Grant: Operating Grant

Despite advances in medical and surgical therapies, patients with hardening of the blood vessels (atherosclerosis) in the heart and legs continue to suffer and die. For patients who fail to improve with usual treatments, novel treatments involving genes have been developed with the goal of improving blood flow to tissue that is suffering from reduced vessels and flow. More recently, studies have unveiled a new class of gene regulators called microRNAs (tiny gene fragments) that have powerful effects on many aspects of heart and vascular disease, including the formation of new vessels. We have developed novel techniques using ultrasound and tiny bubbles that can be used to deliver genes to blood vessels, without the use of direct injections. We have now taken this technique to deliver microRNAs that can promote vessel growth, and work with other gene therapies to grow new blood vessels to tissue. This present research, if successful, will lead to a non-invasive method of delivering novel gene treatments to promote new vessel formation and improve symptoms and function in patients with severe blockages in the blood vessels supplying the heart and legs.