Advanced Lentiviral Vector Development Service for Basic Research
Lentiviral vectors (LVs) have become one of the most widely used vectors for fundamental biological research, functional genomics, and gene therapy. Creative Biolabs has proprietary technology and versatile platform for LVs design, which enables us to provide our customers with high quality, advanced LVs development services for basic research.
Development of LVs
Lentivirus provides an efficient means for introducing genetic material into mammalian cells, either in culture or whole animals and their use is now commonplace in many basic research applications, such as cellular reprogramming, stem cell research, gene knockout, gene editing, and clinical gene therapy applications. In order to meet different application requirements, a variety of LVs have been developed (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Characteristics of lentiviruses and the development of improved recombinant LVs. (Escors, 2010)
LVs Development Services
Creative Biolabs is an industry leader in the development of LVs. We have a unique LVs development platform and advanced technology, which enables us to support every customer's project engineering by optimizing and modifying lentiviruses. LVs development services we provide mainly include the following:
RNA interference (RNAi) is an evolutionarily conserved gene silencing mechanism that is induced by dsRNA (double-stranded RNA). Since small interfering RNA (siRNA) and short-hairpin RNA (shRNA) can inhibit the expression of genes of interest in mammalian cells, RNAi-mediated gene silencing has become an essential technology for studying gene function. Importantly, LVs can be engineered to achieve stable, efficient gene silencing in a variety of cells. When designing gene silencing LVs, siRNA can be delivered as a form of shRNA driven by an RNA polymerase III promoter, or as a part of a miRNA-like structure expressed from an RNA polymerase II promoter. Currently, gene silencing LVs have been successfully used in some basic research and clinical applications.
Stem cells, such as embryonic stem (ES) cells, induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells and hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), offer a valuable source for potential cell therapy and a powerful tool for basic research. Numerous studies have shown that the delivery of genes of interest to these stem cells via LVs can be used in a variety of basic research, such as basic biology, drug discovery, transplantation, and regenerative medicine. In order to obtain efficient and stable transgene expression in stem cells, various modifications have been made to the LVs, such as using a suitable promoter, adding regulatory elements, etc. The modified LVs can efficiently deliver the transgenes to stem cells, which is an important step for the application of stem cells in basic research and clinical treatment.
Introduction of a set of defined reprogramming factors (RFs), such as OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and c-Myc, into somatic cells by LVs has shown to induce the generation of embryonic stem cell-like pluripotent stem cells. Currently, multiple LVs have been used to successfully reprogram various cell types by introducing multiple RFs into a single cell, such as fibroblasts, keratinocytes, and hematopoietic stem cells. To improve reprogramming efficiency and safety, polycistronic LVs carrying four RFs (OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and c-Myc) linked by self-cleaving 2A peptides have been developed, some of which have self-deleting properties. In addition to pluripotency induction, LV is also used to transdifferentiate adult somatic cells into other types of cells. For instance, the lentiviral introduction of Gata4, Hnfla and Foxa3 in fibroblasts results in the production of hepatocyte-like iHep cells, whereas introduction of Gata4, Mef2c and Tbx5 in fibroblast cells can transdifferentiate fibroblasts into functional cardiomyocytes.
LVs exert immunomodulatory effects by efficiently transducing immune cells such as dendritic cells (DCs). DCs are the professional antigen-presenting cells of the immune system that regulate both immunity and tolerance. LVs targeting DCs have been exploited as lentiviral vaccines for tumors and infectious diseases. For example, LVs-mediated expression of melanoma antigens or ovalbumin in DCs elicits both CD8+ T-cells and CD4+ T-cell responses. More importantly, LVs-induced tumor-specific immunity has been shown to cause tumor regression. For the development of HIV/AIDS vaccines, LVs-mediated gene transfer also induces Gag-specific T cell responses.
As known to all, engineered nucleases are the most widely used method for site-specific gene editing at a target location. To achieve diseases therapy by editing genes in vivo, an appropriate vector system is needed to deliver these nucleases, such as TALENs and CRISPR-Cas9. LVs are commonly used viral vectors for the delivery of foreign genes into cells in vivo and in vitro, and play an increasingly important role in gene editing.
LVs engineered for mitochondria localization are crafted by integrating the mitochondrial targeting sequence (MTS) into the transfer plasmid. This modified plasmid is then transfected into packaging cells to produce lentiviral particles. This innovative technique serves as a robust method for investigating the intricate biology and functions of mitochondria.
Service Highlight
- The best price and the best quality in its class
- Fast turnaround time
- Experts with years of experience in LVs development
- Expert technical support, full confidentiality, and on-time delivery
Our business is built on our proprietary LVs design platform technology, unparalleled experience and world-class expertise. Creative Biolabs' experienced team will work closely with you to design the most efficient LVs to meet your every need. Please feel free to contact us for more information.
Reference
- Escors, D.; Breckpot, K. (2010). Lentiviral Vectors in Gene Therapy: Their Current Status and Future Potential. Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis. 58(2):107-119.
