We have produced transgenic mice using a vector that allows these molecules to be expressed only in the cardiac muscle. Vectors are the vehicles used to deliver genes into cells. Sato's group uses a transgenic approach to express genes in living mice to test the activities of angiopoietins and other factors for inducing new blood-vessel formation in the heart. Discovery of effective vectors has been a major roadblock in the attempt to turn genes on and off, to deliver the gene into target areas of the cell and to keep them active long enough to have the desired impact on a disease. The work that Dr. Robert Meidell, associate professor of internal medicine and director of the Coronary Care Unit at Parkland Memorial Hospital, has done using adenoviruses as vectors has shown promise, but some basic questions are still unanswered.
Adenoviruses cause the mild, upper respiratory infection of a cold.
Next the adenovirus, with its payload of genetic material, is delivered to the appropriate cell. Adenoviruses and similar molecules are used because they can successfully broach the barrier of the cellular wall and integrate with molecular pathways. One problem with this method is that even if the virus doesn't cause another illness, the body's immune system may recognize it as an invader. But Sato believes he is closing in on some of the answers with a procedure he has invented to identify the genes in coronary vessels. We can sort them from other cells and purify them from any tissue.