title: Gene Editing for Treatment of Neurological Infections.
abstract: The study of neurological infections by viruses defines the field of neurovirology, which has emerged in the last 30 years and was founded upon the discovery of a number of viruses capable of infecting the human nervous system. Studies have focused on the molecular and biological basis of viral neurological diseases with the aim of revealing new therapeutic options. The first studies of neurovirological infections can be traced back to the discovery that some viruses have an affinity for the nervous system with research into rabies by Louis Pasteur and others in the 1880s. Today, the immense public health impact of neurovirological infections is illustrated by diseases such as neuroAIDS, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, and viral encephalitis. Recent research has seen the development of powerful new techniques for gene editing that promise revolutionary opportunities for the development of novel therapeutic options. In particular, clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeat-associated 9 system provides an effective, highly specific and versatile tool for targeting DNA viruses that are beginning to allow the development of such new approaches. In this short review, we discuss these recent developments, how they pertain to neurological infections, and future prospects.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neurovirology, Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, 7th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA.
authors.forename: Martyn K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neurovirology, Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, 7th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA.
authors.forename: Rafal
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kaminski
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neurovirology, Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, 7th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA.
authors.forename: Hassen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wollebo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neurovirology, Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, 7th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA.
authors.forename: Wenhui
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Excision Biotherapeutics, Inc., 3624 Market Street, #514, Philadelphia, PA, 19104, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Malcolm
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Center for Neurovirology, Comprehensive NeuroAIDS Center, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, 3500 N. Broad Street, 7th Floor, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA. kamel.khalili@temple.edu.
authors.forename: Kamel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Khalili
mesh_terms: D064113:CRISPR-Cas Systems; D020805:Central Nervous System Viral Diseases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000628:therapy*; D020803:Encephalitis, Herpes Simplex / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy; D000072669:Gene Editing / Q000379:methods*; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007577:JC Virus / Q000235:genetics; D007968:Leukoencephalopathy, Progressive Multifocal / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy
keywords: CRISPR/Cas9; Gene editing; NeuroAids; Neurological infections; Progressive multifocal encephalopathy