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Updated: Jun 3, 2026

A Tetracycline-regulated Cell Line Produces High-titer Lentiviral Vectors that Specifically Target Dendritic Cells
Published on: June 19, 2013
Pseudotyping lentiviral vectors with aura virus envelope glycoproteins for DC-SIGN-mediated transduction of dendritic
Steven Froelich1, April Tai, Katie Kennedy
1Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA.
Abstract:
Lentiviral vectors (LVs) pseudotyped with envelope proteins of alphaviruses have recently attracted considerable interest for their potential as gene delivery tools. We report the production of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)-derived LVs pseudotyped with envelope glycoproteins derived from the Aura virus (AURA). We found that the AURA-glycoprotein-pseudotyped LVs use C-type lectins (DC-SIGN and L-SIGN) as attachment factors. These interactions with DC-SIGN are specific as determined by inhibition assays and appear to facilitate transduction through a pH-dependent pathway. AURA-pseudotyped LVs were used to transduce monocyte-derived dendritic cells (DCs) and the transduction was shown to be DC-SIGN mediated, as illustrated by competitive inhibition with DC-SIGN and L-SIGN antibodies and yeast mannan. Comparisons with LVs enveloped with glycoproteins derived from vesicular stomatitis virus and Sindbis virus suggest that AURA-glycoprotein-bearing LVs might be useful to genetically modify DCs for the study of DC biology and DC-based immunotherapy.

