Room 204C (Washington DC Convention Center)
HSV Viral Vector Translational Approaches to Pain Relief
Improved, clinically relevant therapies are needed that reduce or eliminate difficult to treat pain states, without interference with CNS function or unwanted side effects. Gene therapeutic agents are under investigation for alleviating pain accompanying clinical conditions of visceral organs, trigeminal nerve damage, neuropathic pain and spinal cord injury. Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1) viral vector overexpression systems in which the virus will not replicate or infect the CNS are already in clinical use as anti-cancer therapy. When targeted directly at the pancreas, viral vectors offer advantages over systemic morphine in that over-expressed met-enkephalin will be appropriately provided to central and peripheral primary afferent nerve endings through the cell’s normal transport mechanisms blocking pain behaviors without development of tolerance (Westlund). Significant reparative properties are provided with apparent reduction in pancreatic inflammation and tissue damage. HSV-mediated gene transfer of vectors overproducing inhibitory agents, such as endomorphin-2 and GAD, to dorsal root ganglia are effective in reducing pain behaviors seen with neuropathic pain and spinal cord injury pain (Fink). Pretreatment with Nav1.8 shRNA HSV attenuates ganglion compression induced trigeminal allodynia (Yeomans). Thus, nociceptive sensitization induced by experimental models can be successfully eliminated with focused gene therapeutic approaches for HSV-1 viral vector overexpression.
Moderator:K. N. Westlund, PhD
Presenters:David Fink, MD
David C. Yeomans, PhD
 HSV Viral Vector Translational Approaches to Pain Relief

K.N. Westlund, PhD
 HSV Viral Vector Translational Approaches to Pain Relief-1
David Fink, MD
 Altering Pain by Genetic Manipulation of Ion Channels In Nociceptive Primary Afferents

David Yeomans, PhD

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