COMPOSITIONS AND METHODS FOR DETECTING AND QUANTIFYING CIRCULATING TUMOR CELLS (CTCs)

摘要

The present invention relates to the field of virology. More specifically, the present invention relates to the use of viral constructs to detect and quantify circulating tumor cells. In one embodiment, the present invention provides an adenovirus construct comprising (a) a cell type specific promoter that drives adenoviral replication; and (b) at least one reporter gene incorporated into the viral Major Late Transcriptional Unit. In another embodiment, an adenovirus construct comprises (a) prostate selective pro-basin promoter operably linked to the El gene; and (b) prostate specific antigen enhancer operably linked to the probasin promoter.