Morgan E M
Biotechnology Services Division, Microbiological Associates, Inc., Rockville, MD 20850.
Dev Biol Stand. 1992;76:301-5.
Retroviruses have received attention as vectors for gene transfer because they can infect a variety of cell types, they integrate stably into the genome of the target cell and they have simple, well-defined structures. Insertion of the gene of interest into a retroviral vector results in the formation of replication-defective particles that can be produced in "packaging" cell lines. Due to the nature of the present generation of vectors and packaging cell lines, multiple recombination events would be needed to produce replication-competent particles. However, the concern still exists that replication-competent virus could arise either in the production of retroviral vector stocks or following their introduction into target cells. The current use of retrovirus vectors and the challenge they present to testing programmes are discussed.
逆转录病毒作为基因转移载体已受到关注，因为它们能感染多种细胞类型，能稳定整合到靶细胞基因组中，且结构简单、明确。将感兴趣的基因插入逆转录病毒载体可导致形成复制缺陷型颗粒，这些颗粒可在“包装”细胞系中产生。由于目前一代载体和包装细胞系的特性，需要多次重组事件才能产生具有复制能力的颗粒。然而，人们仍然担心，在逆转录病毒载体储备的生产过程中或在将其引入靶细胞后，可能会出现具有复制能力的病毒。本文讨论了逆转录病毒载体的当前应用及其给检测程序带来的挑战。
