Transduction of liver cells by lentiviral vectors: Analysis in living animals by fluorescence imaging

Viral vectors based on lentiviruses, such as the human immunodeficiency virus, are able to transduce a broad spectrum of nondividing cells in vivo. This ability of lentiviral vectors makes them an attractive vehicle for gene transfer into the liver. In order to determine the requirements for efficient lentiviral gene transfer, we used a fluorescence imaging system, which allows the detection of cells and tissues that express fluorescent reporter genes (e.g., green fluorescence protein) in the living animal. We show that the latest generation of lentiviral vectors efficiently transduces the murine liver. Further analysis demonstrated that neither cell-cycle activation nor division of liver cells is a prerequisite for lentiviral gene transfer in vivo.