Retroviral vectors for gene therapy

Abstract

The present invention provides novel, improved retroviral vectors which can be used for gene therapy, more specifically, retroviral vectors which are not only safer, more versatile, and more convenient than any other existing vectors, but they also drive high levels of gene expression and high viral titer. In retroviral vectors of the present invention, gag and env coding sequences are deleted, and all or part of U3 can be readily substituted with heterologous, non-retroviral promoter elements. Furthermore, at least one internal ribosome entry site is employed to express more than one genes, and multicloning sites are placed in an insertion site for cloning of a heterologous promoter or a foreign gene.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.