishment of gene therapy as an alternative form of treatment for ADA-SCID patients.
The potential for tumor suppressor gene therapy in head and neck cancer.
Birkeland, Andrew C; Ludwig, Megan L; Spector, Matthew E; Brenner, J Chad
Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma remains a highly morbid and fatal disease. Importantly, genomic sequencing of head and neck cancers has identified frequent mutations in tumor suppressor genes. While targeted therapeutics increasingly are being investigated in head and neck cancer, the majority of these agents are against overactive/overexpressed oncogenes. Therapy to restore lost tumor suppressor gene function remains a key and under-addressed niche in trials for head and neck cancer. Recent advances in gene editing have captured the interest of both the scientific community and the public. As our technology for gene editing and gene expression modulation improves, addressing lost tumor suppressor gene function in head and neck cancers is becoming a reality. This review will summarize new techniques, challenges to implementation, future directions, and ethical ramifications of gene therapy in head and neck cancer.
Nonviral Gene Therapy of the Nervous System: Electroporation.
Ding, Xue-Feng; Fan, Ming
Electroporation has been widely used to efficiently transfer foreign genes into the mammalian central nervous system (CNS), and thus plays an important role in gene therapeutic studies on some brain disorders. A lot of work concerning electroporation is focused on gene transfer into rodent brains. This technique involves an injection of nucleic acids into the brain ventricle or specific area and then applying appropriate electrical field to the injected area. Here, we briefly introduced the advantages and the basic procedures of gene transfer into the rodent brain using electroporation. Better understanding of electroporation in rodent brain may further facilitate gene therapeutic studies on brain disorders.
Bone Morphogenetic Protein-2 Nonviral Gene Therapy in a Goat Iliac Crest Model for Bone Formation
Loozen, Loek D.; van der Helm, Yvonne J. M.; Oner, F. Cumhur; Dhert, W.J.A.; Kruyt, Moyo C.; Alblas, Jacqueline
Treatment and reconstruction of large bone defects, delayed unions, and nonunions is challenging and has resulted in an ongoing search for novel tissue-engineered therapies. Bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) gene therapy is a promising strategy to provide sustained production of BMP-2 locally. Al
Gene therapy in the management of oral cancer: review of the literature.
Ayllón Barbellido, Sonia; Campo Trapero, Julián; Cano Sánchez, Jorge; Perea García, Miguel A; Escudero Castaño, Nayra; Bascones Martínez, Antonio
Gene therapy essentially consists of introducing specific genetic material into target cells without producing toxic effects on surrounding tissue. Advances over recent decades in the surgical, radiotherapeutic and chemotherapeutic treatment of oral cancer patients have not produced a significant improvement in patient survival. Increasing interest is being shown in developing novel therapies to reverse oral epithelial dysplastic lesions. This review provides an update on transfer techniques, therapeutic strategies, and the clinical applications and limitations of gene therapy in the management of oral cancer and precancer. We highlight the combination of gene therapy with chemotherapy (e.g., 5-Fluoracil) and immunotherapy, given the promising results obtained in the use of adenovirus to act at altered gene level (e.g., p53). Other techniques such as suicide gene therapy, use of oncolytic viruses or the use of antisense RNA have shown positive although very preliminary results. Therefore, further research into these promising gene therapy techniques is required to assess their true efficacy and safety in the management of these lesions.
Lentiviral hematopoietic stem cell gene therapy in patients with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome.
Aiuti, Alessandro; Biasco, Luca; Scaramuzza, Samantha; Ferrua, Francesca; Cicalese, Maria Pia; Baricordi, Cristina; Dionisio, Francesca; Calabria, Andrea; Giannelli, Stefania; Castiello, Maria Carmina; Bosticardo, Marita; Evangelio, Costanza; Assanelli, Andrea; Casiraghi, Miriam; Di Nunzio, Sara; Callegaro, Luciano; Benati, Claudia; Rizzardi, Paolo; Pellin, Danilo; Di Serio, Clelia; Schmidt, Manfred; Von Kalle, Christof; Gardner, Jason; Mehta, Nalini; Neduva, Victor; Dow, David J; Galy, Anne; Miniero, Roberto; Finocchi, Andrea; Metin, Ayse; Banerjee, Pinaki P; Orange, Jordan S; Galimberti, Stefania; Valsecchi, Maria Grazia; Biffi, Alessandra; Montini, Eugenio; Villa, Anna; Ciceri, Fabio; Roncarolo, Maria Grazia; Naldini, Luigi
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) is an inherited immunodeficiency caused by mutations in the gene encoding WASP, a protein regulating the cytoskeleton. Hematopoietic stem/progenitor cell (HSPC) transplants can be curative, but, when matched donors are unavailable, infusion of autologous HSPCs modified ex vivo by gene therapy is an alternative approach. We used a lentiviral vector encoding functional WASP to genetically correct HSPCs from three WAS patients and reinfused the cells after a reduced-intensity conditioning regimen. All three patients showed stable engraftment of WASP-expressing cells and improvements in platelet counts, immune functions, and clinical scores. Vector integration analyses revealed highly polyclonal and multilineage haematopoiesis resulting from the gene-corrected HSPCs. Lentiviral gene therapy did not induce selection of integrations near oncogenes, and no aberrant clonal expansion was observed after 20 to 32 months. Although extended clinical observation is required to establish long-term safety, lentiviral gene therapy represents a promising treatment for WAS.
The Status of RPE65 Gene Therapy Trials: Safety and Efficacy.
Pierce, Eric A; Bennett, Jean
Several groups have reported the results of clinical trials of gene augmentation therapy for Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) because of mutations in the RPE65 gene. These studies have used subretinal injection of adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors to deliver the human RPE65 cDNA to the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells of the treated eyes. In all of the studies reported to date, this approach has been shown to be both safe and effective. The successful clinical trials of gene augmentation therapy for retinal degeneration caused by mutations in the RPE65 gene sets the stage for broad application of gene therapy to treat retinal degenerative disorders. Copyright © 2015 Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press; all rights reserved.
Genetic treatment of a molecular disorder: gene therapy approaches to sickle cell disease.
Hoban, Megan D; Orkin, Stuart H; Bauer, Daniel E
Effective medical management for sickle cell disease (SCD) remains elusive. As a prevalent and severe monogenic disorder, SCD has been long considered a logical candidate for gene therapy. Significant progress has been made in moving toward this goal. These efforts have provided substantial insight into the natural regulation of the globin genes and illuminated challenges for genetic manipulation of the hematopoietic system. The initial γ-retroviral vectors, next-generation lentiviral vectors, and novel genome engineering and gene regulation approaches each share the goal of preventing erythrocyte sickling. After years of preclinical studies, several clinical trials for SCD gene therapies are now open. This review focuses on progress made toward achieving gene therapy, the current state of the field, consideration of factors that may determine clinical success, and prospects for future development.