Gene therapy in color vision deficiency: a review

Background Color vision deficiencies are a group of vision disorders, characterized by abnormal color discrimination. They include red-green color blindness, yellow-blue color blindness and achromatopsia, among others. The deficiencies are caused by mutations in the genes coding for various componen...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:International ophthalmology 2021-05, Vol.41 (5), p.1917-1927
Main Authors: El Moussawi, Zeinab, Boueiri, Marguerita, Al-Haddad, Christiane
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Blindness
Clinical trials
Color blindness
Color vision
Cones
Electroretinograms
Expression vectors
Gene therapy
Genes
Literature reviews
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mutation
Ophthalmology
Review
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Summary:Background Color vision deficiencies are a group of vision disorders, characterized by abnormal color discrimination. They include red-green color blindness, yellow-blue color blindness and achromatopsia, among others. The deficiencies are caused by mutations in the genes coding for various components of retinal cones. Gene therapy is rising as a promising therapeutic modality. The purpose of this review article is to explore the available literature on gene therapy in the different forms of color vision deficiencies. Methods A thorough literature review was performed on PubMed using the keywords: color vision deficiencies, gene therapy, achromatopsia and the various genes responsible for this condition ( OPN1LW , OPN1MW , ATF6, CNGA3, CNGB3, GNAT2, PDE6H , and PDE6C ). Results Various adenovirus vectors have been deployed to test the efficacy of gene therapy for achromatopsia in animals and humans. Gene therapy trials in humans and animals targeting mutations in CNGA3 have been performed, demonstrating an improvement in electroretinogram (ERG)-investigated cone cell functionality. Similar outcomes have been reported for experimental studies on other genes ( CNGB3, GNAT2 , M- and L-opsin ). It has also been reported that delivering the genes via intravitreal rather than subretinal injections could be safer. There are currently 3 ongoing human clinical trials for the treatment of achromatopsia due to mutations in CNGB3 and CNGA3 . Conclusion Experimental studies and clinical trials generally showed improvement in ERG-investigated cone cell functionality and visually elicited behavior. Gene therapy is a promising novel therapeutic modality in color vision deficiencies.
ISSN:0165-5701
1573-2630
DOI:10.1007/s10792-021-01717-0