New Products/Services
E1/E3/E4-deleted Adenoviruses
We offer three new vectors: pAd361, pAd362, and pAd363, which contain a 1.2 kb deletion in the E4 region, thereby increasing the maximal cargo capacity to 8.9 kb. These vectors belong to the AdenoQuick cloning system. It implies that you have to perform two cloning steps in E. coli before rescuing the virus by DNA transfection: first you have to insert your expression cassette into a small shuttle vector, then you have to reconstitute the entire sequence of your recombinant adenovirus in a cosmid.
- pAd361 is used to construct adenovirus vectors that contain expression cassettes in the E1 region, a WT E3 region and a 1.2 kb deletion in the E4 region. Max. cargo capacity = 6.2 kb.
- pAd362 is used to construct adenovirus vectors that contain expression cassettes in the E1 region, a 2.7 kb deletion in the E3 region and a 1.2 kb deletion in the E4 region. Max. cargo capacity = 8.9 kb.
- pAd363 is used to construct adenovirus vectors that contain two expression cassettes: one in the E1 region, and the other in the E3 region. The E4 region contains also a 1.2 kb deletion. Combined cargo capacity for both expression cassettes: 8.7 kb.
CD46-targeted Adenoviruses
Oncolytic Adenoviruses (CRAds)
Conditionally replicative adenoviruses constitute a promising new class of anti-cancer agents. Adenovirus can be engineered to selectively infect and replicate in cancer cells, leaving the surrounding healthy tissues intact. At the end of its cycle, the oncolytic virus lyses the tumor cell and releases its progeny, which will infect the next layer of cancer cells, thus amplifying the oncolytic effect.
Cancer cell specificity can be achieved in various ways:
- By placing essential early adenovirus genes such as the E1 region under the control of a tumor-specific promoter.
- By mutating viral genes, which encode proteins that interact with cellular proteins necessary to complete the viral life cycle in normal cells but not in tumor cells.
Potency can be increased by overexpressing viral genes (the adenovirus "Death" protein - ADP) or heterologous genes (p53, mda-7).
O.D.260 has constructed numerous CRAds for various labs across the US. Please consult our list of publications.
Call us to discuss your plans today.