Abstract
Cardiovascular disease is the greatest contributor to illness and death in the populations of the industrialized nations, exceeding in annual mortality that of all other diseases combined (Mangano, 1990). Although hypertension is the most prevalent form of cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease (CAD) causes the highest morbidity and mortality. While progress has been made in understanding the events that lead to cardiovascular disease, the prognosis following the onset of congestive heart failure remains poor, despite the intervention of modern poly-pharmacology (Dzau et al., 1991; Packer, 1993). As an alternative to conventional treatments for heart disease, gene therapies that target the vasculature and the myocardium may lead to novel and effective treatments that are long-lasting and require minimal surgical intervention. The implementation of gene therapy for cardiovascular disease will depend on the development of efficient gene transfer vehicles, appropriate cellular targeting technology, and the identification of genes that will express the requisite therapeutic proteins in a regulated manner.