Retroviral Vector Systems
Development and application of retroviral vector systems
In general somatic gene therapy is a therapeutic strategy that involves the transfer of genetic information (nucleic acids) into the somatic cells of patients with various diseases. For the gene transfer different viral and non-viral vector systems have been developed and are applied.
During evolution viruses have been evolved as a highly efficient vehicle to transfer genetic information not only from cell to cell but also from organism to organism. Due to this feature viral vectors are characterized by their high efficiency of gene transfer.
Retroviral vector systems have been the first viral vectors developed for application in gene therapeutic settings and are today still one of the viral vector systems most frequently used in clinical applications. One advantage of retroviral vectors over other viral vector systems is the potential stable expression of transgene due to its integration into the host cell genome.
Our lab has developed vector systems based on different retroviruses such as the murine leukemia virus (MLV), the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), or the prototype foamy virus (PFV). These vector systems allow for an efficient gene transfer into different cell types leading at wish to either constitutive, regulatable or transient expression of various therapeutic gene products.
Our current research interests focus on,
- the development of retroviral vector systems allowing for a transient immortalisation or reprogramming of primary tissues;
- the development of retroviral vector systems enabling a transient expression of genome editing tools like CRISPR/Cas9 in tissues;
- the development of strategies for the generation of pseudotyped foamy virus vector systems;
- the optimization of the retroviral gene transfer efficiency into murine and human blood stem cells.