The present invention provides a retroviral or lentiviral vector having a viral envelope which comprises a mitogenic T-cell activating transmembrane protein which comprises: (i) a mitogenic domain which binds a mitogenic tetraspanin, and (ii) a transmembrane domain; wherein the mitogenic T-cell activating transmembrane protein is not part of a viral envelope glycoprotein. When cells such as T-cells or Natural Killer cells are transduced by such a viral vector, they are activated by the mitogenic T-cell activating transmembrane protein.

Methods and compositions are provided for delivery of a polynucleotide encoding a gene of interest, typically an antigen, to a dendritic cell (DC). The virus envelope comprises a DC-SIGN specific targeting molecule. The methods and related compositions can be used to treat patients suffering from a wide range of conditions, including infection, such as HIV/AIDS, and various types of cancers.

The present invention describes the development of a modified envelope glycoproteins to pseudo-type viruses of the retroviridae family. These are derived from Murine leukaemia virus amphotropic, Gibbon Ape leukaemia virus and feline endogenous virus envelopes.

The improved envelope glycoproteins contain, among other modifications, newly introduced alternative cleavable sequences.

The viral vectors pseudo-typed with these modified envelopes may be suitably employed for cargo delivery such as in gene and cell therapy applications, for the ex vivo and in vivo delivery of gene(s), protein(s), or molecule(s) of interest to a variety of target cells.

Disclosed are methods for treating an individual with a chemotherapy-resistant primary and/or secondary malignancy that comprise administering a therapeutically effective amount of a tumor-targeted retrovector encoding a cytocidal dominant-negative Cyclin G1 construct, such as DeltaRex-G, to the individual. Also disclosed are methods in which DeltaRex-G, either alone or in conjunction with other cancer therapies and/or treatments, may be administered to ameliorate or eliminate the life-threatening effects of metastatic cancer.

The present invention provides a retroviral or lentiviral vector having a viral envelope which comprises: (i) a mitogenic T-cell activating transmembrane protein which comprises a mitogenic domain and a transmembrane domain; and/or (ii) a cytokine-based T-cell activating transmembrane protein which comprises a cytokine domain and a transmembrane domain, wherein the mitogenic or cytokine-based T-cell activating transmembrane protein is not part of a viral envelope glycoprotein. When cells such as T-cells of Natural Killer cells are transduced by such a viral vector, they are simultaneously activated by the mitogenic T-cell activating transmembrane protein and/or the cytokine-based T-cell activating transmembrane protein.

The present disclosure teaches methods of treating a patient who has an advanced metastatic cancer, after the patient has the patient has failed at least one treatment regimen for the advanced metastatic cancer, by administering a plurality of infusions of a vector comprising a tumor signature-targeting peptide and a nucleic acid that encodes a dominant negative human cyclin G1 construct. One or more of the patient's treatment regimens may have included gemcitabine. The present disclosure also provides methods of treatment by further administering to the patient an additional therapeutic agent such as an immune-modulatory monoclonal antibody, a cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agent, an anti-angiogenesis agent, a selective tyrosine kinase inhibitor, or a monoclonal antibody directed against specific features of cells from the metastatic cancer.

The present invention provides a retroviral or lentiviral vector having a viral envelope which comprises: (i) a mitogenic T-cell activating transmembrane protein which comprises a mitogenic domain and a transmembrane domain; and/or (ii) a cytokine-based T-cell activating transmembrane protein which comprises a cytokine domain and a transmembrane domain, wherein the mitogenic or cytokine-based T-cell activating transmembrane protein is not part of a viral envelope glycoprotein. When cells such as T-cells of Natural Killer cells are transduced by such a viral vector, they are simultaneously activated by the mitogenic T-cell activating transmembrane protein and/or the cytokine-based T-cell activating transmembrane protein.

The present invention provides a retroviral or lentiviral vector having a viral envelope which comprises: (i) a mitogenic T-cell activating transmembrane protein which comprises a mitogenic domain and a transmembrane domain; and/or (ii) a cytokine-based T-cell activating transmembrane protein which comprises a cytokine domain and a transmembrane domain, wherein the mitogenic or cytokine-based T-cell activating transmembrane protein is not part of a viral envelope glycoprotein. When cells such as T-cells of Natural Killer cells are transduced by such a viral vector, they are simultaneously activated by the mitogenic T-cell activating transmembrane protein and/or the cytokine-based T-cell activating transmembrane protein.

Methods and compositions are provided for delivery of a polynucleotide encoding a gene of interest, typically an antigen, to a dendritic cell (DC). The virus envelope comprises a DC-SIGN specific targeting molecule. The methods and related compositions can be used to treat patients suffering from a wide range of conditions, including infection, such as HIV/AIDS, and various types of cancers.

The present invention provides means and methods for producing improved ex vivo B cell cultures with a short doubling time.