ABSTRACT
The herpesviral thymidine kinase reporter gene (HSV1-tk) is at present best established for assessment of transgene expression using nuclear imaging. This chapter first summarizes the current status of gene and cell therapeutic cardiac interventions and highlights open issues which may be resolved by use of noninvasive imaging. Primary targets for cardiovascular gene therapy have been myocardial ischemia and heart failure, but applications in other diseases such as arrhythmia, restenosis, and transplant rejection are also being pursued. Cell therapy offers the advantage over gene therapy that an entire, flexible system is installed which may dynamically adapt itself to the environment and replace lost function of damaged tissue. Detection of the level of reporter gene product activity through accumulation of a reporter probe provides indirect information about the level of reporter gene expression. Reporter gene imaging technology continues to advance. A variety of reporter genes other than HSV1-tk have been identified and successfully applied.
