ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes the types of studies that have employed fibroblasts and draws some broad conclusions about the future utility of fibroblasts in gene therapy. Fibroblast transfection was first accomplished in immortalized cells and was based on the use of the calcium phosphate coprecipitation technique. This method is generally viewed as appropriate for use in immortalized cells but has never gained widespread acceptance for use in gene therapy. The growth of fibroblasts in vitro has significant implications for gene therapy in general and clonal gene therapy in particular, and an understanding of their growth patterns has come from a comparison of fibroblasts derived from a number of species. Gene therapy has the potential to treat and perhaps cure diseases in almost every medical specialty, and it should come as no surprise that fibroblasts have been studied for the gene therapy of hematologic, oncologic, metabolic, endocrinologic, and central nervous system diseases.
