What are the main features of adeno-associated viruses?
What are the main features of adeno-associated viruses?
Adeno-associated virus (AAV) is a nonenveloped virus that belongs to the Parvovirus family of the Dependovirus genus. AAV is not thought to be pathogenic to humans and only replicates in the presence of a helper virus, such as adenovirus or herpesvirus. The capsid structural proteins determine the ability of the virus to infect tissues/cells; tissue-specificity is known to differ for various serotypes.