ijms-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Gene Therapy

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Biochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2018) | Viewed by 58973

Special Issue Editor

Center for Molecular and Vascular Biology, Department of Cardiovascular Sciences, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Campus Gasthuisberg, Herestraat 49 bus 911, 3000 Leuven, Belgium
Interests: lipoproteins; atherosclerosis; coronary heart disease; familial hypercholesterolemia; low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor; heart failure; gene therapy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recombinant DNA technology provides a platform for the creation of functional gene-expressing units. The effective and safe delivery of these therapeutic agents in vivo is a prerequisite for successful gene therapy and has been a major challenge for gene therapists. Gene delivery vehicles or vectors are categorized into non-viral vectors and viral vectors. Non-viral vectors possess several advantages over viral vectors, such as easy scale-up production, the potential to carry large genes, and the absence of viral components with consequent low immunotoxicity. However, non-viral vectors remain much less effective for therapeutic gene delivery than viral vectors.

Gene delivery technologies have markedly been improved in the past decades and this progress has been accompanied by a surge of gene therapy clinical trials. However, despite this significant progress, clinical experience with gene transfer technologies remains limited and clinical, manufacturing, regulatory, and commercialization hurdles are holding back progress in this field. Therefore, the field should continue to progress as it has over the past decade, cautiously and diligently. Many unanswered questions warrant further study. This Special Issue will cover recent advances in gene transfer technologies and in in vivo therapeutic applications of these technologies.

Prof. Dr. Bart De Geest
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Gene therapy
  • Gene transfer
  • Vectors
  • Hepatocyte-directed gene therapy
  • In vivo gene therapy
  • Ex vivo gene therapy
  • Animal model
  • Immunotoxicity
  • Genotoxicity

Published Papers (6 papers)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

Jump to: Review

16 pages, 20657 KiB  
Article
Paired CRISPR/Cas9 Nickases Mediate Efficient Site-Specific Integration of F9 into rDNA Locus of Mouse ESCs
by Yanchi Wang, Junya Zhao, Nannan Duan, Wei Liu, Yuxuan Zhang, Miaojin Zhou, Zhiqing Hu, Mai Feng, Xionghao Liu, Lingqian Wu, Zhuo Li and Desheng Liang
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(10), 3035; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19103035 - 05 Oct 2018
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 4721
Abstract
Hemophilia B (HB) is an X-linked recessive bleeding disorder, caused by F9 gene deficiency. Gene therapy combined with the CRISPR/Cas9 technology offers a potential cure for hemophilia B. Now the Cas9 nickase (Cas9n) shows a great advantage in reducing off-target effect compared with [...] Read more.
Hemophilia B (HB) is an X-linked recessive bleeding disorder, caused by F9 gene deficiency. Gene therapy combined with the CRISPR/Cas9 technology offers a potential cure for hemophilia B. Now the Cas9 nickase (Cas9n) shows a great advantage in reducing off-target effect compared with wild-type Cas9. In this study, we found that in the multicopy ribosomal DNA (rDNA) locus, the homology directed recombination (HDR) efficiency induced by sgRNA-Cas9n was much higher than sgRNA-Cas9, meanwhile without off-target in six predicted sites. After co-transfection into mESCs with sgRNA-Cas9n and a non-viral rDNA targeting vector pMrnF9, harboring the homology donor template and the human F9 expression cassette, a recombination efficiency of 66.7% was achieved and all targeted clones were confirmed to be site-specific integration of F9 in the rDNA locus by PCR and southern blotting. Targeted mESCs retained the main pluripotent properties and were then differentiated into hepatic progenitor like cells (HPLCs) and mature hepatocytes, which were characterized by hepatic markers and functional assays. Importantly, the differentiated cells could transcribe exogenous F9 and secrete coagulation factor IX (FIX) proteins, suggesting active transcription and stable inheritance of transgenes in the rDNA locus. After intrasplenical transplantation in severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) mice, targeted HPLCs could survive and migrate from spleen to liver, resulting in secretion of exogenous FIX into blood. In summary, we demonstrate an efficient and site-specific gene targeting strategy in rDNA locus for stem cell-based gene therapy for hemophilia B. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gene Therapy)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

