Nontoxic, double-deletion-mutant rabies viral vectors for retrograde targeting of projection neurons.

ABSTRACT: Recombinant rabies viral vectors have proven useful for applications including retrograde targeting of projection neurons and monosynaptic tracing, but their cytotoxicity has limited their use to short-term experiments. Here we introduce a new class of double-deletion-mutant rabies viral vectors that left transduced cells alive and healthy indefinitely. Deletion of the viral polymerase gene abolished cytotoxicity and reduced transgene expression to trace levels but left vectors still able to retrogradely infect projection neurons and express recombinases, allowing downstream expression of other transgene products such as fluorophores and calcium indicators. The morphology of retrogradely targeted cells appeared unperturbed at 1 year postinjection. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings showed n

SUBMITTER: Chatterjee S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6503322 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature