Approaches to improving the kinetics of adenovirus-delivered genes and gene products.

Adenovirus (Ad) vectors have been expected to play a great role in gene therapy because of their extremely high transduction efficiency and wide tropism. However, due to the intrinsic deficiency of their immunogenic toxicities, Ad vectors are rapidly cleared from the host, transgene expression is transient, and readministration of the same serotype Ad vectors is problematic. As a result, Ad vectors are continually undergoing refinement to realize their potential for gene therapy application. Even after 1999, when a patient fatally succumbed to the toxicity associated with Ad vector administration at a University of Pennsylvania (U.S.) experimental clinic, enthusiasm of gene therapists for Ad vectors has not waned. With great efforts from various research groups, significant advances have been achieved through comprehensive approaches to improving the kinetics of Ad vector-delivered genes and gene products.