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Long-term control of neuropathic pain in a non-viral gene therapy paradigm

Gene Therapy volume 16, pages 470–475 (2009)Cite this article

Abstract

Traditional approaches to treating chronic neuropathic pain largely focus on manipulations directly altering neuronal activity or neuron-to-neuron communication. Recently, however, it has become clear that glial cells (including microglia and astroglia) play a significant role in pain expression in a variety of neuropathic pain models. Multiple aspects of the inflammatory response of glial cells, commonly observed in neuropathic pain conditions, have been implicated in pain expression. Thus, glial cell inflammation has emerged as a potential therapeutic target in neuropathic pain. Our laboratory has been exploring the use of an anti-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-10 (IL-10), to control glial inflammatory activation thereby controlling neuropathic pain. IL-10 protein delivery is limited by a short half-life and an inability to cross into the central nervous system from the periphery, making a centrally delivered gene therapy approach attractive. We have recently characterized a non-viral gene therapy approach using two injections of naked DNA to achieve long-term (>3 months) control of neuropathic pain in a peripheral nerve injury model. Timing and dose requirements leading to long-term pain control are discussed in this review, as is recent work using microparticle-encapsulated DNA to achieve long-term therapeutic efficacy with a single injection.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support to the study was provided by NIH Grants DA018156, DA024044, DA015642, DA015656 and Avigen.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology and Center for Neuroscience, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    E M Sloane, S F Maier & L R Watkins

  2. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    R G Soderquist & M J Mahoney

  3. Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Albuquerque, NM, USA

    E D Milligan

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  1. E M Sloane
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  2. R G Soderquist
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  4. M J Mahoney
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  6. E D Milligan
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Correspondence to E D Milligan.

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This work was conducted at the University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA.

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Sloane, E., Soderquist, R., Maier, S. et al. Long-term control of neuropathic pain in a non-viral gene therapy paradigm. Gene Ther 16, 470–475 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/gt.2009.21

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