Description of Invention:
The technology described and claimed in these applications relates to the fields of gene therapy, the production of transgenic non-human animals and diagnostic or quality control applications where identification of an unknown viral genome is desired. More, particularly the technology described and claimed in the application relates to chimeric viruses. When used for gene therapy or the production of transgenic non-human animals the chimeric viruses are capable of producing secondary virus in a producer cell. The secondary virus may be any virus other than the primary virus or a Dependovirus. When used for diagnostic or quality control applications the chimeric virus complements, in trans, the secondary packaging components found in the producer cells.
When employed in the fields of gene therapy and the production of transgenic non-human animals the chimeric virus offers the advantages of high transduction efficiency, high viral titer, and the ability to have a producer cell which is from the same source as the target cell allowing for the production of autologous secondary viruses which evade the immune response. The chimeric virus is exemplified by an adenovirus which contains a retroviral vector containing a heterologous protein/transgene. Other chimeric viruses are adenovirus-togavirus chimera such as adenovirus-Semiliki Forest virus or adenovirus-Sindbis virus.
When employed for diagnostic or quality control purposes the chimeric primary virus is constructed to encode all of the packaging components necessary to rescue and package a viral genome. The chimeric primary virus is then used to infect a host cell which is suspected of containing an unknown or known virus which contains a packaging signal which can be recognized by the primary chimeric virus.
This research has been published, in part, in Biochem Biophys Res Commun 246(3): 912-19 (May 29, 1998) and in Gene Therapy 6(3): 454-459 (March 1999).
Inventors:
William J. Ramsey (NHGRI) Robert M. Blaese (NHGRI) Kleanthis G. Xanthopoulos (NHGRI)
Patent Status:
DHHS Reference No. E-011-1997/0 --
U.S. Patent 6,238,858 issued 29 May 2001
Portfolios: Gene Based Therapies
Gene Based Therapies -Therapeutics
For Additional Information Please Contact: Jasbir (Jesse) S. Kindra J.D.
NIH Office of Technology Transfer
6011 Executive Blvd, Suite 325
Rockville, MD 20852-3804
Phone: (301) 435-5559
Email: kindraj@mail.nih.gov
Fax: (301) 402-0220
