抄録
Virus-mediated gene transfer to neuronal cells is a powerful technique to study brain functions and to treat congenital and neurodegenerative diseases. However, adenovirus that is conventionally used for gene transfer to neurons works little to transduce cerebellar Purkinje cells. Here we evaluate potential of two other viruses, lentivirus and adeno-associated virus (AAV) to transduce cultured Purkinje cells. Addition of recombinant GFP-expressing lentivirus into the culture medium caused non-specific transduction of the cultured cells including Purkinje cells and glial cells. In contrast, AAV-mediated GFP expression was mostly confined to Purkinje cells. In both viruses, the expression of GFP in Purkinje cells occurred two weeks after infection and lasted as long as the culture was healthy. These data, thus suggest that gene transfer to Purkinje cells using lentivirus or AAV is a promising technique to study the pathophysiology of the cerebellum. [Jpn J Physiol 54 Suppl:S143 (2004)]
