Viral Vectors Unit

The Viral Vector Unit provides investigators the necessary support for the use of specific viral vectors in gene transfer to apply in basic and pre-clinical studies. We assist and advise researchers in the election of vectors adapted to their specific objectives, we supply the viral vectors from our collection and we produce and purify the viral particles in the scale and grade required. The majority of viral vectors are solicited by Inbiomed research groups, but we also generate new vectors for researchers at different institutions as an external service. Currently, vectors designed in the unit are derived from lentivirus, adenovirus or adeno-associated (AAV) viruses.

Research applications

In Vitro
- Transduction of primary cultures and stem cells for silencing or overexpresion of specific genes.
- Generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS).
In Vivo:
- Transduction in animal models of different diseases.

In addition, we are working in the design of new lentiviral and AAV derived vectors trying to improve their tropism towards specific cell lines or tissues. In the case of lentiviral vectors, we modify the tropism applying tissue-specific promoters and diverse envelope proteins. Finally, we are manipulating AAV viral vectors with different serotypes by genetic modifications into the capsid functional domains to improve the tropism towards primary tumors and cancer stem cells. The development of new tissue-specific AAV vectors would be helpful for their clinical applicability in gene therapy.

Staff

Unit Head: Cristina Sánchez (csanchez@inbiomed.org)
Technitians: Amaia Izeta