Viral Core
The Viral Core in the Center for Immunology and Immunotherapies assists with the construction and production of lentiviral vectors and other viral vectors (vehicles for delivering genes into cells). Viral vectors are essential tools for center and NGEC researchers working to advance the field of gene therapy.
The core, managed by Byoung Ryu, currently produces several types of viral vectors:
- Lentivirus (LV) vectors. The emerging technology of using lentivirus (a subclass of retrovirus) vectors in gene therapy holds great promise because of an LV vector's ability to integrate its genome into nondividing cells. In addition, LV vectors are considered safer than retroviral vectors with regard to integration profiles. LV vectors are playing an important role in the areas of immunobiology and neurobiology.
- Retrovirus vectors. These vectors provide for stable integration of DNA into the genome of dividing cells and have been used in a number of clinical trials, including recent successful therapy for X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) caused by lack of common gamma chain receptor.
- The Viral Core will soon also be producing adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors.
Contact Information
The Viral Core is managed by Byoung Ryu, who can be contacted at 206-884-8159.
Leadership
Byoung Ryu, manager of the Center for Immunity and Immunotherapies' Viral Core, received his PhD at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center. During his graduate training, he worked on retroviral envelope proteins, engineering their receptor usage to redirect the entry, and was greatly interested in gene therapy using viral vectors. As a postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Arthur Nienhuis at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, he helped to develop lentiviral vectors for gene therapy of hemoglobin disorders. He also developed a novel assay system to test safety of retroviral and lentiviral systems. His primary interests are developing lentiviral vectors for treatment of hematopoietic diseases. Core users benefit from his broad experience in vectorology and related assays, including viral integration and safety analyses.
Location
The Viral Core facility is located at 1900 Ninth Avenue in Seattle.
For More Information
See Viral Core Services to learn more about how the Viral Core team can assist with the construction and production of lentiviral vectors (LVs), and see Viral Core Protocols for transfection and concentration protocols.
The Center for Immunity and Immunotherapies Viral Core produces lentivirus and retrovirus vectors and will soon be producing adeno-associated virus vectors.