Products

Lentiviral Vector Systems

 
 

Optimized Lentiviral Vectors and Expression Systems

Clontech offers a variety of highly optimized lentiviral vectors for many applications. These lentiviral vectors are key players in all of Clontech’s highly effective Lenti-X™ gene delivery systems, which can be used with almost any mammalian cell type, including dividing and nondividing cells, primary cell cultures, stem cells, and neurons. All of our pLVX lentiviral vectors contain HIV-1 LTRs and the lentiviral packaging signal (Ψ), and we’ve included specific elements to improve transgene expression, virus titer, and overall lentiviral vector function:

  • WPRE: A woodchuck hepatitis virus posttranscriptional regulatory element prevents poly A site readthrough, promotes RNA processing and maturation, and increases nuclear export of RNA. In genomic transcripts, it enhances vector packaging and increases titer. In transduced target cells, the WPRE boosts transgene expression by facilitating mRNA transcript maturation.
  • cPPT/CTS: A central polypurine tract/central termination sequence creates a “DNA flap” that increases nuclear importation of the viral genome during target cell infection. The cPPT/CTS element improves vector integration and transduction efficiency.
  • RRE: A Rev response element increases titers by promoting the nuclear export of unspliced viral genomic RNA.

Use these lentiviral vectors with any of our highly advanced, safe, and easy-to-use 4th-generation Lenti-X HTX Packaging Systems, which produce high titers of VSV-G- or ecotropic-pseudotyped lentivirus. 

To learn more about lentiviral vector safety, see our Lentiviral Vector Safety webpage. 
Lentiviral vector backbone for pLVX vectors Lentiviral Vector Core Elements
Lentiviral Vector Systems with CMV promoter

Lentiviral Vector Systems for constitutive cDNA Expression.  

Express your gene of interest from a strong CMV promoter, and select for lentiviral integration using antibiotic selection.

Bicistronic Lentiviral Vector Systems

Bicistronic Lentiviral Vector Systems

Co-express your gene of interest and an antibiotic or fluorescent selectable marker from the same transcript using these IRES containing lentiviral vector systems.

Lentiviral Vector Systems with an EF1 Alpha Promoter

Lentiviral Vector Systems with an EF-1 Alpha Promoter

Express your gene of interest and an EF-1 alpha promoter in cell types where the CMV promoter can be silenced over time, such as hematopoietic or stem cells.
Tetracycline Inducible Lentiviral Vector Systems

Lentiviral Vector Systems for inducible expression of cDNA

Tight control and high fold inducibility using Tet-On® or Tet-Off® lentiviral vector systems.
Lentiviral Vector Systems for shRNA

Lentiviral Vector Systems for shRNA Expression

Clone your shRNA downstream of a u6 promoter to knock down gene expression in hard to transfect cells. 
Lentiviral Vector Systems to control protein stability

Lentiviral Vector Systems to Control  Protein Stability

Clone your gene downstream of a ProteoTuner™ destabilization domain (DD) and control the stability of your protein with Shield1, a small molecule ligand, which protects the DD fusion protein from being degraded.
Lentiviral vectors with fluorescent proteins

Lentiviral Vectors for Fluorescent Protein Expression

Clone your gene in-frame with one of Clontech’s many fluorescent proteins (FP) and monitor the expression and subcellular localization of your protein of interest. 
Lentiviral Vector Reporter Systems

Lentiviral Vector Systems to study promoter activity

Monitor activity of your favorite promoter using a reporter system that expresses bright fluorescent proteins or secreted luciferase. 

Tools for Enhancing Your Lentiviral Transduction Capabilities

 

  • The Lenti-X HTX Packaging Systems are 4th-generation lentiviral packaging systems that utilize high-efficiency transfection, an optimized packaging mix of expression plasmids and Tet-Off® transactivation to generate titers that are much higher than most other commercially available packaging systems. High titers (up to 108 IFU/ml) allow you to transduce entire dishes of target cells using only minimal amounts of unconcentrated packaging cell supernatant. Two viral pseudotypes are available: the standard system produces VSV-G pseudotyped virus, which readily infects virtually all types of cells; while the Ecotropic Packaging System produces lentivirus for specifically transducing mouse and rat cells with high efficiency.
  • Lenti-X Concentrator provides a fast, simple, and highly efficient method for concentrating any lentiviral stock. Just mix your lentiviral supernatant with Lenti-X Concentrator, incubate for a short period, and spin the mixture in a standard centrifuge. Titers can increase by up to 100-fold in ~1 hr, with excellent recoveries and no ultracentrifugation.
  • The Lenti-X Maxi Purification Kit produces outstanding yields of highly purified lentivirus from crude supernatants. The gravity column-based protocol is fast, simple, and effective; and superior to filter-based purification systems, which can damage fragile lentiviral particles and reduce yields. The column gently retains virus particles from the supernatant, while unbound material flows through the column during the wash steps. Eluted virus is recovered fully intact and fully functional. Purifying virus is now as simple as purifying plasmid DNA.
  • Lenti-X GoStix™ give you instantaneous titration results allowing you to know the quality of your lentivirus supernatant before transducing your target cells, rather than 3 days afterward. GoStix take only 30 seconds to assess lentivirus titer and determine whether your supernatants are ready for harvesting, so you’ll know right away whether to STOP virus production or keep GOING. Avoid costly losses from harvesting your virus prematurely, and maximize your returns by harvesting your supernatants at exactly the right time.
  • Lenti-X qRT-PCR and p24 Rapid Titration Kits provide extremely fast and simple qRT-PCR and HIV p24 ELISA methods for titrating your lentiviral stocks. Whereas standard titration methods require up to 10 days to complete, these kits dramatically shorten the time interval between virus harvest and target cell infection so you can perform both on the same day. These rapid titration kits prevent costly delays that reduce viral infectivity, and allow target cells to be transduced at a known multiplicity of infection (MOI) for more consistent results.
  • Our specialized Lenti-X 293T Cell Line produces the highest possible lentiviral titers (>108 IFU/ml) from our premium, high-titer Lenti-X HTX Packaging System, because it is highly transfectable and supports the expression of high levels of viral proteins. Lenti-X 293T cells generates over 6-times more virus than 293FT cells and up to 30-times more virus than the parental HEK 293 cell line.