The status and progress in gene therapy study of Stargardt disease / 中华眼底病杂志

ABSTRACT

Stargardt disease (STGD) is an inherited disorder of retinal pigment epithelium.Three genes have been found to be implicated in STGD including Abca4 (adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette,sub-family A,member 4),Elovl4 (elongation of very long chain fatty acids protein 4) and Prom1 (prominin-1).Target genes can be delivered to the retina by various methods such as lentivirus (LV) vectors,adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors and non-viral nano-particles.The Abca4-/-,Elovl4-/-and Prom1-/ mice model are used to study the pathogenesis mechanism and treatment of STGD.Retinal function improved significantly upon gene therapy in these models.Based on these works using animal model,phase Ⅰ /Ⅱ a clinical trial of Abca4-associated STGD gene therapy are underway.As a LV vector,equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV) is used to carry the Abca4 gene.These studies will evaluate three dose levels of the EIAV vector for safety,tolerability and biological activity.Moreover,some preclinical attempts to deliver Abca4 via AAV have been made using a modified AAV vectors because of the large size of the ABCA4 cDNA.The good responses in animal models render STGD a very attractive object for human gene therapy after the successful of the phase Ⅰ /Ⅱ clinical trials of Leber's congenital amaurosis.