Immuno-genetherapy using dendritic cells (DCs) can be applied to human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. Sendai virus (SeV) has unique features such as cytoplasmic replication and high protein expression as a vector for genetic manipulation. In this study, we compared the efficiency of inducing green fluorescent protein (GFP) and HIV-1 gene expression in human monocyte-derived DCs between SeV and adenovirus (AdV). Human monocyte-derived DCs infected with SeV showed the maximum gene expression 24 hr after infection at a multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 2. Although SeV vector showed higher cytopathic effect on DCs than AdV, SeV vector induced maximum gene expression earlier and at much lower MOI. In terms of cell surface phenotype, both SeV and AdV vectors induced DC maturation. DCs infected with SeV as well as AdV elicited HIV-1 specific T-cell responses detected by interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) enzyme-linked immunospot (Elispot). Our data suggest that SeV could be one of the reliable vectors for immuno-genetherapy for HIV-1 infected patients.