University of Michigan Medical Center other research news

Research on pigs presented in Science suggests that gene therapy may prevent the reclosing of heart arteries treated by angioplasty in people.

An adenovirus vector was used to deliver the gene for thymidine kinase to cells of pig leg arteries after treatment with a balloon catheter. The gene transduced pig vascular smooth muscle cells, rendering them susceptible to the killing action of the antiviral drug ganciclovir, a nucleoside analog that inserts into DNA when phosphorylated by the enzyme. ...