Intracisternal AAV9-MAG- Vector Reverses Motor Deficits in Adult Adrenomyeloneuropathy Mice.

Worldwide, thousands of male patients who carry ATP Binding Cassette Subfamily D Member 1 () mutations develop adrenomyeloneuropathy (AMN) in mid-adulthood, a debilitating axonopathy of the spinal cord. Today AAV gene therapy brings the most hope for this orphan disease. We previously reported that an AAV9-MAG- vector injected intravenously in the neonatal period prevented the disease in 2-year-old mice, the AMN mouse model.

Oligodendrocytes, the Forgotten Target of Gene Therapy.

If the billions of oligodendrocytes (OLs) populating the central nervous system (CNS) of patients could express their feelings, they would undoubtedly tell gene therapists about their frustration with the other neural cell populations, neurons, microglia, or astrocytes, which have been the favorite targets of gene transfer experiments. This review questions why OLs have been left out of most gene therapy attempts. The first explanation is that the pathogenic role of OLs is still discussed in most CNS diseases.