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Immunotherapy of Uveitis: is Gene Therapy in our Future?

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Uveitis and Immunological Disorders

Part of the book series: Essentials in Ophthalmology ((ESSENTIALS))

13.5 Conclusions

Gene therapy is a very attractive therapeutic option, as it carries the promise of more or less permanently curing a clinical condition. As our understanding of the critical checkpoints in the pathogenesis of autoimmune ocular disease improves, more and more potential intervention points and candidate therapeutic targets are identified. New technologies emerge, promising more specific and more easily applied therapies. Nevertheless, serious concerns about vector development and delivery methods remain to be addressed, including such issues as vector immunogenicity, method of administration, effi- ciency of transduction, duration of gene expression as well as the ability to turn expression off when deemed necessary. None of the therapy paradigms offers a perfect solution. In the case of antigen-specific therapies, arguably the most desirable approach, choice of antigen(s) is a central issue, as in many cases the participating antigen is uncertain and multiple specificities may be involved. Not to be ignored is also the potential for eliciting unwanted immune responses by the introduction of an autoantigen into an already primed host. Paradigms targeting common lymphocyte activation functions have the potential of inhibiting desired immune responses as well, whereas strictly local therapies, while having the potential for the fewest side effects, leave the underlying autoimmune process unaffected.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Immunology, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD, 20892, USA

    Rachel R. Caspi PhD

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  1. Rachel R. Caspi PhD
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Augenklinik, Charité, Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Campus Virchow Klinikum Augustenburger Platz 1, 13353, Berlin, Germany

    Uwe Pleyer MD (Professor of Ophthalmology) (Professor of Ophthalmology)

  2. Massachusetts Eye Research and Surgery Institute, 5 Cambridge Center, 8th Floor, Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA

    C. Stephen Foster MD (Professor of Ophthalmology) (Professor of Ophthalmology)

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Caspi, R.R. (2007). Immunotherapy of Uveitis: is Gene Therapy in our Future?. In: Pleyer, U., Foster, C.S. (eds) Uveitis and Immunological Disorders. Essentials in Ophthalmology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg . https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-30798-3_13

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-30798-3_13

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