Title:Gene Therapy for Chronic Traumatic Brain Injury: Challenges in Resolving Long-term Consequences of Brain Damage
Volume: 23
Issue: 1
Author(s): Vipin V. Dhote*, Prem Samundre, Aman B. Upaganlawar and Aditya Ganeshpurkar
Affiliation:
- Faculty of Pharmacy, VNS Group of Institutions, Bhopal, MP, 462044, India
Keywords:
TBI, cognitive decline, apoptosis, gene therapy, polymorphism, vectors, translation.
Abstract: The gene therapy is alluring not only for CNS disorders but also for other pathological
conditions. Gene therapy employs the insertion of a healthy gene into the identified genome to replace
or replenish genes responsible for pathological disorder or damage due to trauma. The last decade
has seen a drastic change in the understanding of vital aspects of gene therapy. Despite the
complexity of traumatic brain injury (TBI), the advent of gene therapy in various neurodegenerative
disorders has reinforced the ongoing efforts of alleviating TBI-related outcomes with gene therapy.
The review highlights the genes modulated in response to TBI and evaluates their impact on
the severity and duration of the injury. We have reviewed strategies that pinpointed the most relevant
gene targets to restrict debilitating events of brain trauma and utilize vector of choice to deliver
the gene of interest at the appropriate site. We have made an attempt to summarize the long-term
neurobehavioral consequences of TBI due to numerous pathometabolic perturbations associated
with a plethora of genes. Herein, we shed light on the basic pathological mechanisms of brain injury,
genetic polymorphism in individuals susceptible to severe outcomes, modulation of gene expression
due to TBI, and identification of genes for their possible use in gene therapy. The review
also provides insights on the use of vectors and challenges in translations of this gene therapy to
clinical practices.