837. Prolonged Gene Expression in Murine Salivary Glands Following FIV-Based Lentiviral Vector Transduction

Background/Aims: Salivary glands have been suggested as an accessible organ for introduction of transgenes enabling expression of recombinant proteins in the saliva, as well as their secretion to the blood circulation. Introduction of viral vectors to the salivary glands is facilitated by direct cannulation via their ducts, which open into the oral cavity. FIV-based lentiviral vectors have the ability to infect non-dividing cells, and are therefore well-suited for transduction of the characteristically slow-replicating salivary gland cells. Our goal was to evaluate the efficacy of FIV vector-based gene transfer to murine salivary glands.