Gene transfer engineering for astrocyte-specific silencing in the CNS

Gene Ther. 2015 Oct;22(10):830-9. doi: 10.1038/gt.2015.54. Epub 2015 Jun 5.

Abstract

Cell-type-specific gene silencing is critical to understand cell functions in normal and pathological conditions, in particular in the brain where strong cellular heterogeneity exists. Molecular engineering of lentiviral vectors has been widely used to express genes of interest specifically in neurons or astrocytes. However, we show that these strategies are not suitable for astrocyte-specific gene silencing due to the processing of small hairpin RNA (shRNA) in a cell. Here we develop an indirect method based on a tetracycline-regulated system to fully restrict shRNA expression to astrocytes. The combination of Mokola-G envelope pseudotyping, glutamine synthetase promoter and two distinct microRNA target sequences provides a powerful tool for efficient and cell-type-specific gene silencing in the central nervous system. We anticipate our vector will be a potent and versatile system to improve the targeting of cell populations for fundamental as well as therapeutic applications.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Astrocytes / physiology*
  • Central Nervous System / cytology
  • Central Nervous System / physiology
  • Gene Expression Regulation
  • Gene Silencing
  • Gene Transfer Techniques*
  • Genetic Vectors*
  • Lentivirus*
  • Mice
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • RNA, Small Interfering*
  • Tetracycline

Substances

  • RNA, Small Interfering
  • Tetracycline