Current Gene Therapy - Volume 14, Issue 2, 2014

Histidine-proline-rich glycoprotein (HPRG) is a plasma protein of vertebrates, which has potent antiangiogenic and tumor vessel normalization properties. Attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium strain VNP20009 preferentially accumulates and replicates in hypoxic tumor regions. In this study, we engineered VNP20009 to express HPRG under the control of a hypoxia-induced NirB promoter and evaluated the efficacy of the VNP Read More

Adeno-associated virus (AAV) based vectors have emerged as important tools for gene therapy in humans. The recent successes seen in Phase I/II clinical trials have also highlighted the issues related to the host and vector-related immune response that preclude the universal application of this promising vector system. A fundamental insight into the biological mechanisms by which AAV infects the host cell and a thorough under Read More

Hearing impairment is primarily attributed to inner ear hair cell (HC) defects that subsequently lead to spiral ganglion neuron (SGN) loss. The HC loss cannot be self-repaired because of the HCs’ limited capacity to regenerate in mammals. Atoh1, also known as Math1, Hath1, and Cath1, is a proneural basic helix–loop–helix (bHLH) transcription factor that played a major role in HC differentiation. Atoh1 activity at various devel Read More

For years researchers have exerted every effort to improve the influential roles of microRNA (miRNA) in regulating genes that direct mammalian cell development and function. In spite of numerous advancements, many facets of miRNA generation remain unresolved due to the perplexing regulatory networks. The biogenesis of miRNA, eminently endures as a mystery as no universal pathway defines or explicates the varieg Read More

Gene therapy is a promising approach for treating a wide range of human pathologies such as genetic disorders as well as diseases acquired over time. Viral and non-viral vectors are used to convey sequences of genes that can be expressed for therapeutic purposes. Plasmid DNA is receiving considerable attention for intramuscular gene transfer due to its safety, simplicity and low cost of production. Nevertheless, strategies t Read More

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and angiopoietin-1 (Ang-1) play important roles in vasculogenesis and angiogenesis, respectively. Thus, targeting both aspects of cardiovascular tissue regeneration may offer promising therapeutic options for cardiovascular disorders. To this end, we constructed a lentiviral vector (pNL) with the Ang-1 gene and transfected EPCs with it (Ang-1-EPCs) to investigate vasculogenesis in both Read More

Purpose: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been used to track magnetically labeled human bone marrowderived mesenchymal stem cells (hBMSCs) in vivo after COX-2 silencing and transplantation into nude rats via tail vein injection. Methods: In the present study, we knocked down COX-2 expression in hBMSCs through lentivirus transduction. The COX-2 knockdown was confirmed by real-time PCR and Western blottin Read More