News: Gene therapy to fix memory loss in Alzheimer's patients study
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A latest research by scientists at the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease (GIND) in San Francisco has revealed that a new gene therapy technique might hold the key to Alzheimer's cure. The study found that increasing the levels of EphB2, a protein responsible for regulation of neural communication in the brain, alleviated symptoms of long-term memory loss in mice.
Cognitive processes such as learning and memory retention require effective communication between brain cells called neurons. This communication involves release of chemicals that stimulate cell surface receptors present on the nerve cells. The process, called neurotransmission, is impaired by amyloid plaques, which build-up to abnormally high levels in the brains of Alzheimer's patients and are believed to be the root cause the disease.
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News: The Use of Gene Therapy in Treating Retinitis Pigmentosa and Dry Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) |
Irv Arons recently completed a comprehensive treatise on the use of gene therapy for treating retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The report introduces RetroSense Therapeutics and its efforts to develop a gene therapy treatment to restore vision in those suffering from RP (first) and dry AMD (second). Included are sections on alternative therapies for both RP and AMD, including retinal implants (for RP), stem cells, and sustained release drugs and a few other options. In addition, there is a short writeup on other applications of gene therapy in ophthalmology.
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Literature: The Journal of Gene Medicine |
Receive brand new table of contents directly into your inbox each time The Journal of Gene Medicine is published online, head to the journal homepage and select ‘Get New Contents Alerts’ under ‘Journal Tools’.
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Conferences
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20 January 2011, COGEM Symposium: GM viruses as medicine: panacea or pandora's box?, Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
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24 - 26 January 2011, Phacilitate 7th Annual Cell & Gene Therapy Forum 2011, Washington DC, MD |
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27 February - 1 March 2011, Annual meeting of the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy of Cancer (ISCGT), Doha, Qatar |
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10 - 11 March 2011, Spring Meeting of the Dutch Society of Gene Therapy (NVGT), Heeze, The Netherlands |
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16 - 19 March 2011, 6th International Conference on Oncolytic Viruses as Cancer Therapeutics, Las Vegas, NV |
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7 - 9 April 2011, Clinical Gene transfer: state of the art conference and e-chips European congress on human iPS cells, Paris, France |
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4 - 6 May 2011, Australasian Gene Therapy Society (AGTS) 7th Meeting, Melbourne, Australia |
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18 - 21 May 2011, International Society for Cellular Therapy (ISCT) 17th Annual Meeting, Rotterdam, The Netherlands |
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18 - 22 May 2011, American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) 14th Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA |
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29 May - 2 June 2011, Gordon Research Conference: Virusses & Cells, Lucca (Barga), Italy |
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12 - 14 July 2011, DNA Vaccines 2011, San Diego, LA |
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15 – 17 July 2011, The 17th Annual Meeting of the Japan Society of Gene Therapy (JSGT), Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan |
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27 - 31 October 2011, European Society Of Gene & Cell Therapy (ESGCT) and the British Society of Gene Therapy (BSGT) collaborative Congress 2011, Brighton, UK |
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