Targeting Adeno Vectors by Fiber Protein Engineering

Our objective is to test the concept of engineering the fiber protein of adenovirus to target adenovectors via cell type specific receptors. Our approach is to modify the adenovirus fiber protein bydomain with ligands which bind to known cellular receptors which may be expressed in a cell specificfiber proteins will initially be expressed in vitro and in insect cells. The structure and receptorchimeric fiber proteins will be assessed to determine whether the desired specificity has been achiesubsequently be introduced into the adenovirus genome using an adenovirus YAC, and the viability andof mutant adenoviruses will be assessed. The use of this approach to target adenovirus vectors carrysuch as the HSV-tk gene to tumor cells will be evaluated.