I cut out the 'thick, sticky mucus' crap that we've all heard 100 times <img src="">
"Consortium members Drs Hyde and Gill, based at Oxford University, have developed a new version of the plasmid carrying the healthy CF gene. Previous research using an earlier version of the plasmid produced a mild flu-like effect in recipients. The team worked out this was probably due to the plasmids containing markers, known as CpG motifs which the body recognises as 'danger signals' triggering an inflammatory response in the lung. Drs Hyde and Gill have now removed all of the CpG motifs that cause this reaction. It is believed that this will lead to more of the healthy gene working in the lungs of people with Cystic Fibrosis and thus give greater therapeutic benefit.
Dr Gill said: "The new plasmid carrying the healthy CF gene is entirely free of CpGs, which we hope will reduce side-effects and improve the performance of the plasmid in the lung. Now we want to test the new plasmid in the clinic as part of the CF Gene Therapy Consortium's clinical programme commencing in 2008."
The research paper, entitled CpG-Free Plasmids Confer Reduced Inflammation and Sustained Pulmonary Gene Expression, will be published by Nature Biotechnology online at 6pm on 27 April. Go to <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.nature.com/nbt">http://www.nature.com/nbt</a>
The Cystic Fibrosis Trust is the main funder of the UK CF Gene Therapy Consortium."
medicalnewstoday had the article.
"Consortium members Drs Hyde and Gill, based at Oxford University, have developed a new version of the plasmid carrying the healthy CF gene. Previous research using an earlier version of the plasmid produced a mild flu-like effect in recipients. The team worked out this was probably due to the plasmids containing markers, known as CpG motifs which the body recognises as 'danger signals' triggering an inflammatory response in the lung. Drs Hyde and Gill have now removed all of the CpG motifs that cause this reaction. It is believed that this will lead to more of the healthy gene working in the lungs of people with Cystic Fibrosis and thus give greater therapeutic benefit.
Dr Gill said: "The new plasmid carrying the healthy CF gene is entirely free of CpGs, which we hope will reduce side-effects and improve the performance of the plasmid in the lung. Now we want to test the new plasmid in the clinic as part of the CF Gene Therapy Consortium's clinical programme commencing in 2008."
The research paper, entitled CpG-Free Plasmids Confer Reduced Inflammation and Sustained Pulmonary Gene Expression, will be published by Nature Biotechnology online at 6pm on 27 April. Go to <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://www.nature.com/nbt">http://www.nature.com/nbt</a>
The Cystic Fibrosis Trust is the main funder of the UK CF Gene Therapy Consortium."
medicalnewstoday had the article.