Patent ID: 7262049

Claim:
A vector system comprising a first vector containing a lentiviral gag gene encoding a lentiviral gag protein, wherein the lentiviral gag gene is operably linked to a promoter and a polyadenylation sequence, wherein said lentiviral gag gene is from a primate immunodeficiency virus or a feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV); a second vector containing an env gene encoding a functional envelope protein, wherein the env gene is operably linked to a promoter and a polyadenylation sequence; a lentiviral pol gene encoding a lentiviral pol protein on the first or second vectors or on at least a third vector, wherein said lentiviral pol gene is operably linked to a promoter and a polyadenylation sequence, wherein said lentiviral pol gene is from a primate immunodeficiency virus or FIV; a) wherein said at least first, second and third vectors do not contain sufficient nucleotides to encode the lentiviral gag and pol and the envelope protein on a single vector; and b) wherein said vectors do not contain nucleotides of the lentiviral genome referred to as a packaging segment to effectively package lentiviral RNA; and c) wherein the lentiviral proteins and the envelope protein when expressed in combination form a lentivirus virion containing an envelope protein around a lentiviral capsid; a packaging vector containing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a desired molecule, where the nucleic acid sequence is operably linked to an inducible promoter and a lentiviral packaging sequence including portions of lentiviral long terminal repeat (LTR) sequences necessary to package the lentiviral RNA into the lentiviral virion; and d) wherein said packaging vector contains a deletion of the U3 portion of the lentiviral LTR sufficient to inactivate the lentiviral promoter and/or does not express a tat protein that has transactivating functions; and wherein the envelope protein is encoded by a filovirus envelope gene.