Publications by authors named "Dongchun Xie"

Mutations in the Rhodopsin (RHO) gene are the main cause of autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP), 84% of which are pathogenic gain-of-function point mutations. Treatment strategies for adRP typically involve silencing or ablating the pathogenic allele, while normal RHO protein replacement has no meaningful therapeutic benefit. Here, we present an adenine base editor (ABE)-mediated therapeutic approach for adRP caused by RHO point mutations in vivo.

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Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), particularly wet AMD characterised by choroidal neovascularization (CNV), is a leading cause of vision loss in the elderly. The hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)/VEGF receptor 2 (VEGFR2) pathway contributes to CNV pathogenesis. Previous gene editing research indicated that disrupting these genes in retinal pigment epithelial cells could have a preventive effect on CNV progression.

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The cytosine base editor (CBE) has shown promise as a gene editing tool for gene therapy, as it can convert cytidine to thymidine. Adeno-associated virus (AAV) has been widely used for gene therapy, but its limited 4.7 kb packing capacity presents challenges in delivering CBE by a single AAV.

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