Cell: A new hot spot in gene therapy!

Researchers at Mount Sinai University report that gene therapy in mouse models shows promise to prevent vision loss or blindness caused by severe retinal damage (including optic nerve damage) and retinal diseases (including diabetic retinopathy and glaucoma)

The researchers focused on retinal ganglion cells, which process visual information by sending images to the brain

Dr.

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible visual impairment in the world, affecting 76 million people.

Researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital investigated whether CaMKII can play such a therapeutic role

The researchers used a gene therapy to introduce a more active CaMKII into primitive retinal ganglion cells to increase their activity, making this reactivation possible

"Our research shows that CaMKII can indeed be used as a valuable therapeutic target for saving retinal ganglion cells and protecting eyesight when treating potentially blinding diseases such as glaucoma," said Dr.

Mount Sinai has applied for a patent for this technology through the Mount Sinai Innovation Partnership (MSIP), which is the commercialization arm of the health system

(Biocom)