Gene Therapy in Neurological Disorders

Gene therapy has tremendous potential for the treatment of neurological disorders. There has been substantial progress in the development of gene therapy strategies for neurological disorders over the last two decades. Gene Therapy in Neurological Disorders thoroughly reviews currently available gene therapy tools and presents examples of their application in a variety of neurological diseases. The book begins with general reviews of gene therapy strategies with a focus on neurological disorders. The remainder of the chapters present approaches to specific neurological disorders. Each chapter gives an in-depth introduction to the relevant field before diving into the specific tool or application. The book aims to help investigators, students and research staff better understand the principles of gene therapy and its application in the nervous system.

Provides background information and experimental details of gene therapy tools applied for neuroscience research and neurological disordersCovers a broad range of gene delivery and regulation tools, therapeutic agents, and target cells, including emerging new technologies such as CRISPR/Cas9 genome editingDiscusses applications of gene therapy tools to neurological disorders including neurodegeneration, muscular dystrophy, trauma and chronic pain, and neoplastic diseases

Section I  Overview and Methods 1. Gene therapy methods and their applications in neurological disorders 2. Targeting transgene and RNA interference-based gene silencing sequences to astrocytes using viral vector-mediated approaches 3. Gene therapy using genomic DNA: Advances and challenges 4. Stem cell-based gene therapy in neurological disorders

Section II  Approaches to specific disorders 5. Targeting astrocytes with viral gene therapy for Alzheimer's disease 6. Prophylactic and therapeutic applications of catalytic immunoglobulin gene delivery in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease 7. Lentiviral vector delivery of orexin gene to study potential role of orexin and sleep modulation in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease 8. Pharmacologically controlled neurotrophic factor gene therapy for Parkinson´s Disease 9. Gene therapy as a novel target for treatment of symptoms and medication complications in Parkinson’s disease 10. Inhibition of aggregation of mutant huntingtin by nucleic acid aptamers in vitro and in a yeast model of Huntington’s disease 11. Intraspinal delivery of recombinant AAV mediated Interleukin-10 modifies disease in ALS mice. 12. Differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells to Purkinje neurons 13. Expressing full-length dystrophin using adeno-associated virus 14. Genome editing therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy 15. AAV vector mediated gene delivery to neurons and glial cells in damaged spinal cord 16. Transplantation of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural precursor cells for treatment of spinal cord injury 17. Viral transduction of primary Schwann cells using a Cre-lox system to regulate GDNF expression 18. Application of Herpes simplex virus vectors in treatment of neuropathic pain 19. Oncolytic virotherapy for gliomas: a preclinical and clinical summary