The endothelial cells of the cerebral vasculature constitute, together with perivascular elements (astrocytes, pcricytes, basement membrane), the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which strictly limits and specifically controls the exchanges between the blood and the cerebral extracellular spacc.The existence of such a physical, enzymatic, and active barrier isolating the central nervous system has broad physiological, biological, pharmacological, and patho- logical consequences, most of which are not yet fully elucidated. The Cerebral Vascular Biology conference (CVB '95) was organized and held at...

This unique advanced textbook provides a clear and comprehensive description of the field of gene delivery, gene therapy and genetic pharmacology, with descriptions of the main gene transfer vectors and a set of selected therapeutic applications, along with safety considerations.The use of gene transfer is exponentially growing in the scientific and medical communities for day-to-day cell biology experiments and swift development of revolutionary gene therapy strategies. In this advanced textbook, more than 25 leading scientists, world-renowned in their respective fields, come together to...