Live viral vectors : construction of a replication-deficient recombinant adenovirus

Since the use of molecular biology and genetic engineering techniques has become widespread, a new generation of candidate vaccines has been developed, including live viral vectors (1, 2). The basis of using recombinant viruses as potential vaccines involves the incorporation of specific genes from a pathogenic organism into the genome of a nonpathogenic or attenuated virus. The recombinant virus can then infect specific eukaryotic cells either in vivo or in vitro, and cause them to express the recombinant protein. In our laboratory, successful results have been obtained using replication-deficient recombinant adenoviruses as immunizing agents for tick-borne encephalitis virus NSl protein (3) and measles virus nucleoprotein (4), both of which elicit a protective immune response.