At the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, researchers have developed a new gene therapy to thwart a potential influenza pandemic in mice.
Specifically, investigators in the Gene Therapy Program, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, directed by James M. Wilson, MD, PhD, demonstrated that a single dose of an adeno-associated virus (AAV) expressing a broadly neutralizing flu antibody into the nasal passages of mice and ferrets gives them complete protection and substantial reductions in flu replication when exposed to lethal strains of H5N1 and H1N1 flu virus.
Challenges Faced With Gene Therapy for Human Disease
The progress and outlook of gene therapy research is examined in the April issue of Translational Research .
Advertisement
These strains were isolated from samples associated from historic human pandemics - one from the infamous 1918 flu pandemic and another from 2009.
In addition to the Penn scientists, the international effort included colleagues from the Public Health Agency of Canada, Winnipeg; the University of Manitoba, Winnipeg; and the University of Pittsburgh. Tretiakova is also the director of translational research, and Limberis is the director of animal models core, both with the Gene Therapy Program
![Heart Damage After Attack can be Reversed Through Gene Therapy]( "Heart Damage After Attack can be Reversed Through Gene Therapy")
Gene therapy can be used to treat patients who have suffered damage to their hearts following cardiac arrests and other heart conditions, a new study by American researchers reveals.
"The experiments described in our paper provide critical proof-of-concept in animals about a technology platform that can be deployed in the setting of virtually any pandemic or biological attack for which a neutralizing antibody exists or can be easily isolated," Wilson said.
"Further development of this approach for pandemic flu has taken on more urgency in light of the spreading infection in China of the lethal bird strain of H7N9 virus in humans," he said.
The findings are published online in Science Translational Medicine.
Source: ANI
Heart Damage After Attack can be Reversed Through Gene Therapy
Gene therapy can be used to treat patients who have suffered damage to their hearts following cardiac arrests and other heart conditions, a new study by American researchers reveals.
Advertisement
"The experiments described in our paper provide critical proof-of-concept in animals about a technology platform that can be deployed in the setting of virtually any pandemic or biological attack for which a neutralizing antibody exists or can be easily isolated," Wilson said.
"Further development of this approach for pandemic flu has taken on more urgency in light of the spreading infection in China of the lethal bird strain of H7N9 virus in humans," he said.
The findings are published online in Science Translational Medicine.
Source: ANI
New Gene Therapy Approach may Stop Parkinson's in It Tracks: Researchers
A gene therapy approach developed by researchers may one day stop Parkinson's disease (PD) in it tracks, preventing disease progression and reversing its symptoms.
Advertisement
 Mice Get Broad Protection to Pandemic Flu Strains Via Gene TherapyA new gene therapy to tackle a potential influenza pandemic has been developed by researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. | Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Recommended Reading
Latest Research News
Researchers also report first direct evidence supporting main theory for how human memory is consolidated during sleep
The study found exposure to multiple pesticides used in combination, such as in cotton farming, is more toxic to dopamine neurons than any single pesticide.
Researchers found that treatments helping to repair nerve damage in neurons in a near-embryonic state might potentially restore sight and movement.
Tobacco smoke contains toxic chemicals which damage lungs, weaken the immune system and cause tuberculosis.
Identifying an unappreciated relationship between brain shape and activity overturns the century-old paradigm emphasizing the importance of complex brain connectivity.