MyoAAV: new gene-delivery vehicle improves targeting of muscle tissue in preclinical models

A new family of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) – termed MyoAAV – has been developed by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Harvard University (both MA, USA) that improves targeting of the muscle tissue, which could be safer and more effective for gene therapy in individuals with muscle diseases.    The study, which has been published in the journal Cell, used preclinical models of muscle diseases where the team described how they modified the outer protein shell of AAV (the capsid) to create MyoAAV. To achieve this, they used a method that they developed known as ‘Directed...