Gene transfer to the vasculature historical perspective and implications for future research objectives

Since the first demonstration of gene transfer to vascular tissue in 1990 (1), the field of gene therapy has grown at an astonishing pace. This is due to the lack of an effective and safe pharmacological treatment for certain vascular diseases and the availability of different gene transfer vehicles to the researcher. Gene transfer offers the opportunity to study the effects of gene replacement, gene overexpression, or gene knockout on the phenotype of vascular cells in culture and in vivo. In terms of gene therapy, while much research has focused on identification of candidate therapeutic genes and optimization of delivery techniques, many obstacles remain before routine gene therapy will be available in clinical situations for treatment of diverse vascular pathologies. These situations include: