Somatic gene therapy for dyslipidemias

Somatic gene transfer is a valuable tool for the in vivo evaluation of lipoprotein metabolism. It has been used to dissect metabolic pathways, to establish structure-function relationships of various gene products, and to evaluate conventional lipid-lowering and novel therapeutic genes for the treatment of lipoprotein disorders. In this article we review some general aspects of somatic gene therapy and the different vehicles used for the delivery of therapeutic genes. We highlight some recent advances in adenoviral vector development that make this vector an attractive system for clinical trials.