Journal
NATURE REVIEWS NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 21, Issue 12, Pages 669-681Publisher
NATURE RESEARCH
DOI: 10.1038/s41583-020-00382-z
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Funding
- NIDA NIH HHS [P01 DA047233, R01 DA014133] Funding Source: Medline
- NIMH NIH HHS [R01 MH051399] Funding Source: Medline
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Viral vectors are important tools for neuroscientists. In this Review, Nectow and Nestler discuss state-of-the-art recombinant viral tools, the key principles governing their selection, development and use, and how they could answer some of the most important questions in neuroscience today. 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.
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