Cardiovascular gene and cell therapy

Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in contemporary societies. Although progress in conventional treatment modalities is making steady and incremental gains to reduce this disease burden, there remains a need to explore new and potentially therapeutic approaches. Gene therapy, for example, was initially envisioned as a treatment strategy for inherited monogenic disorders. It is now apparent that gene therapy has broader potential that also includes acquired polygenic diseases, such as atherosclerosis and heart failure. Advances in the understanding of the molecular basis of conditions such as these, together with the evolution of increasingly efficient gene transfer technology, has placed some cardiovascular pathophysiolo-gies within reach of gene-based therapy.