Genetic treatment of a molecular disorder: gene therapy approaches to sickle cell disease.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Hoban MD
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4760089 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited blood condition resulting from abnormal hemoglobin production. It is one of the most common genetic diseases in the world. The clinical manifestations are variable and range from recurrent acute and debilitating painful crises to life-threatening pulmonary, cardiovascular, renal, and neurologic complications. The only curative treatment of SCD at this time is bone marrow transplantation (also called hematopoietic stem cell transplantation) using healthy blood stem cells from an unaffected brother or sister or from an unrelated donor if one can be identified who is a match in tissue typing. Unfortunately, only a minority of patients with sickle cell has such a donor available. The use of autologous hematopoietic stem cells and alternative types of genetic modifications is currently under study in clinical research trials for this disease. The approaches include the use of viral vectors to express globin genes that are modified to prevent sickle hemoglobin polymerization or to express interfering RNAs to "flip the switch" in adult red cells from adult β-sickle hemoglobin to fetal hemoglobin using a physiologic switch, and several gene editing approaches with the goal of inducing fetal hemoglobin or correcting/modifying the actual sickle mutation. In this audio review, we will discuss these different approaches and review the current progress of curative therapy for SCD using gene therapy.
| S-EPMC9153042 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Sickle cell disease (SCD) is one of the most common life-threatening monogenic diseases affecting millions of people worldwide. Allogenic hematopietic stem cell transplantation is the only known cure for the disease with high success rates, but the limited availability of matched sibling donors and the high risk of transplantation-related side effects force the scientific community to envision additional therapies. Ex vivo gene therapy through globin gene addition has been investigated extensively and is currently being tested in clinical trials that have begun reporting encouraging data. Recent improvements in our understanding of the molecular pathways controlling mammalian erythropoiesis and globin switching offer new and exciting therapeutic options. Rapid and substantial advances in genome engineering tools, particularly CRISPR/Cas9, have raised the possibility of genetic correction in induced pluripotent stem cells as well as patient-derived hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. However, these techniques are still in their infancy, and safety/efficacy issues remain that must be addressed before translating these promising techniques into clinical practice.
| S-EPMC6123269 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Lysosomal storage diseases are a group of rare inborn errors of metabolism resulting from deficiency in normal lysosomal function. These diseases are characterized by progressive accumulation of storage material within the lysosomes of affected cells, ultimately leading to cellular dysfunction. Multiple tissues ranging from musculoskeletal and visceral to tissues of the central nervous system are typically involved in disease pathology. Since the advent of enzyme replacement therapy (ERT) to manage some LSDs, general clinical outcomes have significantly improved; however, treatment with infused protein is lifelong and continued disease progression is still evident in patients. Viral gene therapy may provide a viable alternative or adjunctive therapy to current management strategies for LSDs. In this review, we discuss the various viral vector systems that have been developed and some of the strategy designs for the treatment of LSDs.
| S-EPMC3413894 | biostudies-literature
Project description:We developed a mathematical model for autologous stem cell therapy to cure sickle cell disease (SCD). Experimental therapies using this approach seek to engraft stem cells containing a curative gene. These stem cells are expected to produce a lifelong supply of red blood cells (RBCs) containing an anti-sickling hemoglobin. This complex, multistep treatment is expensive, and there is limited patient data available from early clinical trials. Our objective was to quantify the impact of treatment parameters, such as initial stem cell dose, efficiency of lentiviral transduction, and degree of bone marrow preconditioning on engraftment efficiency, peripheral RBC numbers, and anti-sickling hemoglobin levels over time. We used ordinary differential equations to model RBC production from progenitor cells in the bone marrow, and hemoglobin assembly from its constituent globin monomers. The model recapitulates observed RBC and hemoglobin levels in healthy and SCD phenotypes. Treatment simulations predict dynamics of stem cell engraftment and RBC containing the therapeutic gene product. Post-treatment dynamics show an early phase of reconstitution due to short lived stem cells, followed by a sustained RBC production from stable engraftment of long-term stem cells. This biphasic behavior was previously reported in the literature. Sensitivity analysis of the model quantified relationships between treatment parameters and efficacy. The initial dose of transduced stem cells, and the intensity of myeloablative bone marrow preconditioning are predicted to most positively impact long-term outcomes. The quantitative systems pharmacology approach used here demonstrates the value of model-assisted therapeutic design for gene therapies in SCD.
| S-EPMC8302248 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Survival for patients with SCD has been prolonged by improvements in supportive care, including vaccinations, antibiotic prophylaxis, and overall medical management, including tra nsfusion. However, there remains only one approved, partially effective drug for sickle cell disease-hydroxyurea (hydroxycarbamide). The world desperately needs better ways of both treating and preventing the recurrent painful vaso-occlusive episodes pathognomonic of sickle cell disease as well as the end-organ damage that still leads inexorably to severely shortened life expectancies throughout the world. Based on accumulating knowledge about how the abnormal red blood cells of sickle cell disease cause the double scourge of acute painful episodes and progressive end-organ damage, both pharmaceutical enterprises and individual investigators are now pursuing multiple new avenues for treating sickle cell disease. As a result, many compounds are in active development, both in preclinical models as well as in phase I, II, and III clinical trials. These agents target many pathophysiologic processes thought to be critical in sickle cell disease, including the chemical and physical behavior of haemoglobin S, cell adhesion, coagulation pathways, platelet activation, inflammatory pathways, and upregulation of haemoglobin F expression. In addition, recent explorations of the genetic variations that predispose to certain types of sickle cell disease-related tissue injury, such as stroke or nephropathy, are expected to lead to identification of drugs targeting the pathways uncovered by such work. Thus, the next five to ten years holds a promise of new treatments for sickle cell disease.
