New paradigm for cell-specific gene delivery

Researchers from Northwestern University and Texas A & M University have discovered a new way to limit gene transfer and expression to specific tissues in animals. In studies to determine how plasmids enter the nuclei of non-dividing cells, the group previously identified a region of a smooth muscle cell-specific promoter that was able to mediate nuclear targeting of any plasmid carrying this sequence uniquely in cultured smooth muscle cells but in no other cell type.