CXCL-10-Guided Dual-Drug Nanocarriers for HAM/TSP: Combining CRISPR and Corticosteroids

Corticosteroids are predominantly known for being the conventional treatment of HAM/TSP, and although they bring various side effects such as osteoporosis and hyperglycemia, they’re still the first-line treatment for HAM patients. However, with the new therapeutic implications that CRISPR serves in HIV-1 models, this indicates a potential new direction of therapeutics for HAM/TSP, as HIV-1 and HTLV-1 are both retroviruses that infect CD4+ T cells and integrate into the host genome of cells. Currently, the extent of knowledge correlated to dual-drug nanocarrier administration of corticosteroids and CRISPR is confined to theoretical applications, testing reporter gene expressions after treatment. This study aims to validate the utilization of CXCL-10-guided dual-drug nanocarrier administration (combining corticosteroids and CRISPR) to suppress and neutralize HTLV-1 proviral DNA in the host genome of cells while minimizing off-target gene editing. In present models, CRISPR MSNs and small corticosteroid-like molecules are shown to have a prominent suppression of crucial neuroinflammatory cytokines expressed in HAM/TSP, furthering the utilization of dual-drug administration for HAM patients. Future studies may involve testing CXCL-10 in real-world applications to further observe the extent to which it can distinguish between HAM/TSP and other inflammatory diseases to minimize off-target gene editing upon nanocarrier administration of CRISPR and corticosteroids.