Lenti cDNA Expression

1. Lentivirus are p24 retroviruses that express reverse transcriptase and integrase.
2. They integrate viral DNA into host DNA, allowing for the exploitation of host machinery to express viral genes.
3. Lentiviral vectors are modified from HIV-1, with many of the viral genes removed.
4. The lentiviral vector only contains the LTRs and the packaging signal, Ψ.
5. In addition, lentiviral packaging genes are provided on separate plasmids, so the pseudo lentiviral particles are replication deficient.
6. Using lentiviral vectors to deliver genes into targeted cells has proven to be a dependable, efficient, and safe method for research.

Benefits of Using Lentivirus

1. Broad cell spectrum: Lentivirus can infect many cells including dividing & non-dividing, easy-to-transfect, and hard-to-transfect cells.
2. High transduction efficiency.
3. Convenience: Minimal need for optimization.
4. Safety: 3rd generation system with improved biosafety
5. HEK293T is used due to the expression of the SV40 large T-antigen in the cell line. Expression of the T-antigen allows plasmids which carry the SV40 origin of replication to undergo replication when transfected into the cell