TY - JOUR
T1 - Viral tools for neuroscience
AU - Nectow, Alexander R.
AU - Nestler, Eric J.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020, Springer Nature Limited.
PY - 2020/12
Y1 - 2020/12
N2 - Recombinant viruses are the workhorse of modern neuroscience. Whether one would like to understand a neuron’s morphology, natural activity patterns, molecular composition, connectivity or behavioural and physiologic function, most studies begin with the injection of an engineered virus, often an adeno-associated virus or herpes simplex virus, among many other types. Recombinant viruses currently enable some combination of cell type-specific, circuit-selective, activity-dependent and spatiotemporally resolved transgene expression. Viruses are now used routinely to study the molecular and cellular functions of a gene within an identified cell type in the brain, and enable the application of optogenetics, chemogenetics, calcium imaging and related approaches. These advantageous properties of engineered viruses thus enable characterization of neuronal function at unprecedented resolution. However, each virus has specific advantages and disadvantages, which makes viral tool selection paramount for properly designing and executing experiments within the central nervous system. In the current Review, we discuss the key principles and uses of engineered viruses and highlight innovations that are needed moving forward.
AB - Recombinant viruses are the workhorse of modern neuroscience. Whether one would like to understand a neuron’s morphology, natural activity patterns, molecular composition, connectivity or behavioural and physiologic function, most studies begin with the injection of an engineered virus, often an adeno-associated virus or herpes simplex virus, among many other types. Recombinant viruses currently enable some combination of cell type-specific, circuit-selective, activity-dependent and spatiotemporally resolved transgene expression. Viruses are now used routinely to study the molecular and cellular functions of a gene within an identified cell type in the brain, and enable the application of optogenetics, chemogenetics, calcium imaging and related approaches. These advantageous properties of engineered viruses thus enable characterization of neuronal function at unprecedented resolution. However, each virus has specific advantages and disadvantages, which makes viral tool selection paramount for properly designing and executing experiments within the central nervous system. In the current Review, we discuss the key principles and uses of engineered viruses and highlight innovations that are needed moving forward.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85094130712&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1038/s41583-020-00382-z
DO - 10.1038/s41583-020-00382-z
M3 - Review article
C2 - 33110222
AN - SCOPUS:85094130712
SN - 1471-003X
VL - 21
SP - 669
EP - 681
JO - Nature Reviews Neuroscience
JF - Nature Reviews Neuroscience
IS - 12
ER -