SGT in SCT: Suicide gene therapy in stem cell transplantation

• Research unit: EU RFP
• Project number: 00.0614

Key words (English)

Suicide gene therapy; stem cells; humanized herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase; ganciclovir; (N)-methanocarbathymidine;
Biotechnology; Environmental Protection; Innovation; Technology Transfer; Life Sciences; Medicine; Health; Waste Management

Alternative project number (English)

EU project number: QLK3-CT-2001-01265

Research programs (English)

EU-programme: 5. Frame Research Programme - 1.1.3 The 'cell factory'

Short description (English)

See abstract

Further information (English)

Full name of research-institution/enterprise:
ETH Zürich
Institut für Pharmazeut. Wissenschaften

Partners and International Organizations (English)

Coordinator: Fondazione Centro San Raffaele, Milano (I)

Abstract (English)

The outcome of allogeneic stem cell transplantation (allo-SCT), the treatment for haematological malignancies, is significantly limited by a severe and potentially life-threatening complication induced by donor lymphocytes, i.e. graft-vs-host disease (GvHD). The aim of this 3 year pre-competitive project is the development, pre-clinical evaluation and exploitation in the clinical setting of an innovative therapeutic strategy for the transfer into donor lymphocytes of a suicide gene-conferring sensitivity to a pro-drug thus allowing their subsequent selective in-vivo elimination and cure of GvHD.

New suicide and marker genes, viral vectors and protocols for cell manipulation will be developed and rapidly transferred to industrial partners to prepare the exploitation in the clinical setting. Finally, clinical protocols using this strategy will be developed with the final goal of offering safer and more effective allo-SCT to a larger number of patients.

References in databases (English)

Swiss Database: Euro-DB of the
State Secretariat for Education and Research
Hallwylstrasse 4
CH-3003 Berne, Switzerland
Tel. [phone]
Swiss Project-Number: 00.0614