The vascular endothelial cell as a vehicle for gene therapy

Increasing knowledge that has accumulated during the past decade reveals that the endothelial cell plays a far larger role than that traditionally assigned to it, namely maintenance of the fluid state of the blood. Unraveling the complex interreactions of the endothelial cell with the other cellular and molecular components of the arterial wall, as well as with the blood and its cellular and particulate components, is leading to better understanding of anastomotic hyperplasia and recurrent stenosis after endarterectomy and balloon angioplasty. More recently with the newly acquired techniques of inserting genetic material into the vascular endothelial cell many new therapeutic possibilities may be developed. Important to the technique of seeding vascular grafts, and the possible use of the genetically modified endothelial cell for gene therapy systems, are the needs to identify the origin of the cell originally seeded and ways to increase their number. Retroviral vectors and genetically conferred antibiotic resistance provide these means.