Lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with envelope glycoproteins derived from gibbon ape leukemia virus and murine leukemia virus 10A1.

Lentiviral vectors pseudotyped with the envelope glycoproteins (Env) of amphotropic murine leukemia virus (MLV) and the G protein of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV-G) have been successfully used in recent preclinical gene therapy studies. We report here the generation of infectious HIV-1-derived vector particles pseudotyped with the Env of the molecular clone 10A1 of MLV and with chimeric envelope glycoprotein variants derived from gibbon ape leukemia virus (GaLV) and MLV. Formation of infectious HIV-1 (GaLV) pseudotype vectors was only possible with the substitution of the cytoplasmic tail of GaLV Env with that of MLV. The lentiviral vectors exhibited a host cell range identical with that of MLV(GaLV) and MLV(10A1) vectors, which are known to enter cells either via the GaLV-receptor Glvr-1 (Pit-1) or via the amphotropic receptor Ram-1 (Pit-2) in addition to Glvr-1, respectively. Thus, HIV-1(GaLV) and HIV-1(10A1) pseudotype vectors may be useful for efficient gene transfer into a variety of human tissues like primary human hematopoietic cells.