Research advances in gene therapy for Parkinson's disease

During the long period of time when people have been seeking for an effective therapeutic method for PD, the gene therapy has shown greater and greater advantages over other methods. It can be performed mainly in two ways: ex vivo and in vivo. With the former, TH gene as well as some neurotrophic factor genes (such as GDNF, BNDF genes) can be invited to some cell lines or primary cells thus forming engineered cells and then implanting them into brain. While with the latter, viral vectors including HSV-1, Ad, AAV that can be utilized to construct recombinant viruses, or non-virus vectors can be used to delived DNA into brain directly. The present review summarizes the recent research advances in the gene therapy for PD, and it is reasonable for us to predict a notable progress in prevention and treatment for PD in the next decade.