Gene Therapy And Neuroprotection

直接脑内给药神经胶质细胞系来源的神经营养因子（GDNF）对缺血性脑损伤具有神经保护作用。利用病毒载体传递和表达治疗基因提供了在发展中的梗死局部区域产生GDNF的机会。我们研究了单纯疱疹病毒（HSV）扩增子载体编码GDNF （HSVgdnf）是否能保护神经元免受缺血性损伤。在原代神经元培养中，HSVgdnf还原氧化剂？与对照载体HSVlac比较。为了测试在体内的保护作用，在大脑中动脉（MCA）单侧闭塞60分钟之前或之后，将HSVgdnf或HSVlac注射到大脑皮层。对照组中风动物出现运动迟缓和运动不对称；用HSVgdnf预处理可显著减少此类运动缺陷。在缺血损伤后接受hssvlac或hssvgdnf的动物没有表现出任何行为改善。中风后一个月进行的组织学分析显示，用HSVgdnf预处理的大鼠缺血组织损失减少。同样，这些动物对胶质纤维酸性蛋白（GFAP）和caspase-3的免疫染色较少。综上所述，我们的数据表明，HSVgdnf预处理对脑缺血具有保护作用，并支持利用HSV扩增子将营养因子输送到中枢神经系统。

Direct intracerebral administration of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is neuroprotective against ischemia-induced cerebral injury. Utilizing viral vectors to deliver and express therapeutic genes presents an opportunity to produce GDNF within localized regions of an evolving infarct. We investigated whether a Herpes simplex virus (HSV) amplicon-based vector encoding GDNF (HSVgdnf) would protect neurons against ischemic injury. In primary neuronal cultures HSVgdnf reduced oxidant?induced injury compared to the control vector HSVlac. To test protective effects in vivo, HSVgdnf or HSVlac was injected into the cerebral cortex prior to or subsequent to a 60 minute unilateral occlusion of the middle cerebral artery (MCA). Control stroke animals developed bradykinesia and motor asymmetry; pretreatment with HSVgdnf significantly reduced such motor deficits. Animals receiving HSVlac or HSVgdnf after the ischemic insult did not exhibit any behavioral improvement. Histological analyses performed one month after stroke revealed a reduction in ischemic tissue loss in rats pretreated with HSVgdnf. Similarly, these animals exhibited less immunostaining for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and caspase-3. Taken together, our data indicate that HSVgdnf pretreatment provides protection against cerebral ischemia and supports the utilization of the HSV amplicon for therapeutic delivery of trophic factors to the CNS.