Gene therapy might keep arteries open
By Laura Sivitz
In their quest to unclog America’s arteries, cardiologists took a leap forward this month by showing they could deliver genes into arterial cells. This advance is one of a series that may boost the success rate of angioplasties, procedures that physically unblock coronary arteries.
The research builds on stents, tiny tubes of steel mesh permanently inserted after an angioplasty to hold a blood vessel open. Although stents help keep the arteries of many patients clear, in other cases, cells grow over the steel and reblock the artery. Scientists have known that certain genes can prevent excess arterial-cell growth, but they’ve been stumped when it comes to delivering enough of those genes to the right spot.