Eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration are among the leading causes of irreversible vision loss and blindness worldwide. Currently, gene therapy can be administered to treat these conditions — but this requires an injection. Now researchers report in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces a new way to deliver the treatment topically, without a needle.
The rear part of the eye is where conditions such as proliferative diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration develop. And they involve a substance called vascular endothelial growth factor, which stimulates the growth of blood vessels. Scientists have been trying to inhibit the growth factor using gene therapy, but delivering drugs to the back of the eye currently requires an injection. Not surprisingly, few patients opt for this type of treatment. Gang Wei and colleagues wanted to find a noninvasive approach.
The researchers developed a gene delivery system with a peptide called penetratin, which has shown good permeability in the eye, and a synthetic polymer called poly(amidoamine) that has previously been used in drug delivery. Testing on rats showed that the complex, when applied as an eye drop, rapidly moved from the eye’s surface to its rear inner lining. It remained in the retina for more than eight hours — enough time for a model gene to be expressed. The findings demonstrate the method’s potential for delivering gene therapy to treat several eye diseases, the researchers say.
The Latest on: Gene therapy in a droplet
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Gene therapy in a droplet” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Gene therapy in a droplet
- Reuters Health News Summaryon April 27, 2024 at 1:59 pm
Following is a summary of current health news briefs. US tests show pasteurized milk safe as bird flu spreads to Colorado. Additional tests of milk showed that pasteurization kill ...
- Learn about QC innovators and inventors in new exhibiton April 26, 2024 at 3:43 pm
You may have known that chiropractic care, sliced bread and Dairy Queen were all invented in the Quad Cities, but did you know that Deere & Company was very briefly in the automobile business? That’s ...
- Pfizer’s First Gene Therapy Gets Approval for Clotting Disorderon April 26, 2024 at 4:04 am
Pfizer Inc. won US approval for its first gene therapy, expanding into a promising field of medicine that has proved to be a challenging business.
- OpenCRISPR-1: World’s first open-source AI scissor edits human geneson April 25, 2024 at 5:51 am
E very day brings with it a new achievement to the credit of AI. From creating full-length movies to predicting human actions, there is truly no domain left untouched by AI, including medicine and ...
- Profluent combines LLMs and CRISPR for open-source AI gene editing projecton April 23, 2024 at 11:00 am
Profluent has staked a claim at the intersection of some of the buzziest terms in biopharma. | Profluent has staked a claim at the intersection of some of the buzziest terms in biopharma. The protein ...
- Award-Winning Poster Presentations From AMCP 2024on April 23, 2024 at 6:41 am
At the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 2024 annual meeting, multiple poster presentations concerned with health equity, data collection, glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, and more were ...
- Researchers Develop a New Way to Safely Boost Immune Cells to Fight Canceron April 22, 2024 at 1:56 pm
New cancer immunotherapy developed to localize cancer-killing cytokines in tumors to improve treatment effectiveness ...
- 3 Standout Penny Stocks to Watch This Aprilon April 16, 2024 at 10:34 am
Investing in penny stocks \- generally, stocks that trade for less than $5 per share or have small market caps and low floats - can yield standout returns, due to their potential for significant ...
- A Bold Gene-Editing Solution Began Testing—Then Hit the Strangest Twiston April 15, 2024 at 5:00 am
The Boston-based biotech firm Verve Therapeutics recently had to pause a clinical trial after a participating patient developed an unforeseen side effect to the gene-editing serum. The company says ...
- Better Buy: Bluebird Bio Vs. Novavaxon April 13, 2024 at 1:22 pm
If there is one thing Bluebird Bio ( BLUE -5.17%) and Novavax ( NVAX -0.47%) have in common, other than their belonging to the biotech industry, it is that both have seen their shares drop ...
via Bing News