A single epidermal stem cell strategy for safe ex vivo gene therapy

In conclusion, a clonal strategy is a powerful and efficient means of by‐passing the heterogeneity of a transduced stem cell population. It guarantees a safe and homogenous medicinal product, fulfilling the principle of precaution and the requirements of regulatory affairs. Furthermore, a clonal strategy makes it possible to envision exciting gene‐editing technologies like zinc finger nucleases, TALENs and homologous recombination for next‐generation gene therapy.

First time demonstration of a safe clonal strategy for ex vivo gene therapy before autologous transduced cells are transplanted into patients. Using recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) COL7A1 corrected epidermal cloned stem cells as proof of principle, this strategy proves promising for clinical applications.

Source: EMBO Molecular Medicine - February 1, 2015 Category: Molecular Biology Authors: Stéphanie Droz‐Georget Lathion, Ariane Rochat, Graham Knott, Alessandra Recchia, Danielle Martinet, Sara Benmohammed, Nicolas Grasset, Andrea Zaffalon, Nathalie Besuchet Schmutz, Emmanuelle Savioz‐Dayer, Jacques Samuel Beckmann, Jacques Rougemont, Fu Tags: Research Article Source Type: research