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Semin Liver Dis 1999; 19(1): 49-59
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-1007097
ORIGINAL ARTICLE

© 1999 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.

Adenovirus-mediated Gene Therapy of Liver Diseases

Yaron Ilan1 , Hidetsugu Saito2 , Narsing R. Thummala3 , Namita Roy Chowdhury3
  • 1Liver Unit, Division of Medicine, Hadassa University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel
  • 2Department of Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan
  • 3Departments of Medicine and Molecular Genetics, and Marion Bessin Liver Research Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York
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Publication History

Publication Date:
17 March 2008 (online)

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ABSTRACT

Recombinant adenoviruses can infect nondividing cells with high efficiency and are rapidly concentrated in the liver after systemic administration, making them attractive for use in liver-directed gene therapy. However, there are two hurdles to clinical application of these vectors. First, adenoviruses are episomal and have limited life spans within the cell. Second, host antiviral immune responses reduce the duration of vector persistence and preclude long-term transgene expression by repeated injection of the vector. Several strategies have been designed for abrogation of the specific antiadenoviral immune responses by modification of the host immune system or alteration of the vector. These strategies and the use of adenoviral vectors for the treatment of hereditary, infectious, and malignant diseases of the liver are discussed in this review.

KEY WORDS

adenoviral vectors - gene therapy - hereditary diseases - infectious diseases - hepatic malignancies