ADENOVIRUS SEROTYPE 34 VECTORS, NUCLEIC ACIDS AND VIRUS PRODUCED THEREBY

Adenoviral serotypes differ in their natural tropism. The various serotypes of adenovirus have been found to differ in at least their capsid proteins (e.g. , penton-base and hexon proteins), proteins responsible for cell binding (e.g, fiber proteins), and proteins involved in adenovirus replication. This difference in tropism and capsid proteins among serotypes has led to the man y research efforts aimed at redirecting the adenovirus tropism by modification of the capsid proteins. The present invention bypasses such requirement for capsid protein modification as it presents a recombinant, replication- defective adenovirus of serotype 34, a rare adenoviral serotype, and methods for generating the alternative, recombinant adenovirus. Additionally, means of employing the recombinant adenovirus for the delivery and expression of exogenous genes are provided.