| abstract |
(57) [Summary]nThe present invention provides adenovirus coat proteins that include various unnatural ligands. Further, the present invention provides adenovirus vectors that induce smaller reticuloendothelial system (RES) clearance in host cells than the corresponding wild-type adenovirus. Also provided by the present invention is a system comprising a cell having a non-natural cell surface receptor and a virus having a non-natural ligand, wherein the non-natural ligand of the virus binds to the non-natural cell surface receptor of the cell. This system can be used to propagate viruses. In addition, the present invention provides controlled gene expression methods, gene function assay methods, nucleic acid isolation methods, and methods for identifying functionally related coding sequences that selectively utilize replication competence. Further, the invention provides a cell surface receptor that facilitates internalization. |