Expansion of the toolkit for the development of adenovirus vectors

Finally, the Institute of Virology is focussing on improving methods for the application of adenovirus vectors for all possible targets such as vaccination, oncolytic virotherapy and gene therapy, which are being investigated in further projects. Here we have developed a large adenovirus library and rational design methods that facilitate the development of new therapeutic vectors. We have also characterised the receptor usage of a wide range of adenoviruses to better understand their biology and properties. In addition, we have invented and are continuously improving workflows for high-throughput directed evolution of adenovirus vectors to generate hundreds of thousands of new vector variants. We have so far used these methods to enhance the cancer cell lytic activity of OAdV.