COXSACKIE VIRUS VECTORS FOR DELIVERY OF NUCLEIC ACIDS ENCODING ANTIGENIC OR THERAPEUTIC PRODUCTS

摘要

The present invention is drawn to the use of attenuated Coxsackie virus cardiotropic virus vectors as efficient gene transfer vectors to deliver immunomodulatory or other biologically active proteins and/or antigenic epitopes in transient infections to aid in preventing, ameliorating, and/or ablating infectious viral heart disease and reducing, or ablating entirely, heart transplant rejection. Additionally, other organs or tissues may be targeted with specific picornaviruses. In particular, an attenuated CVB3 viral vector able to express a cytokine is provided. This cytokine-expressing viral vector is able to deliver the cytokine to a target tissue and reduce disease symptoms.