Recombinant HIV and modified packaging cells and method for using

A recombinant human immunodeficiency virus (rHIV) and recombinant mammalian cell-line (packaging systems) and a method for treating infection of cells by human immuneodeficiency virus HIV. rHIV, such as rHIV-1, comprises of a gene construction which includes a foreign gene. The expression of this gene is activated in human cells in the presence of wild-type HIV. This gene product can cause cell death in the presence of an appropriate drug, e.g. Acyclovir. This gene product is typically a viral thymidine kinase. rHIV is so constructed that it is unable to replicate by itself due to the absence of a regulatory gene that is necessary for its replication, such as tat or rev or both. The recombinant mammalian cell-line packaging system comprises in its genome a recombinant gene construction which typically includes a functional regulatory gene from HIV which is missing from rHIV, such as the tat or rev genes or both. The method for treating infection of cells by HIV comprises administering a composition comprising rHIV, which is produced in vitro from a recombinant mammalian cell-line, and treating with a nucleoside analog, such as Acyclovir or Gancyclovir.