THE USE OF ADENOVIRUS VECTORS FOR INTRACEREBRAL GRAFTING OF TRANSFECTED NERVOUS CELLS

GRAFTING genetically-modified cells into the brain is a promising appr oach to address fundamental and clinical issues in neurobiology. Despi te recent substantial progress, most of the methods used for introduci ng DNA sequences into donor cells result in weak efficacy or transient gene expression after transplantation. We tested whether the use of a denovirus as the vector for foreign genes avoided these problems. A re plication-defective adenovirus vector carrying a reporter gene encodin g for beta-galactosidase was used to transfect primary astrocytes. Aft er grafting into various brain structures, transfected cells exhibited robust survival and expressed the transgene for at least five months. These results demonstrate the advantage of adenovirus-mediated gene t ransfer for prolonged transgene expression in grafted primary cells.