METHOD FOR CONCENTRATING AND PURIFYING RECOMBINANT AUTONOMOUS PARVOVIRUS VECTORS DESIGNED FOR TUMOR-CELL-TARGETED GENE-THERAPY

Recent work has highlighted the use of parvoviruses as potential vecto rs for tumour-cell-targeted gene therapy. The oncotropic properties of the prototype strain of minute virus of mice (MVMp) suggest that this virus might be a useful vehicle for introducing selectively therapeut ic genes, e.g. lymphokine or suicide genes, into tumour cells and pref erentially expressing them. But the low titre of recombinant virus sto cks (10(5)-10(6) infectious units per mi) and their high level of cont amination by cell proteins make it practically impossible to evaluate their efficacy in in vivo systems. A technique is described for produc ing cellular contaminant-free stocks of recombinant virus particles, w ith titres up to 5 x 10(8) IU/ml.