Lentivirus vector can integrate in the genome and exist and replicate in the cell as an episome

Lethally irradiated mice were reconstituted with few purified primitive hemopoietic stem cells containing sequences of a gene encoding green fluorescent protein. The gene was transferred using a lentivirus vector. The presence of the marker gene in splenocyte colonies derived from the bone marrow of reconstituted mice and in cells of other hemopoietic and non-hemopoietic organs was studied during the life. It was shown that the lentivirus vector can persist for a long time and replicate in hemopoietic cells as an episome.