title: The use of adenoviral vectors and ex vivo transduced neurotransplants: towards promotion of neuroregeneration.
abstract: Regeneration of injured axons following injury depends on a delicate balance between growth-promoting and growth-inhibiting factors. Overexpression of neurotrophin genes seems a promising strategy to promote regeneration. Trophic genes can be overexpressed at the site of injury at the axonal stumps, or at the perikaryal level of the injured neuron. Transduction of the neural cells can be achieved by applying adenoviral vectors, either directly in vivo or-in the case of neurotransplantation as an ex vivo approach. In both cases it would create a more permissive environment for axonal growth and therefore in functional regeneration. In this article, the feasibility of the use of adenoviral vectors in several neuroregeneration models--in particularly in spinal cord lesion models and the biological clock transplantation model--is illustrated. The results show that the adenoviral vectors can be a powerful tool to study the effects of overexpression of genes in an in vivo paradigm of nerve regeneration or nerve outgrowth. The potential use of adenoviral vectors and ex vivo transduced neurotransplants is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Graduate School Neurosciences Amsterdam, Netherlands Institute for Brain Research.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Blits
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Dijkhuizen
authors.forename: W T
authors.initials: WT
authors.lastname: Hermens
authors.forename: L K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Van Esseveldt
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Boer
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Verhaagen
mesh_terms: D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D000818:Animals; D001683:Biological Clocks / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology; D016380:Brain Tissue Transplantation; D017690:Cell Transplantation; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000293:injuries; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D016332:Fetal Tissue Transplantation; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors / Q000235:genetics; D009416:Nerve Regeneration / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology; D059348:Peripheral Nerve Injuries; D051381:Rats; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000628:therapy; D014161:Transduction, Genetic
chemical_list: D009414:Nerve Growth Factors