A perspective of gene therapy in the glaucomas

Gene therapy in the anterior and posterior segment tissues may have the pot ential to favorably influence aqueous hydrodynamics and retinal ganglion ce ll biology, thereby preventing, delaying, or minimizing glaucomatous damage to the optic nerve. We demonstrated the feasibility of using a herpes vira l vector (ribonucleotide reductase defective HSV-1, hrR3) to deliver the la cZ reporter gene to living cat and rat eyes. Cats received injections into the anterior chamber and rats into the vitreous cavity In cats, lacZ expres sion was detectable at 1 to 2 days in the anterior outer portion of the cil iary muscle and the lining of the intertrabecular spaces of the corneoscler al and uveal meshwork. Rat eyes showed lacZ expression in the retinal pigme nt epithelium and photoreceptor outer segments 2 days after injection. (C) 1999 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.