Syn-FLEX-NES-jRCaMP1a AAV (Serotype 8)

Over the past decade, recombinant adeno-associated viruses (rAAV) have evolved into a powerful gene delivery tool for both basic research applications and clinical trials. Compared to other viruses, rAAV has many advantages for gene delivery, including low immunogenicity and genotoxicity, long-term gene expression, broad tissue tropism, and high transduction efficiency in vivo. rAAV can effectively transduce many organs, including liver, heart, eye, and muscle, with its tissue transduction preference depending on the route of administration and the properties of a given AAV capsid. Several groups have shown that route of administration is a secondary determinant of AAV tropism. For example, rAAV8 can effectively transduce skeletal muscle and heart after intraperitoneal (IP) injection, whereas it primarily transduces the liver after intravenous (IV) administration. Interestingly, Guo et al. demonstrated that intrathecal injection of rAAVrh.10 into the lumbar cistern resulted in transgene expression in 60% to 90% of spinal cord cells. Overall, these studies suggest that rAAV transduces specific and distinct organs after systemic or local injection. In addition to the route of administration, the properties of the AAV capsid are also major determinants of tissue tropism. This is advantageous because a large number of AAV capsids with different transduction patterns have been discovered in recent decades. Among these capsids, at least 12 serotypes of rAAV are commonly used in basic and clinical research: rAAV2, rAAV3b, rAAV5, rAAV6, rAAV6.2, rAAV7, rAAV8, rAAV9, rAAVrh.8, rAAVrh.10, rAAVrh.39, and rAAVrh.43.