GENE THERAPY FOR TREATMENT OF RETINAL DEGENERATION

将细胞因子输送到视网膜下间隙可能会起到 在治疗视网膜退行性疾病中的重要作用 作为年龄相关性黄斑变性和某些形式的视网膜炎 着色剂。这些疾病构成了成人死亡的主要原因 起病致盲的遗传来源多种多样，很少有 可用的治疗方案。视网膜细胞移植也是如此 因为目前正在进行基因传递以恢复失去的功能 尽可能在实验室和临床环境中进行调查 治疗。这项建议将这两种程序的要素与 长期给药进入视网膜下腔的目标。初步 研究表明，向眼睛内单次注射细胞因子 显示短期预防大鼠疾病中光感受器退化 模特们。为了实现长期的交付和预防，我们 建议使用转基因细胞，这种细胞可以过度表达 外部药理信号所需的细胞因子。方法 这些主要的神经营养细胞因子的作用可能是 光感受器和视网膜色素上皮中同时存在 (RPE)。我们认为，这些生物分子导致了 光感受器新陈代谢，维持营养不良前的存活水平 基因表达。在RPE中上调可防止去分化 转化为一种伤口愈合表型，允许维持 免疫隔离血视网膜屏障。我们打算利用基因上的 改变移植模型来研究这两个假设，如下所示 光感受器拯救和细胞代谢。的长期目标是 该项目是提供组织工程疗法，可以 适用于不同病因的视网膜营养不良。

The delivery of cytokines into the subretinal space may play an important role in the treatment of retinal degenerative diseases such as age related macular degeneration and certain forms of retinitis pigmentosa. These diseases, which constitute the leading cause of adult onset blindness spring from a variety of genetic sources, and have few available treatment options. Transplantation of retinal cells, as well as delivery of genes to restore lost function are currently being investigated both in the laboratory and clinical setting as possible treatments. This proposal combines elements of both procedures with the goal of long-term drug delivery into the subretinal space. Preliminary research has shown that single dose injection of cytokines into the eye show short-term prevention of photoreceptor degeneration in rat disease models. In order to achieve long-term delivery and prevention we propose the use of genetically modified cells which can overexpress the desired cytokines upon external pharmacological signaling. The method of action of these primarily neurotrophic cytokines could be simultaneously in the photoreceptor and the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE). We propose that these biomolecules cause upregulation in photoreceptor metabolism, maintaining viable pre-dystrophic levels of gene expression. In the RPE upregulation prevents dedifferentiation into a wound-healing phenotype allowing maintenance of the immunoisolating blood-retina barrier. We intend to use the genetically altered transplant model to investigate these two hypotheses, following photoreceptor rescue and cellular metabolism. The long term goal of this project is to provide tissue engineering therapy which can be applicable to retinal dystrophies with differing etiology.