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Coronary angioplasty: an end to early closing?

Gene Therapy volume 6, pages 954–955 (1999)Cite this article

Balloon angioplasty is now a well established minimally invasive surgical technique. It involves introducing an inflatable catheter into the lumen of coronary or femoral arteries to permanently dilate the bore of the occluded vessel to allow more efficient blood flow. Regrettably, in a third to a half of patients restenosis (reduction of the size of the lumen) occurs due to the proliferation of smooth muscle cells in the vessel wall (the intima) to form a thickened layer called a neointima.

It is generally accepted that this process is a form of wound healing response, probably initiated due to damage to the endothelial cell layer, and to a reaction to the physical extension of the intimal muscle layer. Although a complex process, wound healing is controlled, at least in part, by the production of growth factors, sometimes acting in a paracrine manner (being synthesised by one cell type and acting on another close by) or by an autocrine process (being produced by and acting on the same cell). These systems have the dual role of controlling cell proliferation during development as well as their activity in tissue repair following acute or chronic damage. One large superfamily of such molecules is characterised by acting through receptors which possess protein tyrosine kinase activity. These systems control cell survival, death, division and motility through regulating a complex set of intracellular signal transduction systems affecting gene expression and cytoskeletal structure.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Receptor Biology Laboratory, Imperial Cancer Research Fund, Molecular Oncology Unit, Hammersmith Hospital, Du Cane Road, London, W12 0NN, UK

    W J Gullick & C Lewanski

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  1. W J Gullick
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  2. C Lewanski
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Gullick, W., Lewanski, C. Coronary angioplasty: an end to early closing?. Gene Ther 6, 954–955 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3300960

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