γ-Retroviral Plasmids

γ-Retrovirus (gamma-retrovirus) is an RNA virus comprised of its genome and several structural and enzymatic proteins, including reverse transcriptase and integrase. Once in a target cell, the virus uses the reverse transcriptase in tow to generate a DNA provirus. This provirus then gets integrated into the host's genome by the accompanying integrase protein.

When scientists discuss retrovirus, they typically are referring to a subset of retroviruses called γ-retroviruses. γ-Retroviruses can package relatively high amounts of DNA (up to ∼8 kb), and infection results in long-term transgene expression. Some disadvantages of γ-retroviruses are that they can only transduce dividing cells (this is because they are only able to enter the nucleus during mitotic breakdown of the nuclear envelope). Additionally, γ-retroviruses integrate randomly into the host's genome, which can lead to oncogenesis (termed insertional mutagenesis).

Read our γ-Retrovirus Guide for more information about:

• γ-Retroviral packaging systems
• Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about retrovirus

Popular γ-Retrovirus Envelope and Packaging Plasmids

Common γ-retroviral envelope and packaging plasmids.

	ID	Plasmid	Type	Description	PI
	8449	pUMVC	Packaging	Contains MoMLV gag and pol; use with envelope plasmid	Weinberg
	12371	pCL-Eco	Packaging	Contains MoMLV gag, pol, and env	Verma
	35614	pBS-CMV-gagpol	Packaging	MoMLV gag and pol	Salmon
	8454	pCMV-VSV-G	Envelope	Envelope protein; use with packaging plasmid	Weinberg
	12259	pMD2.G	Envelope	VSV-G-expressing envelope plasmid	Trono
	1733	pCI-VSVG	Envelope	VSV-G recommended for the FELIX (FIV-based) system	Nolan
	35617	pCAG-Eco	Envelope	Ecotropic MLV expressing envelope plasmid	Nienhuis and Salmon
	35616	pCAG-VSVG	Envelope	VSV-G-expressing envelope plasmid	Nienhuis and Salmon
	22501	pHEF-VSVG	Envelope	VSV-G-expressing envelope plasmid	Kasparov

Popular γ-Retroviral Transfer Plasmids

Common γ-retroviral transfer plasmids. Want a retroviral plasmid with your gene of interest? Search our database for retroviral transfer plasmids that have inserts.

	ID	Plasmid	5'LTR	Description	PI
	1780	pBABE-neo largeTcDNA	MoMLV	Expression of Large T antigen for creation of immortalized cells (see Weinberg Lab page for resistance variants)	Weinberg
	1773	pBABE-hygro-hTERT	MoMLV	Expression of hTERT for creation of immortalized cells; additional plasmids include Puro resistance and Neo resistance	Weinberg
	10676	pMKO.1 GFP	MoMLV	U6-driven plasmid for shRNA expression; also expresses GFP. See pMKO.1 puro for Puro resistance.	Hahn
	63704	pRetroX GFP T2A Cre	CMV/MSV	Tetracycline inducible expression of GFP T2A Cre fusion in mammalian cells	Foijer
	47916	pRXTN	CMV/MSV	pRXTN is a modified version of pRX-tight Puro encoding NAT instead of PAC	Iglehart
	20672	MSCV-IRES-GFP	MSCV	For transgene expression and GFP marker	Reya
	21654	pMSCV PIG (Puro IRES GFP empty plasmid)	MSCV	For cloning and gene expression; select with puromycin or screen for GFP	Bartel
	32702	pMSCV-loxp-dsRed-loxp-eGFP-Puro-WPRE	MSCV	Conditional overexpression plasmid; deletion of dsRed by Cre recombinase results in the rapid loss of dsRed and the activation of your gene fused to eGFP expression	Clevers
	18760	MSCV IRES Luciferase	MSCV	Plasmid for transgene expression; also expresses luciferase	Lowe
	9044	pMIG	MSCV	Plasmid for transgene expression; also expresses GFP. Also see pMIG-w, a variant that has WRE, a post-transcriptional regulatory element that increases export to the cytoplasm	Hahn
	11375	MDH1-PGK-GFP_2.0	MSCV	Retroviral construct for miRNA expression	Chen
	52114	pMSCV-IRES-mCherry FP	MSCV	A bicistronic IRES-mCherry containing retroviral plasmid	Vignali
	27995	TtRMPVIR	CMV/MSV	Tet-regulated expression of shRNA; expresses rtTA. See Zuber et al. 2011 for additional plasmids in this toolkit.	Lowe
	64865	pLncEXP	CMV/MSV	lncRNA expression plasmid	Sun
	60683	pLXIN-Luc	MoMSV	Stable expression of luciferase in mammalian cells	Wong