Recombinant simian adenoviral vectors encoding a heterologous fiber protein and uses thereof

1. A recombinant adenoviral vector comprising a polynucleotide that encodes an adenoviral hexon protein, a heterologous adenoviral fiber protein and an adenoviral penton protein, wherein the heterologous adenoviral fiber protein is selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 16;

(b) a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 16, wherein the polypeptide comprises a deletion, insertion or substitution of not more than 35 amino acid residues; and

(c) a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence which is at least 90% identical over its entire length to the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 16;

and wherein the adenoviral hexon protein is a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 22 and the adenoviral penton protein is a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 28.

2. The recombinant adenoviral vector of claim 1 , wherein the E4 region of the vector comprises ORF6 from a human adenovirus.

3. The recombinant adenoviral vector of claim 2 , wherein the E4 region of the vector comprises ORF6 from human adenovirus 5 (Ad5 E4ORF6).

4. The recombinant adenoviral vector of claim 1 further comprising at least one of the following:

(a) an adenoviral 5′-end or an adenoviral 5′ inverted terminal repeat;

(b) an adenoviral Ela region or a fragment thereof selected from the group consisting of 13S region, 12S region, and 9S region;

(c) an adenoviral E1 b region or a fragment thereof selected from the group consisting of small T region, large T region, and IX region;

(d) an adenoviral E2b region or a fragment thereof selected from the group consisting of small pTP region, Polymerase region, and 1Va2 region;

(e) an adenoviral L1 region or a fragment thereof encoding an adenoviral protein selected from the group consisting of 28.1 kD protein, polymerase, agnoprotein, 52/55 kDa protein, and Illa protein;

(f) an adenoviral L2 region or a fragment thereof encoding an adenoviral protein selected from the group consisting of:

a VII protein,

a V protein, and

a Mu protein;

(g) an adenoviral L3 region or a fragment thereof encoding an adenoviral protein selected from the group consisting of:

a VI protein, and

an endoprotease;

(h) an adenoviral E2a region;

(i) an adenoviral L4 region or a fragment thereof encoding an adenoviral protein selected from the group consisting of 100 kD protein, 33 kD homolog, and protein VIII;

(j) an adenoviral E3 region or a fragment thereof selected from the group consisting of E3 ORF1, E3 ORF2, E3 ORF3, E3 ORF4, E3 ORF5, E3 ORF6, E3 ORF7, E3 ORF8, and E3 ORF9;

(k) an adenoviral LS region or a fragment thereof encoding a fiber protein having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 16;

(l) an adenoviral E4 region or a fragment thereof selected from the group consisting of E4 ORF7, E4 ORF6, E4 ORF5, E4 ORF4, E4 ORF3, E4 ORF2, and E4 ORF1; and

(m) an adenoviral 3′-end or an adenoviral 3′ inverted terminal repeat.

5. The recombinant adenoviral vector according to claim 1 , wherein the polynucleotide comprises a polynucleotide which is at least 90% identical over its entire length to a polynucleotide selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 65 and SEQ ID NO: 65 lacking one or more of genomic regions E1A, E1B, E2A, E2B, E3 or E4.

6. The recombinant adenoviral vector according to claim 1 , wherein the vector

(i) does not comprise a gene in a genomic region selected from the group of genomic regions consisting of E1 A, E1 B, E2A, E2B, E3 and E4, or

(ii) comprises at least one gene of a genomic region selected from the group consisting of E1 A, E1B, E2A, E2B, E3 and E4, wherein the at least one gene comprises a deletion or a mutation which renders the at least one gene non-functional.

7. The recombinant adenoviral vector according to claim 1 , wherein the adenoviral vector is capable of infecting a mammalian cell.

8. The recombinant adenoviral vector according to claim 1 , wherein the recombinant adenoviral vector comprises a molecule for delivery into a target cell.

9. The recombinant adenoviral vector according to claim 8 , wherein the molecule for delivery into a target cell is a polynucleotide encoding an antigenic protein or a fragment thereof.

10. A composition comprising:

(i) an adjuvant;

(ii) the recombinant adenoviral vector of claim 1 ; and

(iii) a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.

11. An isolated cell comprising the recombinant adenoviral vector of claim 1 .

12. The isolated cell according to claim 11 , wherein the cell is a host cell that expresses at least one adenoviral gene selected from the group consisting of E1a, E1b, E2a, E2b, E4, L1, L2, L3, L4, and L5.

13. The recombinant adenoviral vector of claim 1 , wherein the vector comprises a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 16, a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 22, and a polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 28.

14. The recombinant adenoviral vector of claim 1 , wherein the recombinant adenoviral vector is a recombinant simian adenoviral vector.

15. The recombinant adenoviral vector of claim 14 , wherein the recombinant adenoviral vector is capable of infecting a mammalian cell.

16. The recombinant adenoviral vector of claim 14 , wherein the recombinant adenoviral vector comprises a molecule for delivery into a target cell.

17. An isolated cell comprising the recombinant adenoviral vector of claim 14 .