Gene therapy will help restore damaged nerves
Genes are treated for paralysis
Alla Solodova, Infox.ruIt is possible to treat paralysis with genes necessary for the growth of liver cells and blood vessels.
And not only in laboratory animals, but also in humans. The mechanism of nerve repair by "non-nervous" genes is not entirely clear, but the positive result is obvious, scientists write.
Every year, more than 2 million operations are performed worldwide to restore nerve trunks. The "gold standard" in restoring the integrity of nerve conductors is recognized as an autonerval plastic surgery – an operation in which a defect of the peripheral nerve is replaced with a nerve insert obtained from the tissues of the patient himself.
Gene therapy will be able to successfully compete with existing methods of nerve restoration, scientists are sure. Significant results were obtained in Russian and foreign laboratories and confirmed during clinical trials.
Paralyzed miceThis year, biomedics from research centers in Japan and the UK, led by Dr. S. Esaki from Nagoya University, published the results of experimental use of gene therapy in the treatment of paralysis.
The scientists used a gene for liver cell growth factor (HGF, Hepatocyte growth factor) and a transport system based on the Herpes simplex virus, which is deprived of the ability to reproduce. With the HSV-HGF virus-gene complex, biologists treated peripheral neuropathies, injuries and compression of peripheral nerves in experimental mice.
Laboratory animals were completely squeezed by the main trunk of the facial nerve, which caused paralysis of the facial muscles of the corresponding side. A gene therapy drug was injected into the site of paralysis. Result: the injured nerve was restored within a few days.
The mechanism of action of liver cell growth factor (HGF) on the restoration of peripheral nerves is not fully deciphered, explain Infox.ru specialists of the Institute of Human Stem Cells (HSCC). It is known that this factor takes part in the formation of organs at the stage of intrauterine development, in the process of tissue repair, and also has the ability to stimulate the formation of blood vessels, cell division and growth. HGF is constantly produced by bone marrow stromal cells and stimulates hematopoiesis.
The creation of drugs based on HGF and herpes simplex virus will significantly improve the results of treatment of patients with facial nerve paralysis of various origins, the authors of the study published in Gene Therapy (Esaki et al., Hepatocyte growth factor incorporated into herpes simplex virus vector accelerates facial nerve regeneration after crush injury) are confident.
Russian researchTo stimulate post-traumatic regeneration of damaged nerve fibers, not only "hepatic", but also various neurotrophic and angiogenic factors are used.
For example, this year scientists from Kazan showed that it is possible to restore the motor activity of the limb and the functions of the severed sciatic nerve with the help of a gene preparation with vascular endothelial growth Factor (VEGF, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor). With the help of local injection of ring DNA (pBud-VEGF-FGF2) carrying vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the main fibroblast growth factor (FGF2), scientists successfully stimulated the restoration of the circulatory network (revascularization) and regeneration of the severed sciatic nerve in rats.
The VEGF gene has already reached clinical trials: scientists from the Brain Research Department of the Scientific Center of Neurology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (Moscow) use this gene to treat patients with incurable progressive paralysis developing due to the death of motor neurons.
"VEGF regulates the branching and growth of small vessels and the capillary network," explains Sergey Illarioshkin, Head of the Brain Research Department at the Scientific Center of Neurology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. –In addition, VEGF is directly involved in the growth of long processes of neurons (axons) and in the processes of neurogenesis."
In more than 30% of participants in clinical trials, the disease slows down – people live despite the promised death.
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20.12.2011