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Enhancers for Selective Targeting

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Vectorology for Optogenetics and Chemogenetics

Part of the book series: Neuromethods ((NM,volume 195))

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Abstract

Recombinant adeno-associated viruses can be coupled with short regulatory elements to restrict viral expression to specific cellular populations. These viral vectors can be used as tools for basic research to dissect many aspects of the biology of specific cellular subtypes in health and disease, and across species. A handful of enhancers have already been described in the nervous system, and recent studies suggest that transcriptomic and epigenetic data can be leveraged to systematize the discovery of novel elements to restrict viral expression to any cell type. However, a thorough characterization of the expression profile conferred by these short sequences is required to demonstrate their utility in the experimental context in which they will be ultimately used. Here we describe a complete guide to select, screen, and validate the expression profile of enhancers to target specific subtypes of neurons.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Jessica Lin & Jordane Dimidschstein

Authors
  1. Jessica Lin
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  2. Jordane Dimidschstein
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jordane Dimidschstein .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. NIMH, National Institutes of Health, Behesda, MD, USA

    Mark A.G. Eldridge

  2. Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, and Emory National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Adriana Galvan

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© 2023 This is a U.S. government work and not under copyright protection in the U.S.; foreign copyright protection may apply

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Lin, J., Dimidschstein, J. (2023). Enhancers for Selective Targeting. In: Eldridge, M.A., Galvan, A. (eds) Vectorology for Optogenetics and Chemogenetics. Neuromethods, vol 195. Humana, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2918-5_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-2918-5_9

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  • Publisher Name: Humana, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-0716-2917-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-0716-2918-5

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