Mutations in the RPGRIP1 gene are associated with rare retinal dystrophies and most commonly with Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA) type 6, which is characterized by vision loss, among other symptoms.
Sialidosis is a lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the NEU1 gene, which encodes sialidase neuraminidase 1. These mutations lead to enzyme deficiency and subsequently accumulation of oligosaccharides and sialylated glycopeptides in tissues and body fluids, which in turn lead to cell and organ dysfunction. There are no approved therapies. Three different AAV9 vectors encoding NEU1 were developed and tested by UMass Chan Medical School researchers in the preclinical setting in mice.
NGGT (Suzhou) Biotechnology Co. Ltd. has presented preclinical data on an AAV vector approach that expresses human PAH, rAAV8-PAH, also known as NGGT-002. NGGT-002 has liver tropism and it was codon-optimized for expressing PAH in the liver.
Researchers from Huidagene Therapeutics Co. Ltd. have evaluated the effects of adenine base editing (ABE)-induced exon skipping of exon 50 in a humanized mouse model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD).
Neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, commonly known as Batten disease, is an inherited pediatric neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disease caused by mutations in the CLN5 gene. The disease is incurable and there is an urgent medical need for novel therapies. A murine model of Batten disease was developed to study a novel AAV vector that expresses CLN5, AAV9-CLN5. In the study by University College London investigators, the gene therapy, driven by the synapsin promoter, was intracerebroventricularly administered into neonatal Cln5-knockout mice.
Fabry disease is a metabolic disease characterized by a deficiency in the lysosomal α-galactosidase enzyme caused by mutations in the GLA gene. This leads to substrate accumulation in the lysosomes, cellular dysfunction and organ damage.
The discovery of DNA was a milestone in the history of science that led to a breakthrough in biomedical research. By associating disease and genetics, genome correction techniques were ultimately developed that are supposed to work in the same way that antibiotics and antivirals block pathogenic microorganisms: by directly attacking the causes of disease.
Gene therapy technology makes it possible to select diseased or mutated cells from a patient, modify them in the laboratory and reintroduce them to the body to treat different disorders. This is known as ex vivo autologous gene therapy. The difference with allogeneic cell techniques is whether the donor is oneself (autologous) or a compatible person (allogeneic), which would provide healthy cells that do not need genetic modification.
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