15 pages, 4035 KiB  
Article
Targeting CD46 Enhances Anti-Tumoral Activity of Adenovirus Type 5 for Bladder Cancer
by Manh-Hung Do, Phuong Kim To, Young-Suk Cho, Se-Young Kwon, Eu Chang Hwang, Chan Choi, Sang-Hee Cho, Sang-Jin Lee, Silvio Hemmi and Chaeyong Jung
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(9), 2694; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19092694 - 10 Sep 2018
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5419
Abstract
CD46 is generally overexpressed in many human cancers, representing a prime target for CD46-binding adenoviruses (Ads). This could help to overcome low anti-tumoral activity by coxsackie-adenoviral receptor (CAR)-targeting cancer gene therapy viruses. However, because of scarce side-by-side information about CAR and CD46 expression [...] Read more.
CD46 is generally overexpressed in many human cancers, representing a prime target for CD46-binding adenoviruses (Ads). This could help to overcome low anti-tumoral activity by coxsackie-adenoviral receptor (CAR)-targeting cancer gene therapy viruses. However, because of scarce side-by-side information about CAR and CD46 expression levels in cancer cells, mixed observations of cancer therapeutic efficacy have been observed. This study evaluated Ad-mediated therapeutic efficacy using either CAR-targeting Ad5 or CD46-targeting Ad5/35 fiber chimera in bladder cancer cell lines. Compared with normal urothelia, bladder cancer tissue generally overexpressed both CAR and CD46. While CAR expression was not correlated with disease progression, CD46 expression was inversely correlated with tumor grade, stage, and risk grade. In bladder cancer cell lines, expression levels of CD46 and CAR were highly correlated with Ad5/35- and Ad5-mediated gene transduction and cytotoxicity, respectively. In a human EJ bladder cancer xenograft mouse model, with either overexpressed or suppressed CD46 expression levels, Ad5/35-tk followed by ganciclovir (GCV) treatment significantly affected tumor growth, whereas Ad5-tk/GCV had only minimal effects. Overall, our findings suggest that bladder cancer cells overexpress both CAR and CD46, and that adenoviral cancer gene therapy targeting CD46 represents a more suitable therapy option than a CAR-targeting therapy, especially in patients with low risk bladder cancers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gene Therapy)
Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 1602 KiB  
Article
Assembly and Functional Analysis of an S/MAR Based Episome with the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator Gene
by Davide De Rocco, Barbara Pompili, Stefano Castellani, Elena Morini, Luca Cavinato, Giuseppe Cimino, Maria A Mariggiò, Simone Guarnieri, Massimo Conese, Paola Del Porto and Fiorentina Ascenzioni
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(4), 1220; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19041220 - 17 Apr 2018
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 4374
Abstract
Improving the efficacy of gene therapy vectors is still an important goal toward the development of safe and efficient gene therapy treatments. S/MAR (scaffold/matrix attached region)-based vectors are maintained extra-chromosomally in numerous cell types, which is similar to viral-based vectors. Additionally, when established [...] Read more.
Improving the efficacy of gene therapy vectors is still an important goal toward the development of safe and efficient gene therapy treatments. S/MAR (scaffold/matrix attached region)-based vectors are maintained extra-chromosomally in numerous cell types, which is similar to viral-based vectors. Additionally, when established as an episome, they show a very high mitotic stability. In the present study we tested the idea that addition of an S/MAR element to a CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) expression vector, may allow the establishment of a CFTR episome in bronchial epithelial cells. Starting from the observation that the S/MAR vector pEPI-EGFP (enhanced green fluorescence protein) is maintained as an episome in human bronchial epithelial cells, we assembled the CFTR vector pBQ-S/MAR. This vector, transfected in bronchial epithelial cells with mutated CFTR, supported long term wt CFTR expression and activity, which in turn positively impacted on the assembly of tight junctions in polarized epithelial cells. Additionally, the recovery of intact pBQ-S/MAR, but not the parental vector lacking the S/MAR element, from transfected cells after extensive proliferation, strongly suggested that pBQ-S/MAR was established as an episome. These results add a new element, the S/MAR, that can be considered to improve the persistence and safety of gene therapy vectors for cystic fibrosis pulmonary disease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gene Therapy)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

