Lentiviruses Gene Therapy Workshop

Contacts:  

Tel:               +972-2-6778589         +972-2-6778589, 6777762  

Fax: +972-2-6430982  

E-mail: meitalg@hadassah.org.il  

Website: www.isgt.org.il  

The Lentiviruses Gene Therapy Workshop is a joint Israeli/UK academic meeting, organized and sponsored by the Israeli Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ISGCT) and the Academic Study Group (ASG).  

Le ading European scientists will present lectures on the topic of lentiviruses gene therapy vectors:  

Adrian Thrasher, Rafael Yanez-Munoz, Simon Waddington, Andrew Baker, Mary Collins, Michael Themis, Fulvio Mavilio, Christopher Baum and Juan Bueren.  

Israeli prominent lecturers: Amos Panet, Kobi Rosenblum and Reba condiotti.  

For the scientific program, click here: www.isgt.org.il  

Lentiviruses are a subclass of retroviruses characterized by a long incubation period and cause destruction of the host cell immune response. Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV), and feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) are all examples of lentiviruses that infect various species.  

Lentiviral vectors, constructed from the wild type virus, have the capacity to efficiently transduce nondividing cells, shuttle large genetic payloads, and maintain stable long-term transgene expression. These attributes have brought them to the forefront of gene delivery vehicles for research and therapeutic applications in a clinical setting. With advances in vector design and large-scale production, lentiviral vectors have become safer and more effective gene delivery systems.  These vectors have become an important tool in research and have received a great deal of attention in recent years for the generation of transgenic animals and the stable delivery of RNA interference molecules. The extensive range of target tissues/cell types transducible by lentiviral vectors in vitro and in vivo makes them an attractive modality for tissue-specific gene delivery. Since the first clinical trial was approved in 2002, several trials to treat patients with both infectious and genetic diseases have been approved and initiated. Recently, favorable therapeutic outcomes have been reported in several of these trials with no adverse effects. Although the safety of lentiviral vectors is still being confirmed, they are believed to have vast potential in the clinical setting.