Constitutive expression of the adenovirus E3-14.7K protein does not prolong adenovirus vector DNA persistence but protects mice against lipopolysaccharide-induced acute hepatitis.

First-generation adenovirus vectors, deleted in the E1 and E3 regions of the genome, induce a strong inflammatory response that affects persistence of vector DNA in transduced organs and causes toxicity in the host. Wild-type adenovirus encodes a number of proteins that are nonessential for viral propagation in vitro but that dampen the inflammatory and immune responses mounted by the host during infection. The adenovirus E3 region-encoded 14.