title: Retrovirus-mediated gene expression during chick visual system development.
abstract: The chick embryo is an excellent model for studying eye morphogenesis, retinal cell fate determination, and retinotectal projections due to its accessibility and the available molecular tools. Avian replication-competent retroviruses allow efficient infection of proliferating cells and stable integration of the viral genome, including up to 2.3kb of foreign cDNA, into the host chromosome. High-titer retroviruses are produced by transient transfection of avian DF-1 cells followed by centrifugation of the culture medium. Targeted infection of the optic vesicle, the lens vesicle, the retina and pigmented epithelium, the periocular mesenchyme, and the tectum can be performed at different developmental stages in ovo. In addition, retroviruses can be used to transduce genes of interest into various ocular tissue explants or cells in vitro. Virus-mediated gene expression can be detected within 12h of infection. Therefore, avian replication-competent retroviruses serve as powerful tools to misexpress wild-type and mutant gene products and to study molecular mechanisms underlying vertebrate visual system development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Jules Stein Eye Institute, Molecular Biology Institute, University of California at Los Angeles, 100 Stein Plaza, 90095, USA. yang@jsei.ucla.edu
authors.forename: Xian-Jie
authors.initials: XJ
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002642:Chick Embryo; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D015967:Gene Expression Regulation, Viral; D018014:Gene Transfer Techniques; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D012190:Retroviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D012192:Retroviridae Infections; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000196:embryology* / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins