Recombinant Virus Bank for Gene Delivery

Letter / Science v.307, n. 5716, 18mar05

VIRAL VECTORS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED AS therapeutic agents for the introduction of exogenous genes into living cells (1), and clinical trials of gene therapy and the use of viral vectors in the laboratory have been reported with increasing frequency during the past decade (2–4).

We have established a Recombinant Virus Bank at RIKEN BioResource Center in Japan to supply researchers with more than 300 infectious recombinant viruses and 500 recombinant vectors with replication-competent viruses (RCVs) free, which should help to ensure the safety of recombinant viruses and vectors in laboratory experiments and in preclinical trials of human gene therapy. The Bank includes recombinant viruses that carry cDNA for cytokines, regulators of the cell cycle, transcription factors, enzymes, and apoptosis related proteins. We have already dispatched more than 730 recombinant viruses or vectors to scientists worldwide through our database (see www.brc.riken.jp/lab/dna/rvd/). To maintain high-quality stocks of recombinant viruses and related vectors, these genetic materials have been subjected to stringent quality control (5–7). They are distributed to scientists who have a material transfer agreement (MTA) with the Bank. The Bank is a nonprofit organization, and the only charges are for handling and shipping. The Recombinant Virus Bank should be useful to large numbers of molecular biologists, as well as in human gene therapy.

KAZUNARI K.YOKOYAMA,* TAKEHIDE MURATA, HIDEYO UGAI, ERIKA SUZUKI,MIHO TERASHIMA, YUKARI KUJIME, SANAE INAMOTO,MEGUMI HIROSE, KUMIKO INABE,TAKAHITOYAMASAKI

Gene Engineering Division, Department of Biological Systems, BioResource Center, RIKEN, 3-1-1 Koyadai,Tsukuba Ibaraki 305-0074, Japan.

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail kazu@brc.riken.jp

References

1. D.T. Curiel, J. T. Douglas, In Vector Trageting for Therapeutic Gene Delivery (Wiley-Liss, Hoboken, NJ, 2002).

2. See www.advisorybodies.doh.gov.uk/genetics/gtac/publications.htm.

3. K. Fukuda et al., Cancer Res. 63, 4434 (2003).

4. E. Seo et al., Cancer Res. 65, 546 (2005).

5. H. Ugai et al., Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 93, 598 (2002).

6. H. Ugai et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 300, 448 (2003).

7. E. Suzuki et al., Oncol. Rep. 11, 173 (2004).

source: http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol307/issue5716/index.shtml 29mar2005