# Virus Production and Manipulation of Protein/Gene Expression Module

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2024 · $175,652

## Abstract

SUMMARY – VIRUS PRODUCTION AND MANIPULATION ON PROTEIN/GENE EXPRESSION MODULE
AAV and lentiviruses now play a central role in much of vision research in mediating the genetic delivery and
manipulation of cells, tissues, organs, and even complete animals. The reasons are multiple: viruses can
mediate the delivery of genetic material far more efficiently than most other methods, particularly using AAV,
which can be grown to very high titers. The use of lentiviruses allows the permanent introduction of genes or
the expression of shRNA to modulate gene and protein expression in cell derivatives permanently. Both can
also be used to efficiently introduce and express gene editors such as CRSPR-cas9 for specific host gene
editing, deletion, or correction. Finally, several viruses are biologically and pathologically relevant to vision
and visual diseases, particularly selected members of the herpesviruses. The needs of our group are
increasing for the genetic manipulation and generation of virus vectors, and for their production and
purification for multiple downstream applications. Accordingly, we now establish a new core resource module,
the Virus Production and Manipulation of Protein/gene expression (VPMP) module, in order to fulfill those
needs. The module is co-directed by two experienced molecular virologists, who will guide and inform
participating faculty of the strategies and steps that can be taken to fulfill their gene delivery-expression-
manipulation needs. The VPMP module has its own full time experienced senior scientist who will carry out
the genetic manipulation of virus vector backbones, and undertake the cell work for the production and
purification of multiscale preparations of AAV, lentiviruses, herpesviruses, and other viruses as needed. The
VPMP module has a junior faculty who is developing advanced AAV purification strategies, and can advise
on protein purification. The VPMP module also has all the equipment for virus purification and
concentration, including centrifugal and FPLC-based purification equipment and large-scale cell culture
facilities. We are confident that this will greatly enhance the vision research at Pitt and permit the
establishment of collaborations that would otherwise not develop. We expect the use of this module will
continue to grow as our vision research faculty increase and the needs for genetic manipulation grow as well.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10939616
- **Project number:** 2P30EY008098-36
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Paul R. Kinchington
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $175,652
- **Award type:** 2
- **Project period:** 1997-04-01 → 2029-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10939616

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10939616, Virus Production and Manipulation of Protein/Gene Expression Module (2P30EY008098-36). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10939616. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*