Patent protection is being sought for this invention. Adenovirus-Mediated Transfer of Genes to the Gastrointestinal Tract Adenovirus mediated transfer offers a new method for introducing therapeutic proteins into the gastrointestinal tract. Currently, therapeutic proteins cannot be administered via oral or rectal routes because they will generally be degraded or not absorbed and thus not able to reach the circulatory system in an intact form. Use of this replication-deficient adenovirus avoids this problem because it can be used to insert therapeutic genes directly into cells lining the gastrointestinal tract, from where the protein can be secreted into the system. Efficient entry into most or all cell types.
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Cooperative Research and Development Opportunity at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. This should lead to more rapid and clinically-relevant use of experimental animals in the initial in vivo screening of potentially therapeutic agents, thereby facilitating the ultimate development of new or improved treatments for human diseases of hepatobiliary and pancreatic tissues. In addition, LCAT transgenic rabbits have reduced plasma concentrations of the atherogenic LDL and apoB-containing lipoproteins. This lipoprotein phenotype characterized by elevated plasma HDL and reduced LDL levels leads to marked protection against the development of diet-induced atherosclerosis in LCAT transgenic rabbits compared to control animals. It is highly desirable that the collaborator have the resources to provide new, effective vectors for the long term in vivo expression of the LCAT gene.