Adenovirus-mediated nitric oxide synthase gene transfer.

The varied biological effects of nitric oxide (NO) have led to intense research into its diverse physiologic and pathophysiologic roles in multiple disease processes. It has been implicated in the development of altered vasomotor tone, intimal hyperplasia, atherosclerosis, impotence, host defense, and wound healing. Using the modern technologies of recombinant DNA and gene transfer using adenoviral vectors, the effects of NO derived from various NO synthase (NOS) enzymes can be studied in a variety of tissues and the therapeutic applications of NOS is possible. Such uses of NOS gene transfer have been investigated extensively in the vasculature where NO is critical to regulating vascular homeostasis. NOS gene therapy has the theoretical advantage of allowing NO delivery to be localized, thereby limiting potential adverse effects of NO. The benefits of adenoviral vectors in gene transfer include relatively high transduction efficiencies, both replicating and nonreplicating cells may be infected, and the high titers of adenovirus that can be produced. The methods described in this chapter include the cloning of the iNOS cDNA into a recombinant adenoviral vector, large-scale production of that vector AdiNOS preparation, and the use of the vector to transduce tissue in vitro and in vivo.