Gamma-Retroviral Plasmids
Gamma-retroviruses are a subtype of retrovirus and contain a viral genome encoded on RNA. The genome includes a reverse transcriptase and an integrase to insert the viral genome into a host cell. Scientists can take advantage of this to stably integrate transgenes of interest into a variety of cell types. Wild-type gamma-retroviruses have been engineered into gamma-retroviral vectors for safe use in the lab.
The gamma-retrovirus components necessary to produce infectious viral particles have been split into multiple plasmids for safety:
- Transfer plasmid — contains transgene, sgRNA, or shRNA of interest flanked by LTRs
- Packaging plasmid — contains packaging genes
- Envelope plasmid — contains packaging gene env
This collection highlights popular gamma-retroviral transfer, packaging, and envelope plasmids. Read our Gamma-retroviral Vector Guide for more information about gamma-retroviral components, viral production, and viral safety.
Popular Gamma-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 the Weinberg Lab page for additional resistance variants. | Bob Weinberg | |
| 1773 | pBABE-hygro-hTERT | MoMLV | Expression of hTERT for creation of immortalized cells. See plasmid 1771 for puromycin selection, and plasmid 1774 for neomycin selection. | Bob Weinberg | |
| 10676 | pMKO.1 GFP | MoMLV | U6-driven plasmid for shRNA expression with GFP expression. See plasmid 8452 for puromycin resistance. | William Hahn | |
| 63704 | pRetroX GFP T2A Cre | CMV/MSV | Tetracycline inducible expression of GFP T2A Cre fusion in mammalian cells. | Floris Foijer | |
| 47916 | pRXTN | CMV/MSV | A modified version of pRX-tight Puro encoding NAT instead of PAC. | James Iglehart | |
| 20672 | MSCV-IRES-GFP | MSCV | For transgene expression with a GFP marker. | Tannishtha Reya | |
| 21654 | pMSCV PIG (Puro IRES GFP empty plasmid) | MSCV | For cloning and gene expression. Select with puromycin or screen for GFP. | David 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 the transgene fused to eGFP. | Hans Clevers | |
| 18760 | MSCV IRES Luciferase | MSCV | Plasmid for transgene expression with luciferase expression. | Scott Lowe | |
| 9044 | pMIG | MSCV | Plasmid for transgene expression with GFP expression. See plasmid 12282 for the addition of WRE, a post-transcriptional regulatory element that increases export to the cytoplasm. | William Hahn | |
| 11375 | MDH1-PGK-GFP_2.0 | MSCV | Retroviral construct for miRNA expression. | Chang-Zheng Chen | |
| 52114 | pMSCV-IRES-mCherry FP | MSCV | A bicistronic retroviral plasmid with IRES-mCherry. | Dario Vignali | |
| 27995 | TtRMPVIR | CMV/MSV | Tet-regulated expression of shRNA. Expresses rtTA. See Zuber et al. (2011) for additional plasmids in this toolkit. | Scott Lowe | |
| 64865 | pLncEXP | CMV/MSV | lncRNA expression plasmid. | Lei Sun | |
| 60683 | pLXIN-Luc | MoMSV | Stable expression of luciferase in mammalian cells. | Alice Wong | |
| 83356 | pMXs-3XHA-EGFP-OMP25 | MoMSV | For tagging mitochondria with HA epitopes in mammalian cells. | David Sabatini |
Popular Gamma-Retroviral Packaging Plasmids
| ID | Plasmid | Description | PI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8449 | pUMVC | Contains MoMLV gag and pol. Use with an envelope plasmid. | Bob Weinberg | |
| 12371 | pCL-Eco | Contains MoMLV gag, pol, and env. | Inder Verma | |
| 35614 | pBS-CMV-gagpol | Contains MoMLV gag and pol. | Patrick Salmon |
Popular Gamma-Retroviral Envelope Plasmids
| ID | Plasmid | Description | PI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1733 | pCI-VSVG | VSV-G recommended for the FELIX (FIV-based) system. | Garry Nolan | |
| 8454 | pCMV-VSV-G | VSV-G envelope protein. Use with packaging plasmid. | Bob Weinberg | |
| 12259 | pMD2.G | VSV-G-expressing envelope plasmid. | Didier Trono | |
| 35617 | pCAG-Eco | Ecotropic MLV expressing envelope plasmid. | Arthur Nienhuis and Patrick Salmon | |
| 35616 | pCAG-VSVG | VSV-G-expressing envelope plasmid. | Arthur Nienhuis and Patrick Salmon | |
| 22501 | pHEF-VSVG | VSV-G-expressing envelope plasmid. | Sergey Kasparov |
Additional Resources
Content last reviewed: 23 October 2025
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