| S-EPMC5418585 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a monogenic red cell disorder affecting more than 300 000 annual births worldwide and leading to significant organ toxicity and premature mortality. Although chronic therapies such as hydroxyurea have improved outcomes, more durable therapeutic and curative options are still being investigated. Newer understanding of the disease has implicated invariant natural killer T cells as a critical immune profile that potentiates SCD. Hence, targeting this cell population may offer a new approach to disease management. Hematopoietic stem cell transplant is a curative option for patients with SCD, but the under-representation of minorities on the unrelated donor registry means that this is not a feasible option for more than 75% of patients. Work in this area has therefore focused on increasing the donor pool and decreasing transplant-related toxicities to make this a treatment option for the majority of patients with SCD. This review focuses on the currently available cell and gene therapies for patients with SCD and acknowledges that newer gene-editing approaches to improve gene therapy efficiency and safety are the next wave of potentially curative approaches.
| S-EPMC5067194 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Sickle cell anemia is associated with unusual clinical heterogeneity for a Mendelian disorder. Fetal hemoglobin concentration and coincident α thalassemia, both which directly affect the sickle erythrocyte, are the major modulators of the phenotype of disease. Understanding the genetics underlying the heritable subphenotypes of sickle cell anemia would be prognostically useful, could inform personalized therapeutics, and might help the discovery of new "druggable" pathophysiologic targets. Genotype-phenotype association studies have been used to identify novel genetic modifiers. In the future, whole genome sequencing with its promise of discovering hitherto unsuspected variants could add to our understanding of the genetic modifiers of this disease.
| S-EPMC4562292 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background:Sickle cell disease causes significant morbidity and mortality and affects the economic and healthcare status of many countries. Yet historically, the disease has not had commensurate outlays of funds that have been aimed at research and development of drugs and treatment procedures for other diseases. Methods:This review examines several treatment modalities and new drugs developed since the late 1990s that have been used to improve outcomes for patients with sickle cell disease. Results:Targeted therapies based upon the pathophysiologic mechanisms of sickle cell disease that result in organ dysfunction and painful episodes include hydroxyurea, L-glutamine, crizanlizumab, and other drugs that are currently on the market or are on the verge of becoming available. These agents have the potential to improve survival and quality of life for individuals with sickle cell disease. Also discussed is stem cell transplantation that, to date, is the only curative approach for this disease, as well as the current status of gene therapy. Conclusion:These examples demonstrate how the current knowledge of sickle cell disease pathophysiology and treatment approaches intersect. Although interest in sickle cell research has blossomed, many more clinical trials need to be initiated and subjected to more strenuous examination and analysis than have been used in the past.
| S-EPMC6292457 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a group of inherited genetic conditions associated with lifelong complications and increased healthcare resource utilization. Standard treatment for SCD in the US varies based on stage of the disease and observed clinical severity. In this study, we aim to evaluate the potential cost-effectiveness of a durable cell or gene therapy cure for sickle cell disease from the US healthcare sector perspective. We developed a lifetime Markov model to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of a hypothetical single-administration durable treatment (DT) for SCD provided at birth, relative to standard of care (SOC). We informed model inputs including direct healthcare costs, health state utility weights, transition probabilities, and mortality rates using a retrospective database analysis of commercially insured individuals and the medical literature. Our primary outcome of interest was the incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) of DT versus SOC evaluated at a base case willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $150,000 per quality-adjusted life year (QALY). We tested the robustness of our base case findings through scenario, deterministic sensitivity (DSA), and probabilistic sensitivity analyses (PSA). In the base case analysis, treatment with DT was cost-effective with an ICER of $140,877/QALY relative to SOC for a hypothetical cohort involving 47% females. Both males (ICER of $135,574/QALY) and females (ICER of $146,511/QALY) were similarly cost-effective to treat. In univariate DSA the base case ICER was most sensitive to the costs of treating males, DT treatment cost, and the discount rate. In PSA, DT was cost-effective in 32.7%, 66.0%, and 92.6% of 10,000 simulations at WTP values of $100,000, $150,000, and $200,000 per QALY, respectively. A scenario analysis showed cost-effectiveness of DT is highly contingent on assumed lifetime durability of the cure. A hypothetical cell or gene therapy cure for SCD is likely to be cost-effective from the US healthcare sector perspective. Large upfront costs of a single administration cure are offset by significant downstream gains in health for patients treated early in life. We find cost-effectiveness outcomes do not vary substantially by gender; however, several model parameters including assumed durability and upfront cost of DT are likely to influence cost-effectiveness findings.
| S-EPMC8149675 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Objective. To review issues related to asthma in sickle cell disease and management strategies. Data Source. A systematic review of pertinent original research publications, reviews, and editorials was undertaken using MEDLlNE, the Cochrane Library databases, and CINAHL from 1947 to November 2010. Search terms were [asthma] and [sickle cell disease]. Additional publications considered relevant to the sickle cell disease population of patients were identified; search terms included [sickle cell disease] combined with [acetaminophen], [pain medications], [vitamin D], [beta agonists], [exhaled nitric oxide], and [corticosteroids]. Results. The reported prevalence of asthma in children with sickle cell disease varies from 2% to approximately 50%. Having asthma increases the risk for developing acute chest syndrome , death, or painful episodes compared to having sickle cell disease without asthma. Asthma and sickle cell may be linked by impaired nitric oxide regulation, excessive production of leukotrienes, insufficient levels of Vitamin D, and exposure to acetaminophen in early life. Treatment of sickle cell patients includes using commonly prescribed asthma medications; specific considerations are suggested to ensure safety in the sickle cell population. Conclusion. Prospective controlled trials of drug treatment for asthma in patients who have both sickle cell disease and asthma are urgently needed.
| S-EPMC3065846 | biostudies-other