Vascular gene transfer unveils new therapy options against coronary heart disease: Proteins like IL-1ra, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) can be overexpressed, and genetic defects can be corrected. In this thesis, two gene constructs, namely p-IRES-IL-1ra and p-Track-IL-1ra, were compared concerning their functionality. The bicistronic gene construct p-IRES-IL-1ra did not alter the expression of IL-1ra and GFP. Transfection with p-Track-IL-1ra, however, induced a significant increase of IL-1ra- and GFP-expression. IL-1ra inhibited the production of cytokines (shown by means of IL-6 expression). In future, local application of IL-1ra could be used to enhance the IL-1-ra-concentration in traumatized vessels. Moreover, our experiments with pigs found evidence for an up-take of transfected cells in the vessel wall. Further experiments with vascular gene transfer in man are needed.
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Vascular gene transfer unveils new therapy options against coronary heart disease: Proteins like IL-1ra, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) can be overexpressed, and genetic defects can be corrected. In this thesis, two gene constructs, namely p-IRES-IL-1ra and p-Track-IL-1ra, were compared concerning their functionality. The bicistronic gene construct p-IRES-IL-1ra did not alter the expression of IL-1ra and GFP. Transfection with p-Track-IL-1ra, however...
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