Abstract: The invention provides a gene transfer vector for inducing an immune response against Yersinia pestis in a mammal. The gene transfer vector comprises a nucleic acid sequence encoding an immunogenic portion of one or more proteins of Yersinia pestis and/or a nucleic acid sequence encoding a monoclonal antibody directed against Yersinia pestis. The invention further provides a method of producing an immune response against Yersinia pestis in a mammal comprising administration of the gene transfer vector to the mammal. The invention also provides a monoclonal antibody directed against the Virulence (V) antigen of Y. pestis, as well as a hybridoma cell line producing same and a nucleic acid sequence encoding same.

Abstract: The present invention provides a modified adenovirus comprising genomic adenoviral DNA which has been modified so that (i) the only gene product of the early region (E4) that is expressed is open reading frame 6 (ORF-6), (ii) neither the gene product of the E1A region nor the gene product of the E1B region is expressed, and (iii) no other early or late gene products are expressed. The present invention also provides methods of inhibiting repair of breaks in double-stranded DNA in a cell, preventing concatamerization of linear wild-type adenoviral DNA, inhibiting V(D)J recombination of nucleic acid sequences encoding immunoglobulins, preventing apoptosis, and preventing and treating cancer.