ABSTRACT
The ability to infect a wide range of cell types and the absence of a requirement for dividing cells has made adenovirus an attractive candidate for use as a gene therapy vector. Adenoviruses possess a number of features making them attractive candidates for the transfer and expression of therapeutic genes. The entry of adenoviruses into host cells appears to occur via two separate receptors, one mediating attachment and the other mediating internalization. The use of adenovirus as an endosome-disrupting agent rather than a gene-packaging system allows the transduction of cells with DNA molecules that are too large to be accommodated within the adenoviral capsid. Adenovirus gene expression has long been the subject of intense investigation as a model of eukaryotic gene expression. An alternative way of reducing immune-mediated destruction of transduced cells may be to exploit the mechanisms used by adenoviruses to diminish the recognition and lysis of infected cells.
