| abstract |
In accordance with the present invention, disclosed is a method of conferring, upon a host cell, resistance to retroviral infection by interfering with one or more of the infection processes including retroviral replication and assembly into infective viral particles. The method involves introducing a vector into a host cell, wherein the vector comprises a polynucleotide which directs transcription, within the host cell, of RNA which is a) complementary or corresponding, depending on the target region, to a nucleic acid sequence within one or more regions of the genome of the retrovirus; and b) is effective in inhibiting one or more steps in the retroviral infection process by interfering with retroviral replication, reverse transcription, translation, or assembly into viral particles when the host cell is infected. Also disclosed is a method of treatment using the nucleic acid constructs, or cells upon which resistance to infection has been conferred. |