Herpes simplex virus type 1 (hsv-1)-derived vector for selectively inhibiting malignant cells and for expressing desired traits in malignant and non-malignant mammalian cells

Abstract

Disclosed is an HSV-1-derived vector containing a DNA having a functional LAT promoter, or operative fragment thereof, a deletion in both copies of the HSV-1 LAT gene, and a deletion in both copies of the HSV-1 ICP34.5 gene. The HSV-1-derived vectors are non-neurovirulent and do not spontaneously reactivate from latency, and they optionally contain a functional HSV thymidine kinase gene, which can enhance the effectiveness against cancer of drug treatment with gancyclovir or acyclovir. Alternatively, the HSV-1-derived vectors contain at least one transcriptional unit of a LAT promoter sequence operatively linked to a nucleic acid encoding a preselected protein. In some embodiments, the preselected protein is a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide toxic for cells expressing the vector, for example, human interferon-γ. Also, disclosed are kits for expressing in a mammalian cell a gene encoding a preselected protein, and mammalian cells containing the HSV-derived vectors.