Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in developed countries, but is quickly becoming an epidemic in such well-populated countries as China, India, and other developing nations. Cardiovascular research is the key to the prevention, diagnosis, and management of cardiovascular disease. Vigorous and cross-disciplinary approaches are required for successful card- vascular research. As the boundries between different scientific disciplines, particularly in the life sciences, are weakening and disappearing, a successful investigator needs to be competent in many different areas, including genetics, cell biology, biochemistry, physiology, and structural biology. The newly developed field of molecular medicine is a cross-disciplinary science that seeks to comprehend disease causes and mechanisms at the molecular level, and to apply this basic research to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and disorders. This volume in the Methods in Molecular Medicine series, C- diovascular Disease, provides comprehensive coverage of both basic and the most advanced approaches to the study and characterization of cardiovascular disease. These methods will advance knowledge of the mechanisms, diagnoses, and treatments of cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular Disease is a timely volume in which the theory and pr- ciples of each method are described in the Introduction section, followed by a detailed description of the materials and equipment needed, and step-by-step protocols for successful execution of the method. A notes section provides advice for potential problems, any modifications, and alternative methods.

Microarray Analysis of Cardiovascular Diseases.- Proteomics With Two-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis and Mass Spectrometry Analysis in Cardiovascular Research.- Developing and Evaluating Genomics- or Proteomics-Based Diagnostic Tests.- Animal Models for Disease.- Generation of Transgenic Mice for Cardiovascular Research.- Quantitative Assay for Mouse Atherosclerosis in the Aortic Root.- Animal Models for Heart Failure.- Animal Models for Hypertension/Blood Pressure Recording.- Animal Models for Cardiac Arrhythmias.- Optical Mapping of Shock-Induced Arrhythmogenesis in the Rabbit Heart With Healed Myocardial Infarction.- Methods for Studying Voltage-Gated Sodium Channels in Heterologous Expression Systems.- Laser-Induced Thrombosis in Zebrafish Larvae.- Methods for Isolation of Endothelial and Smooth Muscle Cells and In Vitro Proliferation Assays.- Applications of Adenoviral Vector-Mediated Gene Transfer in Cardiovascular Research.- Murine and HIV-Based Retroviral Vectors for In Vitro and In Vivo Gene Transfer.- Efficient Transfection of Primary Cells Relevant for Cardiovascular Research by nucleofection®.- Cell Adhesion and Migration Assays.- Apoptosis Assays.- Preparation of Protein Crystals for X-Ray Structural Study.- Structural Elucidation of Integrin ?IIb?3 Cytoplasmic Domain by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.- Applications of Electron Cryo-Microscopy to Cardiovascular Research.- Stem Cells in Cardiovascular Disease.