| abstract |
The present invention provides a chimeric adenovirus fiber protein, which differs from the wild-type coat protein by the introduction of a nonnative amino acid sequence in a conformationally-restrained manner. Such a chimeric adenovirus fiber protein according to the invention is able to direct entry into cells of a vector comprising the chimeric fiber protein that is more efficient than entry into cells of a vector that is identical except for comprising a wild-type adenovirus fiber protein rather than the chimeric adenovirus fiber protein. The nonnative amino acid sequences encodes a peptide motif that comprises an epitope for an antibody, or a ligand for a cell surface receptor, that can be employed in cell targeting. The present invention also pertains to vectors comprising such a chimeric adenovirus fiber protein, and to methods of using such vectors. |