TRANSFER AND EXPRESSION OF RECOMBINANT NITRIC-OXIDE SYNTHASE GENES INTHE CARDIOVASCULAR-SYSTEM

Gene therapy involves the transfer of a functional gene into host cell s to correct the malfunction of a specific gene or to alleviate the sy mptoms of a disease. For gene transfer to the cardiovascular system, a denoviral vectors are the most efficient means of transfer. Recently, transfer and functional expression of recombinant nitric oxide synthas e (NOS) genes to cerebral and cardiovascular beds have been demonstrat ed both ex vivo and in vivo. Here, Alex Chen and colleagues review cur rent progress in the field of vascular NOS gene transfer and the poten tial use of NOS gene therapy for a number of cardiovascular diseases. Although the feasibility of the NOS gene transfer approach has been de monstrated in animal models, currently available vectors have a number of technical and safety limitations that have to be solved before hum an NOS gene therapy for cardiovascular disease can be attempted.