title: Gene therapy approach for disc degeneration and associated spinal disorders.
abstract: Disc degeneration is deeply associated with many spinal disorders and thus has a significant clinical impact on society. The currently available surgical treatment often necessitates removing a pathological disc and spinal fusion. However, it is also well known that these surgical treatments have many potential problems including invasion and cost. Therefore, biological approaches for regenerating these pathological discs have received much attention. Gene therapy is one of these biological approaches. Gene therapy involves the transfer of genes to cells so the recipient cells express these genes and thereby synthesize the RNA and protein they encode in a continuous fashion. One of the significant advantages of gene therapy is that we can expect a lasting duration of biological effect which is potentially beneficial for most disc degeneration associated disorders, as they are, by nature, chronic conditions. Originally, gene therapy was mediated by viral vectors, but recent technological progress has enabled us to opt for non-virus-mediated gene therapy for the disc. Furthermore, the development of the RNA interference technique has enabled us to down-regulate a specific gene expression in the disc opening the door for a new generation of intradiscal gene therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kobe University Graduate School of Medicine, 7-5-1 Kusunoki-cho, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 650-0017, Japan. kotaro@med.kobe-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Kotaro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nishida
authors.forename: Teppei
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Kenichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kakutani
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yurube
authors.forename: Koichiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Maeno
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurosaka
authors.forename: Minoru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Doita
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004247:DNA / Q000235:genetics; D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000235:genetics; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D016326:Extracellular Matrix Proteins; D036341:Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D012333:RNA, Messenger; D004247:DNA