March 7, 2003

Factor identified that makes treating aging hearts with gene therapy difficult

MGH scientists and colleagues at other institutions have found why older cardiac cells are more difficult to treat with gene therapy than younger cells. The findings, published in the March 4 issue of Circulation, have implications for therapeutic strategies aimed at the aging population.

"Efforts to develop gene therapy for heart disease have been geared toward the elderly, because they have fewer therapeutic options," says principal investigator Roger Hajjar, MD, (right), of the MGH Cardiovascular Research Center. "Our results show that we have some hurdles to overcome to optimize treatments in this population."

Many laboratory and clinical gene therapy studies have used modified adenoviruses to deliver beneficial genes into their target cells. Hajjar's group had shown that aging cells are more resistant to entry by adenovirus than adult cells, and the current study found that crucial proteins called integrins, which adenoviruses use to enter cells, are scarce in older cardiac cells.

Hajjar notes that it is possible to boost the expression of integrins. His team will continue looking for ways to optimize gene therapy in aging cells with the hopes of making it a realistic treatment strategy for the elderly. MGH co-authors are Fawzia Huq, MD; Djamel Lebeche, PhD; and Celine Mestel of the Cardiovascular Research Center.