Gene therapy used for tissue engineering applications

Abstract

This review highlights the advances at the interface between tissue engineering and gene therapy. There are a large number of reports on gene therapy in tissue engineering, and these cover a huge range of different engineered tissues, different vectors, scaffolds and methodology. The review considers separately in-vitro and in-vivo gene transfer methods. The in-vivo gene transfer method is described first, using either viral or non-viral vectors to repair various tissues with and without the use of scaffolds. The use of a scaffold can overcome some of the challenges associated with delivery by direct injection. The ex-vivo method is described in the second half of the review. Attempts have been made to use this therapy for bone, cartilage, wound, urothelial, nerve tissue regeneration and for treating diabetes using viral or non-viral vectors. Again porous polymers can be used as scaffolds for cell transplantation. There are as yet few comparisons between these many different variables to show which is the best for any particular application. With few exceptions, all of the results were positive in showing some gene expression and some consequent effect on tissue growth and remodelling. Some of the principal advantages and disadvantages of various methods are discussed.

Evaluation of the reasons for failure of integration during cartilage repair. A review

“…The iso-tense signal permeates through to the surrounding intact articular cartilage indicating at least on the macroscopic morphological scale that lateral integration has occurred, whether this translates to integration on a microscopic scale is debatable. Other indirect techniques to analyse cartilage repair at the repair tissue boundary include mechanical indentation or ultrasound reflective measurements to quantitatively assess site-specific compressive dynamic stiffness of cartilage at the interface (Kiviranta et al, 2008).Many techniques of cartilage repair have incorporated the use of growth factors, either released in a controlled manner as polypeptides attached to scaffolds, or, through recombinant expression, to enhance the chondrogenic differentiation and biochemical and biomechanical maturation of implanted cells (Heyde et al, 2007;Lee and Shin, 2007). Specific growth factors such as TGFβ1, BMP-2, BMP-7, FGF-2 and IGF-1 all have been shown to increase proliferation, cell survival, increase or accelerate extracellular matrix production, induce better defect filling and enhance maturation, i.e.…”

Tendon and Ligament Tissue Engineering, Healing and Regenerative Medicine

“…Gene therapy is the final category in tissue engineering and it involves in the transfer of genetic information to target cells, and may introduce safe and effective strategies to induce tissue healing [129][130][131]. Gene therapy can be used for delivery of growth factors in tissue engineering [130].…”

“…Gene therapy can be used for delivery of growth factors in tissue engineering [130]. The vehicle for gene delivery can be either viral (adenovirus, retrovirus, adeno-associated viruses) or non-viral (liposomes).…”

“…A short controlled expression is desirable and often sufficient to accelerate bone healing, while achieving permanent or long-term expression of a therapeutic gene is more difficult [129]. Therefore, providing controlled and sufficient expression by adaptation of gene therapy to tissue engineering is a key and critical aspect in this field [130].…”

Development of a vascularized, induced pluripotent stem cell-derived liver-tissue mimic for therapeutic applications.

“…In one study, the pediatric recipients of normal LDL-R via liver transplant achieved a clinical resolution of their symptoms and in the case of one patient, even a reversal of their atheromatous lesions [77][78][79] However, before discussing specific approaches to treating FH, we should first consider the characteristics of these approaches in isolation. Regenerative medicine has significantly advanced due to the advent of gene therapies and transgene delivery 90 . One major driver of gene therapy has been the use of viral vectors, which in general, can infect a wide variety of cell types in an efficient manner via a predictable mechanism.…”