Transduction of Herpesvirus saimiri-Transformed T Cells with Exogenous Genes of Interest

Rubén Martínez-Barricarte1, Sarah Jill de Jong1, Janet Markle1

  • 1St. Giles Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Rockefeller Branch, The Rockefeller University, New York, New York.

Human T cells can be transformed and expanded with herpesvirus saimiri (HVS). HVS-transformed T cells from patients have facilitated the study of a broad range of primary immunodeficiencies (PID) in which T-cell development or function is altered. However, the utility of HVS-transformed T cells for genetic studies has been limited by technical challenges in the expression of exogenous genes, including wild-type or mutant alleles. A novel, gamma retrovirus-based method for the simple and reliable transduction, purification, and study of HVS-transformed T cells is described. © 2016 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.