AAV-mediated transduction of songbird retina

IntroductionGenetic manipulation of murine retinal tissue through ocular administration of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) has become a standard technique to investigate a multitude of mechanisms underlying retinal physiology. Resultantly, developments of recombinant viral vectors with improved tran...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Pranav Kumar Seth, Dominik Heyers, Baladev Satish, Ezequiel Mendoza, Katrin Haase, Lisa Borowsky, Isabelle Musielak, Karl-Wilhelm Koch, Regina Feederle, Constance Scharff, Karin Dedek, Henrik Mouritsen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-03-01
Series:Frontiers in Physiology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2025.1549585/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849770599761575936
author Pranav Kumar Seth
Pranav Kumar Seth
Dominik Heyers
Dominik Heyers
Baladev Satish
Ezequiel Mendoza
Katrin Haase
Lisa Borowsky
Isabelle Musielak
Karl-Wilhelm Koch
Karl-Wilhelm Koch
Regina Feederle
Constance Scharff
Karin Dedek
Karin Dedek
Henrik Mouritsen
Henrik Mouritsen
author_facet Pranav Kumar Seth
Pranav Kumar Seth
Dominik Heyers
Dominik Heyers
Baladev Satish
Ezequiel Mendoza
Katrin Haase
Lisa Borowsky
Isabelle Musielak
Karl-Wilhelm Koch
Karl-Wilhelm Koch
Regina Feederle
Constance Scharff
Karin Dedek
Karin Dedek
Henrik Mouritsen
Henrik Mouritsen
author_sort Pranav Kumar Seth
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionGenetic manipulation of murine retinal tissue through ocular administration of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) has become a standard technique to investigate a multitude of mechanisms underlying retinal physiology. Resultantly, developments of recombinant viral vectors with improved transduction efficiency and further methodological improvements have mostly focused on murine tissue, whereas AAVs successfully targeting avian retinae have remained scarce.MethodologyUsing a custom-designed injection setup, we identified a viral serotype with the capability to successfully induce widespread transduction of the bird retina.ResultsIntravitreal administration of an AAV type 2/9 encoding for enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in night-migratory European robins (Erithacus rubecula) resulted in transduction coverages of up to 60% within retinal tissue. Subsequent immunohistochemical analyses revealed that the AAV2/9-EGFP serotype almost exclusively targeted photoreceptors: rods, various single cones (UV, blue, green, and red cones), and both (accessory and principal) members of double cones.DiscussionThe consistently high and photoreceptor-specific transduction efficiency makes the AAV2/9 serotype a powerful tool for carrying out genetic manipulations in avian retinal photoreceptors, thus opening a wealth of opportunities to investigate physiological aspects underlying retinal processing in birds, such as physiological recordings and/or post-transductional behavioural readouts for future vision-related research.
format Article
id doaj-art-ff4b5d56b4c1498cb2c3ef34e67b4742
institution DOAJ
issn 1664-042X
language English
publishDate 2025-03-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Physiology
spelling doaj-art-ff4b5d56b4c1498cb2c3ef34e67b47422025-08-20T03:02:56ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Physiology1664-042X2025-03-011610.3389/fphys.2025.15495851549585AAV-mediated transduction of songbird retinaPranav Kumar Seth0Pranav Kumar Seth1Dominik Heyers2Dominik Heyers3Baladev Satish4Ezequiel Mendoza5Katrin Haase6Lisa Borowsky7Isabelle Musielak8Karl-Wilhelm Koch9Karl-Wilhelm Koch10Regina Feederle11Constance Scharff12Karin Dedek13Karin Dedek14Henrik Mouritsen15Henrik Mouritsen16Neurosensorics Group/Animal Navigation, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl on Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanySussex Neuroscience, School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex, Brighton, United KingdomNeurosensorics Group/Animal Navigation, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl on Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyResearch Centre for Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyNeurosensorics Group/Animal Navigation, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl on Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyInstitut für Biologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyNeurosensorics Group/Animal Navigation, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl on Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyNeurosensorics Group/Animal Navigation, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl on Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyNeurosensorics Group/Animal Navigation, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl on Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyResearch Centre for Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyDepartment of Neuroscience, Biochemistry Group, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyMonoclonal Antibody Core Facility, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health, Neuherberg, GermanyInstitut für Biologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, GermanyNeurosensorics Group/Animal Navigation, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl on Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyResearch Centre for Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyNeurosensorics Group/Animal Navigation, Institute of Biology and Environmental Sciences, Carl on Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyResearch Centre for Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, GermanyIntroductionGenetic manipulation of murine retinal tissue through ocular administration of adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) has become a standard technique to investigate a multitude of mechanisms underlying retinal physiology. Resultantly, developments of recombinant viral vectors with improved transduction efficiency and further methodological improvements have mostly focused on murine tissue, whereas AAVs successfully targeting avian retinae have remained scarce.MethodologyUsing a custom-designed injection setup, we identified a viral serotype with the capability to successfully induce widespread transduction of the bird retina.ResultsIntravitreal administration of an AAV type 2/9 encoding for enhanced green fluorescent protein (EGFP) in night-migratory European robins (Erithacus rubecula) resulted in transduction coverages of up to 60% within retinal tissue. Subsequent immunohistochemical analyses revealed that the AAV2/9-EGFP serotype almost exclusively targeted photoreceptors: rods, various single cones (UV, blue, green, and red cones), and both (accessory and principal) members of double cones.DiscussionThe consistently high and photoreceptor-specific transduction efficiency makes the AAV2/9 serotype a powerful tool for carrying out genetic manipulations in avian retinal photoreceptors, thus opening a wealth of opportunities to investigate physiological aspects underlying retinal processing in birds, such as physiological recordings and/or post-transductional behavioural readouts for future vision-related research.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2025.1549585/fullAAVavian retinaphotoreceptorsintravitreal injectionEuropean robinopsin
spellingShingle Pranav Kumar Seth
Pranav Kumar Seth
Dominik Heyers
Dominik Heyers
Baladev Satish
Ezequiel Mendoza
Katrin Haase
Lisa Borowsky
Isabelle Musielak
Karl-Wilhelm Koch
Karl-Wilhelm Koch
Regina Feederle
Constance Scharff
Karin Dedek
Karin Dedek
Henrik Mouritsen
Henrik Mouritsen
AAV-mediated transduction of songbird retina
Frontiers in Physiology
AAV
avian retina
photoreceptors
intravitreal injection
European robin
opsin
title AAV-mediated transduction of songbird retina
title_full AAV-mediated transduction of songbird retina
title_fullStr AAV-mediated transduction of songbird retina
title_full_unstemmed AAV-mediated transduction of songbird retina
title_short AAV-mediated transduction of songbird retina
title_sort aav mediated transduction of songbird retina
topic AAV
avian retina
photoreceptors
intravitreal injection
European robin
opsin
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphys.2025.1549585/full
work_keys_str_mv AT pranavkumarseth aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT pranavkumarseth aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT dominikheyers aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT dominikheyers aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT baladevsatish aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT ezequielmendoza aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT katrinhaase aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT lisaborowsky aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT isabellemusielak aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT karlwilhelmkoch aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT karlwilhelmkoch aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT reginafeederle aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT constancescharff aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT karindedek aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT karindedek aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT henrikmouritsen aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina
AT henrikmouritsen aavmediatedtransductionofsongbirdretina