Molecular Cardiology

The first major collection of techniques for gene therapy and stem cell therapy for heart diseases. The methods include readily reproducible techniques for genetic dissection, signal transduction, and microarray analysis. The protocols include techniques for gene transfer to heart tissue using viral and nonviral vectors and for producing transgenic models of heart diseases, the novel and powerful tools for the study of heart disease pathogenesis. Many of the protocols employ not only molecular and cell biology techniques, but also in vivo approaches to myocardial repair using different types of stem cells, and include methods for expansion, purification, and genetic modification of stem cells. The techniques are at the center of the most recent advances in the study and treatment of genetic and acquired heart diseases.