Project description
Universal combination therapy for inherited retinal degenerations
Rod-cone dystrophies are inherited retinal diseases in which rod photoreceptor degeneration leads to complete blindness. Gene replacement therapy is successful in treating some inherited retinal degenerations only if the underlying mutation is known and recessive. All rod-cone dystrophies display a common phenotype of rod cell loss, followed by initial cone cell degeneration in the periphery and then in the fovea. Gene therapy, counteracting the symptoms of rod-cone dystrophy has the potential to be helpful in the highest number of affected patients. Funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the CombGeneTher project aims to develop a combination gene therapy to restore light sensitivity in mouse models of rod-cone dystrophies.
Objective
Rod-cone dystrophies are inherited retinal diseases whose clinical course begin with the degeneration of rod photoreceptors and evolve with the progressive loss of cones that, in turn, leads to complete blindness. These diseases affect 1:2500 individuals worldwide with many underlying gene defects. Although gene replacement therapy has been very successful in treating inherited retinal degenerations in the clinic, with one FDA approved product on the market and over 30 clinical trials, it is costly and time consuming to develop a gene replacement therapy for each mutation. Moreover, gene replacement can only be helpful if the underlying mutation is known and recessive.
Despite the genetic heterogeneity of these diseases as well as their inherent complexity, all rod-cone dystrophies converge on a common phenotype of rod cell loss, followed by cone cell degeneration first in the periphery and then in the fovea, leading to complete blindness. A gene therapy approach aiming to counteract the symptoms of rod-cone dystrophy rather than the individual genetic causes has the potential to be helpful in the highest number of affected patients.
In this action we propose to develop a combination gene therapy to restore light sensitivity in mouse models of rod-cone dystrophies. AAV-mediated expression of optogenetic channels in cone photoreceptors will restore light sensitivity and maintain downstream retinal circuitry processing. The optogenetic therapy will be combined with the AAV-mediated delivery of rod derived cone viability factor (RdCVF), a factor normally secreted by rods to promote cone survival, lost in rod-cone dystrophies; RdCVF expression in combination with optogenetic channel expression will promote survival of newly lightsensitive cones. Furthermore, this action proposes to deliver optogenetic channels and RdCVF to human retinal organoids, showing expression and photoreceptor activation in human tissue in vitro.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- medical and health sciences clinical medicine ophthalmology
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2021-PF-01
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75006 Paris
France
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