Nitric oxide synthase gene transfer as a tool to study biology of endothelial cells

During the past decade, the development of gene transfer technology provided a powerful and facile tool that afforded the genetic modification of vascular endothelial function. This development has coincided with molecular cloning and extensive accumulation of knowledge concerning the role of nitric oxide synthase isoforms in vascular homeostasis. Experimental evidence continues to accumulate that in vivo adenovirus- mediated gene transfer into the vessel wall is a very useful technique in studies designed to characterize function of a given gene or protein. In this review, we will use nitric oxide synthase gene transfer as a paradigm to illustrate how gene transfer technology can be used to address key issues in the vascular biology of endothelium.