Ad5 vectors are the most commonly used adenovirus vector used. Ad5 vectors transduce a wide range of cell types. Ad5 vectors utilize the Coxsackie-Adenovirus Receptor (CAR) to enter cells. Transduction efficiency is related to the level of CAR expression on the cell membrane. If your target cells has low level of CAR or do not express CAR, you may want to consider our chimeric virus, Ad5F35. In general, Ad5 vectors transduce human cells quite well, whereas mouse cells are mostly refractory to Ad5.
If you are working with an Ad5 vector and need to transduce low- or non-CAR expressing cells we highly recommend incubating your vector with GeneJammer (Stratagene) prior to transduction. We recently published an extensive set of experiments comparing the transduction efficiency of Ad5 into cells with low-CAR expression in the presence and absence of GeneJammer and found GeneJammer dramatically increases the number of cells transduced. For more details, take a look at our article C.M. Fouletier-Dilling et al. 2005, Human Gene Therapy, 16:1287–1297.
Visit our Outline of Adenovirus Production to view the major steps involved in adenovirus vector creation, expansion and purification.