Virus-based Tools: Lentivirus, AAV und VSV

Virus-based tools can be used to manipulate genetic material and study viral infections. Our partner BPS Bioscience offers infection systems based on lentiviruses, adeno-associated viruses (AAV) or the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). Lentiviruses can be used to generate stably transfected cell lines, they have a high infection rate (>90%), provide high levels of subsequent protein expression, and can be used both in vitro and in vivo. Learn more about lentiviruses and potential applications in our blog. AAVs are useful as viral vectors because they can carry a gene of interest up to 5 kb in length. Because they lead to stable gene expression and they can be used safely due to their low immunogenicity, AAVs are the vectors of choice for the development of many gene therapies. The enveloped VSV provides a valuable tool for studying viral entry, replication, and assembly. VSV-G, the glycoprotein of the virus, is responsible for the attachment and entry of VSVs into the host cell and is often used to pseudotype viral vectors.