Abstract
Cardiovascular gene therapy has been hampered by the lack of suitable gene delivery vectors for in vivo applications. Low transduction efficiencies, lack of persistent transgene expression and undesirable inflammatory and immune responses have limited the prospects for human gene therapy in the cardiovascular system. New prospects for cardiovascular gene therapy are a result of recent vector developments, in particular with the use of adeno-associated virus (AAV) based vectors in the heart and peripheral vasculature.