Abstract

Biological therapies using antibodies and cytokines are becoming widespread for the treatment of chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases. However, these treatments have several limitations — such as expense, the need for repeated injections and unwanted side-effects — that can be overcome by genetic delivery. This review summarizes the ingenuity, sophistication and variety of gene-therapy approaches that have been taken in the design of therapeutic molecules and vectors, the engineering of cells and the regulation of gene expression for the targeting of disease outcome. We focus our attention on multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.

Author affiliations

1. Bone and Joint Research Unit, William Harvey Research Institute, Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of London, Charterhouse Square, London EC1M 6BQ, UK.
2. Institute Leloir, CONICET, Faculty of Exact and Natural Sciences, University of Buenos Aires, Patricias Argentinas 435, C1405 Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Correspondence to: Yuti Chernajovsky¹ Email: y.chernajovsky@qmul.ac.uk

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