Women and heart disease — Physiologic regulation of gene delivery and expression: Bioreducible polymers and ischemia-inducible gene therapies for the treatment of ischemic heart disease

Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States today. This year over 750,000 women will have a new or recurrent myocardial infarction. Currently, the mainstay of therapy for IHD is revascularization. Increasing evidence, however, suggests that revascularization alone is insufficient for the longer-term management of many patients with IHD. To address these issues, innovative therapies that extend beyond revascularization to protection of the myocyte and preservation of ventricular function are required. The emergence of gene therapy and proteomics offers the potential for innovative prophylactic and treatment strategies for IHD. The goal of our research is to develop therapeutic gene constructs for the treatment of myocardial ischemia that are clinically safe and effective. Toward this end, we describe the development of physiologic regulation of gene delivery and expression using bioreducible polymers and ischemia-inducible gene therapies for the potential treatment of ischemic heart disease in women.