Gene therapy can restore vision after stroke

Date:
October 2, 2021
Source:
Purdue University
Summary:
Vision loss can be a side effect from stroke. Neurons don't
regenerate, and stem cell therapy is costly, difficult, and
chancy. Researchers have figured out a way to use gene therapy to
recover lost vision after a stroke in a mouse model.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
Most strokes happen when an artery in the brain becomes blocked. Blood
flow to the neural tissue stops, and those tissues typically die. Because
of the locations of the major arteries in the brain, many strokes affect
motor function. Some affect vision, however, causing patients to lose
their vision or find it compromised or diminished. A research team led
by Purdue University's Alexander Chubykin, an associate professor of
biological sciences in the College of Science, in collaboration with the
team led by Gong Chen at Jinan University, China, has discovered a way
to use gene therapy to turn glial brain cells into neurons, restoring
visual function and offering hope for a way to restore motor function.


========================================================================== Neurons don't regenerate. The brain can sometimes remap its neural
pathways enough to restore some visual function after a stroke, but
that process is slow, it's inefficient, and for some patients, it never
happens at all. Stem cell therapy, which can help, relies on finding an
immune match and is cumbersome and difficult. This new gene therapy, as demonstrated in a mouse model, is more efficient and much more promising.

"We are directly reprogramming the local glial cells into neurons,"
Chubykin said. "We don't have to implant new cells, so there's no
immunogenic rejection.

This process is easier to do than stem cell therapy, and there's less
damage to the brain. We are helping the brain heal itself. We can see the connections between the old neurons and the newly reprogrammed neurons
get reestablished.

We can watch the mice get their vision back." Chubykin's research
is especially important because visual function is easier than motor
skills to measure accurately, using techniques including optical imaging
in live mice to track the development and maturation of the newly
converted neurons over the course of weeks. Perfecting and understanding
this technique could lead to a similar technique reestablishing motor
function. This research bridges the gap in understanding between the
basic interpretation of the neurons and the function of the organs.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Purdue_University. Original written
by Brittany Steff.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Yu Tang, Qiuyu Wu, Mang Gao, Esther Ryu, Zifei Pei, Samuel
T. Kissinger,
Yuchen Chen, Abhinav K. Rao, Zongqin Xiang, Tao Wang, Wen Li, Gong
Chen, Alexander A. Chubykin. Restoration of Visual Function and
Cortical Connectivity After Ischemic Injury Through NeuroD1-Mediated
Gene Therapy.

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2021; 9 DOI: 10.3389/
fcell.2021.720078 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211002123006.htm

--- up 4 weeks, 2 days, 8 hours, 25 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)