OBJECTIVE Vectors based on recombinant adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV-2) are a promising tool for cardiac gene transfer. However, potential therapeutic applications need to consider the predominant transduction of the liver once AAV-2 vectors enter the systemic circulation. We therefore aimed to increase efficiency and specificity of cardiac vector delivery by combining transcriptional and cell ...

Crucial to designing angiostatic and vascular targeting agents is the identification of target molecules. Because angiogenesis is not limited to pathologic conditions, careful evaluation of putative therapeutic targets is warranted to prevent adverse effects associated with impaired physiologic angiogenesis. To identify tumor-specific angiogenesis markers, we compared transcriptional profiles o...

Gene therapy is a promising strategy to treat various inherited and acquired diseases. However, targeting gene expression to specific tissue is required to minimize side effects of gene therapy. Hypoxia is present in the microenvironment of solid tumors such as breast tumors. A hypoxic tumor targeting gene expression system has been developed for cancer gene therapy. In hypoxic tissues, hypoxia...

EGF and its receptor EGFR serve as a paradigm for signaling in cell, molecular and tumor biology. EGFR inhibitors, drugs targeting the intracellular kinase activity and antibodies targeting the extracellular ligand binding, are used to treat breast, lung, colon and other cancers. Nominally affecting the same target, inhibitors have different effects, suggesting that use of inhibitor combination...

Flt-1, a receptor for vascular endothelial growth factor, is known to display dysregulated expression in both tumor vasculature and tumor cells per se, suggesting that the flt-1 promoter might be a useful candidate to achieve tumor-specific transgene expression. In addition, adenoviral vectors containing transgenes under the control of the flt-1 promoter achieve very low levels of expression in...