Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1
pubmed:dateCreated
2006-1-13
pubmed:abstractText
The management of disorders of the nervous system remains a medical challenge. The key goals are to understand disease mechanisms, to validate therapeutic targets, and to develop new therapeutic strategies. Viral vector-mediated gene transfer can meet these goals and vectors based on lentiviruses have particularly useful features. Lentiviral vectors can deliver 8 kb of sequence, they mediate gene transfer into any neuronal cell type, expression and therapy are sustained, and normal cellular functions in vitro and in vivo are not compromised. After delivery into the nervous system they induce no significant immune responses, there are no unwanted side effects of the vectors per se to date, and manufacturing and safety testing for clinical applications are well advanced. There are now numerous examples of effective long-term treatment of animal models of neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, motor neuron diseases, lysosomal storage diseases, and spinal injury, using a range of therapeutic genes expressed in lentiviral vectors. Significant issues remain in some areas of neural gene therapy including defining the optimum therapeutic gene(s), increasing the specificity of delivery, regulating expression of potentially toxic genes, and designing clinically relevant strategies. We discuss the applications of lentiviral vectors in therapy and research and highlight the essential features that will ensure their translation to the clinic in the near future.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jan
pubmed:issn
1043-0342
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
17
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
1-9
pubmed:dateRevised
2006-10-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2006
pubmed:articleTitle
Lentivirus-mediated gene transfer to the central nervous system: therapeutic and research applications.
pubmed:affiliation
Oxford BioMedica (UK), Medawar Centre, Oxford Science Park, Oxford OX4 4GA, UK. l.wong@oxfordbiomedica.co.uk
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Review