Gene therapy in wound healing: present status and future directions

• Published in: Gene therapy Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 1 - 10
• Main Authors: BRANSKI, L. K, PEREIRA, C. T, HERNDON, D. N, JESCHKE, M. G
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basingstoke Nature Publishing Group 01-01-2007
• Subjects: Anesthesia. Intensive care medicine. Transfusions. Cell therapy and gene therapy; Animals; Applied cell therapy and gene therapy; Biological and medical sciences; Biotechnology; Birth defects; Burns - metabolism; Burns - therapy; Care and treatment; Congenital diseases; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA - administration & dosage; Electroporation; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gene therapy; Genetic aspects; Genetic Therapy - methods; Genetic Therapy - trends; Genetic Vectors - administration & dosage; Health. Pharmaceutical industry; Humans; Industrial applications and implications. Economical aspects; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - genetics; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins - physiology; Liposomes - administration & dosage; Medical sciences; Methods; Physiological aspects; Skin; Skin - injuries; Skin - metabolism; Transfection - methods; Transfusions. Complications. Transfusion reactions. Cell and gene therapy; Viruses - genetics; Wound healing; Wound Healing - genetics; Wounds and Injuries - metabolism; Wounds and Injuries - therapy; United States; wound healing; gene transfer; growth factors; liposomes; Liposome; Gene therapy; Cicatrization; Wound; Growth factor; Genetic transfer
• ISSN: 0969-7128; 1476-5462
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.gt.3302837

Gene therapy was traditionally considered a treatment modality for patients with congenital defects of key metabolic functions or late-stage malignancies. The realization that gene therapy applications were much vaster has opened up endless opportunities for therapeutic genetic manipulations, especially in the skin and external wounds. Cutaneous wound healing is a complicated, multistep process with numerous mediators that act in a network of activation and inhibition processes. Gene delivery in this environment poses a particular challenge. Numerous models of gene delivery have been developed, including naked DNA application, viral transfection, high-pressure injection, liposomal delivery, and more. Of the various methods for gene transfer, cationic cholesterol-containing liposomal constructs are emerging as a method with great potential for non-viral gene transfer in the wound. This article aims to review the research on gene therapy in wound healing and possible future directions in this exciting field.