In accordance with the present invention, methods have been developed tomodify retroviral vectors derived from viruses which are not known to bepathogenic in humans (e.g., MLV), so that such vectors are rendered capable oftransducing heterologous sequences into non-dividing cells. Thus, it has beendiscovered that retroviruses can be rendered capable of infecting non-dividingcells by introducing into the viral particle one of several specificallydefined modifications. For example, an element which is recognized by thenuclear import machinery of a non-dividing cell can be associated with thenucleoprotein complex of the retrovirus. Alternatively, at least one proteinencoded by viral gag or pol nucleic acid is modified so as to be recognized bythe nuclear import machinery of a non-dividing cell.
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