Neuronal gene delivery with replication-competent non-cytopathic sindbis virus

Sindbis Virus (SV) is an effective vector for delivering genes to neurons in-vivo. Current SV vectors induce apoptosis in host cells, limiting their usefulness. We have engineered a non-cytopathic mutation into 4 different strains of SV capable of expression in mice of different ages. The resulting NCP SV vectors allow prolonged high level expression of heterologous proteins in-vitro and in-vivo. In general, the ability to introduce new properties into the SV vector by independent mutations that affect cytopathology, age range of host, and temperature inducibility suggests great adaptability of the SV system as a gene delivery vector.