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  1. Jothy SL, Chen Y, Vijayarathna S, Kanwar JR, Sasidharan S
    Curr Gene Ther, 2015;15(1):15-20.
    PMID: 25478696
    Radiotherapy plays an essential primary role in cancer patients. Regardless of its significant advances in treatment options, tumor recurrence and radio-resistance in cancer cells still occur in a high percentage of patients. Furthermore, the over expression of miRNAs accompanies the development of radio-resistant cancer cells. Consequently, miRNAs might serve as therapeutic targets for the treatment of radio-resistance in cancer cells. The findings of the current research also signify that the use of a natural anti-miRNA substance could inhibit specific miRNAs, and, concurrently, these natural remedies could exhibit radioprotective activity against the healthy cells during radiotherapy. Therefore, in this review, we have reported the association of miRNAs with radio-resistance and the potential uses of natural remedies as green gene therapeutic approaches, as well as radioprotectors against the adverse effects of irradiation on healthy cells during radiotherapy.
  2. Bakhtiar A, Sayyad M, Rosli R, Maruyama A, Chowdhury EH
    Curr Gene Ther, 2014;14(4):247-57.
    PMID: 25039616
    Conventional therapies for malignant cancer such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy are associated with poor survival rates owing to the development of cellular resistance to cancer drugs and the lack of targetability, resulting in unwanted adverse effects on healthy cells and necessitating the lowering of therapeutic dose with consequential lower efficacy of the treatment. Gene therapy employing different types of viral and non-viral carriers to transport gene(s) of interest and facilitating production of the desirable therapeutic protein(s) has tremendous prospects in cancer treatments due to the high-level of specificity in therapeutic action of the expressed protein(s) with diminished off-target effects, although cancer cell-specific delivery of transgene(s) still poses some challenges to be addressed. Depending on the potential therapeutic target genes, cancer gene therapy could be categorized into tumor suppressor gene replacement therapy, immune gene therapy and enzyme- or prodrug-based therapy. This review would shed light on the current progress of delivery of potentially therapeutic genes into various cancer cells in vitro and animal models utilizing a variety of viral and non-viral vectors.
  3. Vijayarathna S, Oon CE, Jothy SL, Chen Y, Kanwar JR, Sasidharan S
    Curr Gene Ther, 2014;14(2):112-20.
    PMID: 24588707
    For years researchers have exerted every effort to improve the influential roles of microRNA (miRNA) in regulating genes that direct mammalian cell development and function. In spite of numerous advancements, many facets of miRNA generation remain unresolved due to the perplexing regulatory networks. The biogenesis of miRNA, eminently endures as a mystery as no universal pathway defines or explicates the variegation in the rise of miRNAs. Early evidence in biogenesis ignited specific steps of being omitted or replaced that eventuate in the individual miRNAs of different mechanisms. Understanding the basic foundation concerning how miRNAs are generated and function will help with diagnostic tools and therapeutic strategies. This review encompasses the canonical and the non-canonical pathways involved in miRNA biogenesis, while elucidating how miRNAs regulate genes at the nuclear level and also the mechanism that lies behind circulating miRNAs.
  4. Rasouli M, Allaudin ZN, Omar AR, Ahmad Z
    Curr Gene Ther, 2013 Aug;13(4):229-39.
    PMID: 23721205 DOI: 10.2174/15665232113139990002
    Poorly controlled diabetes mellitus can result in serious complications. Gene therapy is increasingly being considered as an alternative approach to treat diabetes, because of its ability to induce physiological insulin secretion and it allows patients to escape insulin injections. The properties of gut K and L-cells, including glucose sensitivity, the ability to process insulin and a regulated secretion pathway support their use as surrogate β-cells. Previous in vitro studies have provided sufficient evidence supporting the use of these cells for gene therapy studies. Therefore, we examined the ability of K and L-cells to produce insulin in diabetic mice. Chitosan nanoparticles were used to transfer the insulin gene into intestinal cells via oral administration. The efficiency of chitosan as a gene vehicle was investigated through the use of reporter gene. Insulin mRNA and protein expression levels were measured by RT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. Blood glucose testing revealed that this treatment reduced glucose levels in diabetic mice. The decrease in blood glucose level in the first week of treatment was greater in mice with K-cell specific insulin expression compared with mice with L-cell-specific insulin expression. These results indicate that inducing insulin secretion in K-cells conferred a quicker response to gene therapy.
  5. Venugopal C, K S, Rai KS, Pinnelli VB, Kutty BM, Dhanushkodi A
    Curr Gene Ther, 2018;18(5):307-323.
    PMID: 30209999 DOI: 10.2174/1566523218666180913152615
    INTRODUCTION: Mesenchymal Stem Cell (MSC) therapy in recent years has gained significant attention. Though the functional outcomes following MSC therapy for neurodegenerative diseases are convincing, various mechanisms for the functional recovery are being debated. Nevertheless, recent studies convincingly demonstrated that recovery following MSC therapy could be reiterated with MSC secretome per se thereby shifting the dogma from cell therapy to cell "based" therapy. In addition to various functional proteins, stem cell secretome also includes extracellular membrane vesicles like exosomes. Exosomes which are of "Nano" size have attracted significant interest as they can pass through the bloodbrain barrier far easily than macro size cells or growth factors. Exosomes act as a cargo between cells to bring about significant alterations in target cells. As the importance of exosomes is getting unveil, it is imperial to carry out a comprehensive study to evaluate the neuroprotective potential of exosomes as compared to conventional co-culture or total condition medium treatments.

