Intrathecal injection of HVJ‐E containing HGF gene to cerebrospinal fluid can prevent and ameliorate hearing impairment in rats

Abstract
SPECIFIC AIMNo satisfactory therapy for sensorineural hearing impairment is yet available because the auditory sensory epithelium (hair cell (HC)) and its associated neuron (spiral ganglion cell (SGC)) are hardly regenerated in mammalians. We developed a novel gene therapy strategy to prevent and ameliorate hearing impairment by administration of the hemagglutinating virus of Japan envelope (HVJ-E) vector containing hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) gene into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).PRINCIPAL FINDINGS1. Gene transfer into the inner ear region by intrathecal injection of HVJ-E vectorWe developed an effective gene delivery system to the inner ear with minimum invasiveness. We used an HVJ-E vector system, a novel nonviral vector with fusion activity derived from hemagglutinating virus of Japan (HVJ) (Sendai virus). To examine the efficiency, distribution, and safety of the HVJ-E vector, we injected HVJ-E containing marker genes lacZ gene and luciferase gene intrathecally into the CSF of rats via the ciste...
Funding Information
  • Ministry of Health