TY - JOUR A1 - Hagen, Sven A1 - Baumann, Tobias A1 - Wagner, Hanna J. A1 - Morath, Volker A1 - Kaufmann, Beate A1 - Fischer, Adrian A1 - Bergmann, Stefan A1 - Schindler, Patrick A1 - Arndt, Katja Maren A1 - Mueller, Kristian M. T1 - Modular adeno-associated virus (rAAV) vectors used for cellular virus-directed enzyme prodrug therapy JF - Scientific reports N2 - The pre-clinical and clinical development of viral vehicles for gene transfer increased in recent years, and a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) drug took center stage upon approval in the European Union. However, lack of standardization, inefficient purification methods and complicated retargeting limit general usability. We address these obstacles by fusing rAAV-2 capsids with two modular targeting molecules (DARPin or Affibody) specific for a cancer cell-surface marker (EGFR) while simultaneously including an affinity tag (His-tag) in a surface-exposed loop. Equipping these particles with genes coding for prodrug converting enzymes (thymidine kinase or cytosine deaminase) we demonstrate tumor marker specific transduction and prodrug-dependent apoptosis of cancer cells. Coding terminal and loop modifications in one gene enabled specific and scalable purification. Our genetic parts for viral production adhere to a standardized cloning strategy facilitating rapid prototyping of virus directed enzyme prodrug therapy (VDEPT). Y1 - 2014 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1038/srep03759 SN - 2045-2322 VL - 4 PB - Nature Publ. Group CY - London ER -