Herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase-green fluorescent protein fusion gene: new tool for gene transfer studies and gene therapy.

An Enterovirus-Like RNA Construct for Colon Cancer Suicide Gene Therapy

Background: In gene therapy, the use of RNA molecules as therapeutic agents has shown advantages over plasmid DNA, including higher levels of safety. However, transient nature of RNA has been a major obstacle in application of RNA in gene therapy. Methods: Here, we used the internal ribosomal entry site of encephalomyocarditis virus and the 3’ non-translated region of Poliovirus to design an en...

Restriction Enzyme Analysis of Thymidine Kinase Gene in Four Iranian Isolates of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1

PCR detection of thymidine kinase gen of latent herpes simplex Virus type 1 in mice trigeminal ganglia

  Herpes simplex virus type 1 establishes a latent infection in the peripheral nervous system following primary infection. During latent infection, virus genome exhibit limited transcription, with the HSV LATs consistently detected in latency infected ganaglia. Following ocular infection viral latency develops in the trigeminal ganglia. In this study PCR has been used for detection of HSV-1 nuc...

The Effect of Herpes Simplex Virus Virion Host Shutoff Gene- a New Suicide Gene- on Tumor Cells

Background: The herpes simplex virus (HSV) UL41 gene product, virion host shutoff (Vhs) protein, mediates the rapid degradation of both viral and cellular mRNA. This ability suggests that Vhs protein can be used as a suicide gene in cancer gene therapy applications. The recent reports have shown that the degradation of cellular mRNA during herpes simplex infection is selective. RNA containing A...

Comparative Molecular PCR-RFLP Study of Native Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1) with KOS Strain

Background: Recent research on several DNA fragments covering open reading frames (ORF) 1-37 shows a new genetic marker in ORF 6 which is specific for differentiating wild-type varicella-zoster virus (VZV) strains from Oka varicella vaccine strain. On the other hand, herpes simplex virus (HSV) genome analysis by restriction enzymes is used to differentiate types one and two of the virus and eve...