Percutaneous transplantation of genetically-modified autologous fibroblasts in the rabbit femoral artery: a novel approach for cardiovascular gene therapy

Cell and gene therapies are potential new treatments for cardiovascular diseases. We demonstrated that autologous fibroblasts could be easily harvested from a skin biopsy specimen, genetically modified in vitro with nonviral vectors, and percutaneously seeded in vivo in rabbit femoral arteries, leading to locoregional secretion of abundant amounts of recombinant proteins. This new approach has important advantages over alternative approaches that use endothelial cells, viral vectors, and intraoperative cell delivery. Clinical applications may include local treatment of atherosclerotic plaques or aneurysms and also treatment of the diseased organs supplied by the target artery (eg, ischemic or failing heart).