USE OF NUCLEAR LOCALIZATION SIGNALS OF BACTERIOPHAGE PROTEINS AS GENE TRANSFER VEHICLE

摘要

The present invention relates to the use, in medicine, of a terminal protein of a bacteriophage virus with protein-primed DNA replication, preferably of the family Podoviridaeo or Tectiviridae, characterized in that said protein comprises, first, at least one nuclear localization amino acid sequence, i.e. an amino acid sequence with NLS function, when said protein is expressed in mammalian cells, and, second, at least one amino acid sequence for covalent bonding to the ends of the DNA. The present invention is used for cases in which an exogenous DNA is introduced into the nucleus of cells of a mammal, so that said DNA may have a therapeutic effect. The present invention may also be used for the introduction of DNA fragments into human cells for the expression of heterologous genes for use in gene therapy.