SCIREGENASENSE · TARGETED DELIVERY OF NEW ANTISENSE MOLECULES FOR REGENERATION ENHANCEMENT AFTER SPINAL CORD INJURY

Spinal cord injury (SCI) leads to severe physical and psychological damages. Classical pharmacotherapeutics have had limited success to treat this clinical condition and full recovery remains unachievable. With the understanding of the molecular pathology involved in neuronal injury and regeneration, new molecular targets are now under investigation. Our aim is to develop an antisense gene therapy approach mediated by single-stranded antisense oligonucleotides (ssAONs), targeted against inhibitors of axonal regeneration, in conjugation with a specific delivery platform for affected neuronal cells. The innovation of our strategy is two-fold: (1) it relies on the use and new developments of modified antisense oligonucleotides (LNA based 3rd generation ssAONs) with virtually no associated toxicity and an improved capacity to simultaneously down-regulate several genes involved in the inhibition of axonal regeneration after SCI