8239 KiB  
Article
Selective HDL-Raising Human Apo A-I Gene Therapy Counteracts Cardiac Hypertrophy, Reduces Myocardial Fibrosis, and Improves Cardiac Function in Mice with Chronic Pressure Overload
by Ruhul Amin, Ilayaraja Muthuramu, Joseph Pierre Aboumsallem, Mudit Mishra, Frank Jacobs and Bart De Geest
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18(9), 2012; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18092012 - 20 Sep 2017
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 4798
Abstract
Epidemiological studies support an independent inverse association between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels and heart failure incidence. The effect of selective HDL-raising adeno-associated viral serotype 8-human apolipoprotein (apo) A-I (AAV8-A-I) gene transfer on cardiac remodeling induced by transverse aortic constriction (TAC) was evaluated [...] Read more.
Epidemiological studies support an independent inverse association between high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels and heart failure incidence. The effect of selective HDL-raising adeno-associated viral serotype 8-human apolipoprotein (apo) A-I (AAV8-A-I) gene transfer on cardiac remodeling induced by transverse aortic constriction (TAC) was evaluated in C57BL/6 low-density lipoprotein receptor-deficient mice. Septal wall thickness and cardiomyocyte cross-sectional area were reduced by 16.5% (p < 0.001) and by 13.8% (p < 0.01), respectively, eight weeks after TAC in AAV8-A-I mice (n = 24) compared to control mice (n = 39). Myocardial capillary density was 1.11-fold (p < 0.05) higher and interstitial cardiac fibrosis was 45.3% (p < 0.001) lower in AAV8-A-I TAC mice than in control TAC mice. Lung weight and atrial weight were significantly increased in control TAC mice compared to control sham mice, but were not increased in AAV8-A-I TAC mice. The peak rate of isovolumetric contraction was 1.19-fold (p < 0.01) higher in AAV8-A-I TAC mice (n = 17) than in control TAC mice (n = 29). Diastolic function was also significantly enhanced in AAV8-A-I TAC mice compared to control TAC mice. Nitro-oxidative stress and apoptosis were significantly reduced in the myocardium of AAV8-A-I TAC mice compared to control TAC mice. In conclusion, selective HDL-raising human apo A-I gene transfer potently counteracts the development of pressure overload-induced cardiomyopathy. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gene Therapy)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Review

Jump to: Research

28 pages, 930 KiB  
Review
DNA Vaccines—How Far From Clinical Use?
by Dominika Hobernik and Matthias Bros
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(11), 3605; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19113605 - 15 Nov 2018
Cited by 318 | Viewed by 30297
Abstract
Two decades ago successful transfection of antigen presenting cells (APC) in vivo was demonstrated which resulted in the induction of primary adaptive immune responses. Due to the good biocompatibility of plasmid DNA, their cost-efficient production and long shelf life, many researchers aimed to [...] Read more.
Two decades ago successful transfection of antigen presenting cells (APC) in vivo was demonstrated which resulted in the induction of primary adaptive immune responses. Due to the good biocompatibility of plasmid DNA, their cost-efficient production and long shelf life, many researchers aimed to develop DNA vaccine-based immunotherapeutic strategies for treatment of infections and cancer, but also autoimmune diseases and allergies. This review aims to summarize our current knowledge on the course of action of DNA vaccines, and which factors are responsible for the poor immunogenicity in human so far. Important optimization steps that improve DNA transfection efficiency comprise the introduction of DNA-complexing nano-carriers aimed to prevent extracellular DNA degradation, enabling APC targeting, and enhanced endo/lysosomal escape of DNA. Attachment of virus-derived nuclear localization sequences facilitates nuclear entry of DNA. Improvements in DNA vaccine design include the use of APC-specific promotors for transcriptional targeting, the arrangement of multiple antigen sequences, the co-delivery of molecular adjuvants to prevent tolerance induction, and strategies to circumvent potential inhibitory effects of the vector backbone. Successful clinical use of DNA vaccines may require combined employment of all of these parameters, and combination treatment with additional drugs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gene Therapy)
Show Figures

Figure 1

29 pages, 2041 KiB  
Review
Recent Progress in Gene Therapy for Ovarian Cancer
by Ángela Áyen, Yaiza Jiménez Martínez, Juan A. Marchal and Houria Boulaiz
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2018, 19(7), 1930; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms19071930 - 30 Jun 2018
Cited by 49 | Viewed by 8663
Abstract
Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological malignancy in developed countries. This is due to the lack of specific symptoms that hinder early diagnosis and to the high relapse rate after treatment with radical surgery and chemotherapy. Hence, novel therapeutic modalities to improve [...] Read more.
Ovarian cancer is the most lethal gynecological malignancy in developed countries. This is due to the lack of specific symptoms that hinder early diagnosis and to the high relapse rate after treatment with radical surgery and chemotherapy. Hence, novel therapeutic modalities to improve clinical outcomes in ovarian malignancy are needed. Progress in gene therapy has allowed the development of several strategies against ovarian cancer. Most are focused on the design of improved vectors to enhance gene delivery on the one hand, and, on the other hand, on the development of new therapeutic tools based on the restoration or destruction of a deregulated gene, the use of suicide genes, genetic immunopotentiation, the inhibition of tumour angiogenesis, the alteration of pharmacological resistance, and oncolytic virotherapy. In the present manuscript, we review the recent advances made in gene therapy for ovarian cancer, highlighting the latest clinical trials experience, the current challenges and future perspectives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Gene Therapy)
Show Figures

Graphical abstract

Back to TopTop