Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors have the potential to replace conventional anti-retroviral therapies, or even protect against an initial HIV-1 infection. The potential of AAV vectors arises from two properties: their exceptional safety profile, and their ability to sustain very high levels of transgene expression for years. A self-complementary AAV (scAAV) vector can sustain expression of 100-200 pg/ml of protein inhibitors for more than two years. In contrast, transgene expression from a conventional, single-stranded (ssAAV) vector is more than ten-fold lower. However, scAAV transgenes are necessarily half the size of ssAAV transgenes. This limit precludes expression of full-length antibodies, and instead requires use of non-native antibody-like molecules such as single-chain immunadhesins (scFv-Fc). Moreover, the size limitation of scAAV vectors prevents inclusion of other useful molecules, for example the joining (J) chains essential for IgA multimerization, and proteins and regulatory regions useful in various
Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors have the potential to replace conventional anti-retroviral therapies, or even protect against an initial HIV-1 infection. This project will evaluate several variations of AAV vectors and transgenes to determine which are best at controlling HIV-1 replication, and which are best at preventing HIV-1 transmission.
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