title: Status of therapeutic gene transfer to treat cardiovascular disease in dogs and cats.
abstract: Gene therapy is a procedure resulting in the transfer of a gene(s) into an individual's cells to treat a disease, which is designed to produce a protein or functional RNA (the gene product). Although most current gene therapy clinical trials focus on cancer and inherited diseases, multiple studies have evaluated the efficacy of gene therapy to abrogate various forms of heart disease. Indeed, human clinical trials are currently underway. One goal of gene transfer may be to express a functional gene when the endogenous gene is inactive. Alternatively, complex diseases such as end stage heart failure are characterized by a number of abnormalities at the cellular level, many of which can be targeted using gene delivery to alter myocardial protein levels. This review will discuss issues related to gene vector systems, gene delivery strategies and two cardiovascular diseases in dogs successfully treated with therapeutic gene delivery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Studies, University of Pennsylvania Veterinary School, 3900 Delancey Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA. sleeper@vet.upenn.edu
authors.forename: Meg
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sleeper
authors.forename: Lawrence T
authors.initials: LT
authors.lastname: Bish
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Haskins
authors.forename: Katherine P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Ponder
authors.forename: H Lee
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: Sweeney
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy / Q000662:veterinary*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*; D002415:Cats; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000628:therapy*; D004285:Dogs; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques / Q000662:veterinary*; D015316:Genetic Therapy / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*