Gene transfer to salivary glands

Abstract

This article provides a review of the application of gene transfer technology to studies of salivary glands. Salivary glands provide an uncommon target site for gene transfer but offer many experimental situations likely of interest to the cell biologist. The reader is provided with a concise overview of salivary biology, along with a general discussion of the strategies available for gene transfer to any tissue. In particular, adenoviral vectors have been useful for proof of concept studies with salivary glands. Several examples are given, using adenoviral-mediated gene transfer, for addressing both biological and clinical questions. Additionally, benefits and shortcomings affecting the utility of this technology are discussed.