Abstract
Engineered Common Cold Virus Helps Cultured Cystic Fibrosis Tissues Clear Mucus
Highlights
The lung disease cystic fibrosis (CF) has the dubious distinction of being the most common fatal recessive hereditary illness among people of Northern European descent
While there have been efforts to treat the underlying cause of the disease with gene therapy, so far they have not delivered enough CFTR to the airway lining cells to help CF patients in clinical trials. In this issue of PLoS Biology, Raymond Pickles and colleagues report a new gene therapy approach that increases the delivery of CFTR to human ciliated airway epithelial (HAE) cells that are collected from patients and grown in the laboratory
To introduce CFTR into HAE cells, the researchers inserted the gene into human parainfluenza virus (PIV), which causes common colds and other respiratory infections
Summary
The lung disease cystic fibrosis (CF) has the dubious distinction of being the most common fatal recessive hereditary illness among people of Northern European descent. Cells lining the airways ward off infection by making thin, slippery mucus that traps pathogens and is moved out of the airways via cilia, so it can be coughed out of the lungs. While there have been efforts to treat the underlying cause of the disease with gene therapy, so far they have not delivered enough CFTR to the airway lining (or epithelial) cells to help CF patients in clinical trials.
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