Chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is caused by repeated trauma to the central nervous system. CTE is known to be suffered by soldiers, athletes, and accident-related trauma patients. Researcher Ronald Crystal, and his colleagues from Weill Cornell Medical College, have published a study in the journal Human Gene Therapy that looks at the efficacy of gene therapy as a treatment for CTE.
Researchers developed an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector to deliver an anti-pTau antibody to the central nervous system. The team demonstrated that the delivery of AAVrh 10anti-ptau directly into the hippocampus of mice with induced brain-injury was associated with a significant reduction of ptau levels.