    OBJECTIVE: Thus, the present study is designed to compare the neuroprotective potential of MSC derived exosomes with MSC-condition medium or neuron-MSC-co-culture system against kainic acid induced excitotoxicity in in vitro condition. The study also aims at comparing the neuroprotective efficacy of exosomes/condition medium/co-culture of two MSC viz., neural crest derived human Dental Pulp Stem Cells (hDPSC) and human Bone-Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hBM-MSC) to identify the appropriate MSC source for treating neurodegenerative diseases.

    RESULT: Our results demonstrated that neuroprotective efficacy of MSC-exosomes is as efficient as MSC-condition medium or neuron-MSC co-culture system and treating degenerating hippocampal neurons with all three MSC based approaches could up-regulate host's endogenous growth factor expressions and prevent apoptosis by activating cell survival PI3K-B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2) pathway.

    CONCLUSION: Thus, the current study highlights the possibilities of treating neurodegenerative diseases with "Nano" size exosomes as opposed to transplanting billions of stem cells which inherit several disadvantages.

  6. Venugopal C, K S, Rai KS, Pinnelli VB, Kutty BM, Dhanushkodi A
    Curr Gene Ther, 2023;23(3):243-244.
    PMID: 37394956 DOI: 10.2174/156652322303230528200022
    In this correction, the Editor in Chief suggested revising the publication of Figures 3 and 8E in the article after the correction in numeric value. Below is the corrected version of the figures [1]. The electronic version of the article can be found in "Neuroprotection by Human Dental Pulp Mesenchymal Stem Cells: From Billions to Nano" in the journal Current Gene Therapy, 2018, 18(5), 307-323. Bentham Science apologizes to the readers of the journal for any inconvenience this may have caused. The original article can be found online at: https://www.eurekaselect.com/article/93056.
  7. Senthilkumar S, Maiya K, Jain NK, Mata S, Mangaonkar S, Prabhu P, et al.
    Curr Gene Ther, 2023;23(3):198-214.
    PMID: 36305152 DOI: 10.2174/1566523223666221027113723
    INTRODUCTION: We aim to investigate whether timed systemic administration of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) or bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) with status epilepticus (SE) induced blood-brain barrier (BBB) damage could facilitate the CNS homing of DPSCs/BM-MSCs and mitigate neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation and neuropsychiatric comorbidities in an animal model of Temporal Lobe epilepsy (TLE).

    BACKGROUND: Cognitive impairments, altered emotional responsiveness, depression, and anxiety are the common neuropsychiatric co-morbidities observed in TLE patients. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation has gained immense attention in treating TLE, as ~30% of patients do not respond to anti-epileptic drugs. While MSCs are known to cross the BBB, better CNS homing and therapeutic effects could be achieved when the systemic administration of MSC is timed with BBB damage following SE.

    OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the present study are to investigate the effects of systemic administration of DPSCs/BM-MSCs timed with BBB damage on CNS homing of DPSCs/BM-MSCs, neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation and neuropsychiatric comorbidities in an animal model of TLE.

    METHODOLOGY: We first assessed the BBB leakage following kainic acid-induced SE and timed the intravenous administration of DPSCs/BM-MSCs to understand the CNS homing/engraftment potential of DPSCs/BM-MSCs and their potential to mitigate neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation and neuropsychiatric comorbidities.

    RESULTS: Our results revealed that systemic administration of DPSCs/BM-MSCs attenuated neurodegeneration, neuroinflammation, and ameliorated neuropsychiatric comorbidities. Three months following intravenous administration of DPSCs/BM-MSCs, we observed a negligible number of engrafted cells in the corpus callosum, sub-granular zone, and sub-ventricular zone.

    CONCLUSION: Thus, it is evident that functional recovery is still achievable despite poor engraftment of MSCs into CNS following systemic administration.

  8. Islam MA, Kundu S, Hassan R
    Curr Gene Ther, 2020;19(6):376-385.
    PMID: 32141417 DOI: 10.2174/1566523220666200306092556
    Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most common autoimmune demyelinating disease of the Central Nervous System (CNS). It is a multifactorial disease which develops in an immune-mediated way under the influences of both genetic and environmental factors. Demyelination is observed in the brain and spinal cord leading to neuro-axonal damage in patients with MS. Due to the infiltration of different immune cells such as T-cells, B-cells, monocytes and macrophages, focal lesions are observed in MS. Currently available medications treating MS are mainly based on two strategies; i) to ease specific symptoms or ii) to reduce disease progression. However, these medications tend to induce different adverse effects with limited therapeutic efficacy due to the protective function of the blood-brain barrier. Therefore, researchers have been working for the last four decades to discover better solutions by introducing gene therapy approaches in treating MS generally by following three strategies, i) prevention of specific symptoms, ii) halt or reverse disease progression and iii) heal CNS damage by promoting remyelination and axonal repair. In last two decades, there have been some remarkable successes of gene therapy approaches on the experimental mice model of MS - experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) which suggests that it is not far that the gene therapy approaches would start in human subjects ensuring the highest levels of safety and efficacy. In this review, we summarised the gene therapy approaches attempted in different animal models towards treating MS.
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