title: Gene therapy approaches for the treatment of retinal disorders.
abstract: There is an impelling need to develop effective therapeutic strategies for patients with retinal disorders. Gleaning from the large quantity of information gathered over the past two decades on the mechanisms governing degeneration of the retina, it is now possible to devise innovative therapies based on retinal gene transfer. Different gene-based approaches are under active investigation. They include strategies to correct the specific genetic defect in inherited retinal diseases, strategies to delay the onset of blindness independently of the disease-causing mutations, and strategies to reactivate residual cells at late stages of the diseases. In this review, we discuss the status of application of these technologies, outlining the future therapeutic potential for many forms of retinal blinding diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA.
authors.forename: Lolita
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Petit
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Gene Therapy Center, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA.|Department of Neurobiology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA 01655, USA.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Punzo
mesh_terms: D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D006801:Humans; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*