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Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous inhibitor of all isoforms of nitric oxide synthase, the enzyme that synthesizes nitric oxide from arginine. Elevated plasma concentrations of ADMA are associated with hypertension and other risk factors for cardiovascular d ...

Genome-wide linkage analysis is a powerful tool for the identification of genes underlying single gene and complex genetic disorders. The most commonly used technique for performing genome wide scans for genetic studies in the rat is by analysis of simple sequence length polymorphism (S ...

Gene transfer represents a method for treatment of several cardiovascular disorders, including endothelial dysfunction and hypertension. For effective and safe gene therapy in vascular disease, a suitable therapeutic gene needs to be identified and delivered to the vasculatu ...

The completion of the genomic sequence and the definition of the genes provide a wealth of data to interpret cellular protein expression patterns and relate them to protein function. Proteomics is the large-scale study of proteins in the post-genomic era, aimed at identifying and character ...

A helper-dependent adenoviral (HDAd) vector is the most recently developed adenoviral vector. It does not contain any viral coding sequences except the inverted terminal repeat for replication origin and the packaging signal. Its safety profile and duration of transgene expression ...

Nonviral gene delivery methods with naked plasmids and various plasmid carrier complexes have been used for intravascular, intramuscular and periadventitial gene delivery to cardiovascular system. Efficacy, homogenity and quality of the nonviral gene delivery complexes c ...

Replication-deficient adenoviruses are used as vectors to study function of genes and to treat hypertension and cardiovascular diseases in preclinical studies. The purpose of this chapter is to provide an example of applications of the “first-generation,” E1-deleted and partially ...

Despite excellent antihypertensive drugs on the market, about 70% of all hypertensive patients do not have their blood pressure under control. This is due to problems of compliance, largely because of having to take drugs daily and side effects. We propose an antisense therapy for hypertensi ...

RNA interference (RNAi) is a form of posttranscriptional gene silencing in which the presence within the cell of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) leads to the specific degradation of mRNA with a complimentary sequence. RNAi is a natural phenomenon that can be exploited as a powerful tool to study gene ...

In order for gene delivery to be clinically acceptable, a number of crucial developments need to be made to existing vectors. Significant advances have been made in the identification of novel platform vectors that possess modified tropism to the native vector, directing infectivity away ...

Self-renewing embryonic stem (ES) cells have been established from early mouse embryos as permanent cell lines. By cultivation in vitro as three-dimensional aggregates called embryoid bodies (EBs), ES cells can differentiate into derivatives of all three primary germ layers, inclu ...

Chromatin loops are tethered at discrete regions that are approx 100-1000 bp in length. These regions of attachment serve as specific sequence landmarks, anchoring the DNA to the fibers of the chromosomal scaffold. It has been estimated that our genome contains 70,000 nuclear matrix attach ...

Pharmacogenomics is the study of the genetic basis of individual variation in response to therapeutic agents. Pharmacogenomics may potentially affect on every step of health care and every drug treatment protocol. The optimal approach to pharmacogenomics in hypertension requir ...

Some of the most widely used techniques in the area of molecular biology involve the isolation, analysis, and quantification of RNA molecules, specifically mRNA molecules that code for proteins of interest. Indeed, the characterization of any gene entails the analysis of the spatial and te ...

This chapter deals with immunohistochemical detection of low copy molecules in tissue. We will focus on peptide receptors, but the same principles apply to hormones, autacoid substances, enzymes, and signaling molecules. Several approaches are currently available to characteri ...

Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) is a dipeptidyl carboxypeptidase (EC 3.4.15.1) whose physiologic action is the conversion of AI to AII, and as such, it plays an important role in the regulation of blood pressure and fluid balance. ACE has been localized to endothelial cells throughout the ...

There is an endogenous renin-angiotensin system in the kidney, and angiotensin (Ang) II generated within the kidney may play an important role in the regulation of renal hemodynamics and sodium excretion (1–6). Assessment of the functional significance of the intrarenal renin-angiot ...

The use of radioiodinated angiotensins has contributed greatly to our knowledge of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS). This chapter provides brief descriptions of the application of radioiodinated angiotensins and other radioiodinated compounds to study the RAS and the issues ...

Characterization and cloning of the AT1 and AT2 receptors would not have been possible without an assay that could detect and measure the density and affinity of these receptors. The most frequently used, if not the only, methodological approach used to investigate these receptors is the radi ...

Photoaffinity labeling is a useful method to covalently bind two interacting moieties whether they be substrate and enzyme or ligand and receptor. Irreversibly labeling any particular molecule is a practical way of detecting the latter throughout the course of a characterization or a p ...