Current Gene Therapy - Volume 10, Issue 3, 2010

The widely used viral gene therapy vectors include retrovirus, lentivirus, adenovirus and adeno-associated virus, which have proven to be clinically valuable in numerous trials. These vectors, however, possess respective drawbacks and may raise safety concerns [1] although recent clinical trials have shown encouraging results [2]. Moreover, the production of these vectors has posed challenges in large scale production. In contra Read More

Modern drug discovery programs utilize a wide variety of technologies to aid in identification of potential drug targets, and progress them through the often long and winding path of finding novel drug-like molecules. Recombinant cell-based assays are an important tool in the drug discovery process for investigating the biological mechanisms of potential drug targets and conducting screening campaigns in the hunt for biologi Read More

The baculovirus/insect cell expression system is best known, and used, as a research tool for the production of recombinant proteins often requiring post-translational modifications. Although studies on the larger scale use of the system have been reported on for three decades, the recognition of this system as an industrially relevant platform for the production of biologics has only been recently achieved with the ap Read More

Baculoviruses are safe and high-capacity vectors for gene delivery which have matured from the initial successful experiments performed in liver cells into convenient tools to transduce almost any cell from any origin in vitro and ex vivo. This is a result of 15 years of intensive vector development as well as studies performed in vertebrate cells to reveal important factors affecting the transduction efficacy. Now, at the Read More

The baculovirus Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus is an attractive candidate for eukaryotic virus display. A variety of strategies exists to incorporate and present target proteins on the surface of infected insect cells as well as on budded virions. Native baculovirus proteins such as the major envelope protein and the capsid protein, but also foreign scaffolds such as the vesicular stomatitis virus G-1 protein or Read More

Application of viral vectors derived from human viruses to mediate immune response in animals and humans has been greatly hampered by the problems associated with pre-existing immunity and associated toxicities. Among few non-human viral vectors, baculovirus has now evolved as a novel tool for vaccine vector development. With broad tissue tropism and expanded bio-safety profile suitably supplemented with intrinsi Read More

Many different types of therapeutic genes, ranging from suicide genes, tumor suppressor genes, to genes encoding tumor-specific antigens, have been successfully delivered by insect baculoviral vectors to treat tumours in animal models. These encouraging results observed to date underscore the potential for using the non-human baculovirus to combat human cancer. The present review outlines the advances in thi Read More

The baculovirus Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus has been widely used not only to achieve a high level of foreign gene expression in insect cells but also for efficient gene transduction into mammalian cells without any replication. In addition to the efficient gene delivery, baculovirus has been shown to induce host innate immune responses in various mammalian cells and in mice. The baculovirus has abun Read More

Since the discovery of mammalian cells susceptible to baculovirus transduction in 1995, baculovirus has emerged as a safe, economical and convenient tool for introducing foreign genetic material into mammalian systems. The feasibility of baculovirus as a novel gene transfer vehicle for large scale mammalian protein expression was not obvious at first, as the baculovirus genome is unable to amplify within mammalian c Read More

Baculovirus is an effective vector for gene delivery into various mammalian cells, including chondrocytes and mesenchymal stem cells, and has been employed for diverse applications. By gene delivery and expression of the growth factor, recombinant baculovirus has been shown to modulate the differentiation state of the cells and stimulates the production of extracellular matrix and tissue formation, hence repairin Read More