| Research Abstract |
Balloon angioplasty has a potent role for vascular stenosis due to atherosclerosis, especially in coronary and carotid arteries. However, re-stenosis after this treatment occurred at the rate of 30 to 50 % and there is no effective treatment to this pathogenesis. To overcome this pathogenesis, we constructed cell-specific, replication-competent herpes simplex virus (HSV) vector, d12.CALP. In this vector, immediate early gene, ICP4 is regulated under control of smooth muscle cell-specific protein, calponin, promoter. Homologous recombination was done at the locus of viral thymidine kinase, therefore d12.CALP. showed dividing calponin-expressing cell, such as leiomyosarcoma-specific replication. (Cancer Res. 61:3969-3977, 2001) We will apply this virus for the treatment of arterial stenosis due to atherosclerosis and vascular and organ transplantation.
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