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Generation and Assembly of Virus-Specific Nucleocapsids of the Respiratory Syncytial Virus
Published on: July 27, 2021
The adenovirus genome contributes to the structural stability of the virion
Bratati Saha1, Carmen M Wong2, Robin J Parks3
1Regenerative Medicine Program, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa, Ontario K1H 8L6, Canada. bsaha@ohri.ca.
Abstract:
Adenovirus (Ad) vectors are currently the most commonly used platform for therapeutic gene delivery in human gene therapy clinical trials. Although these vectors are effective, many researchers seek to further improve the safety and efficacy of Ad-based vectors through detailed characterization of basic Ad biology relevant to its function as a vector system. Most Ad vectors are deleted of key, or all, viral protein coding sequences, which functions to not only prevent virus replication but also increase the cloning capacity of the vector for foreign DNA. However, radical modifications to the genome size significantly decreases virion stability, suggesting that the virus genome plays a role in maintaining the physical stability of the Ad virion. Indeed, a similar relationship between genome size and virion stability has been noted for many viruses. This review discusses the impact of the genome size on Ad virion stability and emphasizes the need to consider this aspect of virus biology in Ad-based vector design.
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