| abstract |
A method to increase the efficiency of transduction of hematopoietic cells by retroviruses includes infecting the cells in the presence of fibronectin or fibronectin fragments. The fibronectin and fibronectin fragments significantly enhance retroviral-mediated gene transfer into the hematopoietic cells, particularly including committed progenitors and primitive hematopoietic stem cells. The invention also provides improved methods for somatic gene therapy capitalizing on the enhanced gene transfer, and hematopoietic cellular populations. |