Synthetic herpes simplex virus promoters

摘要

The present invention relates to synthetic herpes simplex virus (HSV) promoters which are constructed by operatively linking the 5' nontranscribed domain of an HSV alpha gene to a fragment containing the transcription initiation site and the 5' transcribed noncoding region from an HSV gamma gene. Synthetic promoters of the invention that are operatively linked to heterologous genes, inserted into HSV genomes and used to generate live virus are useful for expressing polypeptides encoded by the heterologous genes in appropriate host cells. The synthetic promoters direct transcription of the heterologous genes constitutively throughout the reproductive cycle of the virus at a high cumulative level. The recombinant viruses of the invention can also be used as vaccines to present polypeptides against which a host will mount an immune response.