title: Rabies Virus CVS-N2c(ΔG) Strain Enhances Retrograde Synaptic Transfer and Neuronal Viability.
abstract: Virally based transsynaptic tracing technologies are powerful experimental tools for neuronal circuit mapping. The glycoprotein-deletion variant of the SAD-B19 vaccine strain rabies virus (RABV) has been the reagent of choice in monosynaptic tracing, since it permits the mapping of synaptic inputs to genetically marked neurons. Since its introduction, new helper viruses and reagents that facilitate complementation have enhanced the efficiency of SAD-B19(ΔG) transsynaptic transfer, but there has been little focus on improvements to the core RABV strain. Here we generate a new deletion mutant strain, CVS-N2c(ΔG), and examine its neuronal toxicity and efficiency in directing retrograde transsynaptic transfer. We find that by comparison with SAD-B19(ΔG), the CVS-N2c(ΔG) strain exhibits a reduction in neuronal toxicity and a marked enhancement in transsynaptic neuronal transfer. We conclude that the CVS-N2c(ΔG) strain provides a more effective means of mapping neuronal circuitry and of monitoring and manipulating neuronal activity in vivo in the mammalian CNS.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neuroscience and Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas R
authors.initials: TR
authors.lastname: Reardon
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neuroscience and Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address: a.murray@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Andrew J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Murray
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Gergely F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Turi
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wirblich
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neuroscience and Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Katherine R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Croce
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Sidney Kimmel Medical College, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA 19107, USA.
authors.forename: Matthias J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Schnell
authors.affiliation: Departments of Neuroscience and Biochemistry and Molecular Biophysics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA. Electronic address: tmj1@columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Thomas M
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Jessell
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA; Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, USA.
authors.forename: Attila
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Losonczy
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D009447:Neuroblastoma / Q000473:pathology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D062308:Optogenetics; D021381:Protein Transport; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000502:physiology*; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins; C413663:fluorescent protein 583