How does the viral envelope affect the Retro-X Concentrator’s efficiency?

The Retro-X Concentrator can concentrate retroviral supernatants created with all commonly used envelopes. Fold concentration varies for retroviruses pseudotyped with various envelopes. Retro-X Concentrator can concentrate retroviral supernatants created with all commonly used envelopes. A retrovirus expressing DsRed2 was packaged with different retroviral envelopes using the Retro-X Universal [...]

Can I use the Retro-X Concentrator to concentrate a lentivirus?

Yes. The Retro-X Concentrator can be used to concentrate a lentivirus according to the Lenti-X Concentrator Protocol-At-A-Glance.Retrovirus [...]

What are self-inactivating (SIN) retroviral vectors (Retro-X Q Vectors)?

SIN vectors have a 5' LTR that is active in transfected cells but inactive in transduced cells. During packaging, the 5' LTR is active and generates multiple copies of viral genomic mRNA molecules, which are packaged into retroviral particles. When cells are infected with the packaged virus, reverse transcription transfers a U3 deletion from the 3' LTR to the 5' LTR, thus inactivating it in the [...]

Can I use a retroviral vector to perform regular plasmid transfections?

Yes. You can use a retroviral vector as a regular plasmid, via transfection. However, this negates one of the advantages of retroviral transduction: reproducible integration of individual copies of your transgene. During stable integration, plasmid vectors break randomly and integrate into the cellular genome nonspecifically with respect to the original vector backbone. By contrast, proviral DNA [...]

Can primary cells be infected with a retrovirus?

Yes, as long as the cells are mitotically active. For quiescent or slowly dividing cells, we recommend lentiviral-mediated gene delivery.Retrovirus [...]