title: Gene therapy in soft tissue reconstruction.
abstract: Gene therapy is defined as the introduction of a therapeutic gene into a cell, whose expression can lead to a cure of a disease or offer a transient advantage for tissue growth and regeneration. The delivery of genes can be undertaken for a number of purposes, usually it is attempted to enhance or add a function to a cell or a tissue or to delete or reduce another function. In this brief overview we describe various vehicles and techniques that have been developed to deliver therapeutic genes into cells, such as viral vectors and physical/chemical gene delivery methods including naked DNA and particle-mediated gene transfer, the microseeding technique and the application of lipids. Furthermore we review the potential utility of gene therapy from the perspective of a reconstructive surgeon. Several tissues will be discussed, particularly muscle, tendon, nerve, bone, skin and wounds.
authors.affiliation: Division of Plastic Surgery, Harvard Medical School, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Mass 02115, USA.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Hoeller
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Petrie
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.forename: Elof
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Eriksson
mesh_terms: D018929:Cell Culture Techniques / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000639:trends; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D005822:Genetic Vectors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries / Q000628:therapy*; D016378:Tissue Transplantation / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends; D014162:Transfection / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000235:genetics*