Figure 6. AAV-NSE-GFP vector expresses exclusively in brain parenchyma.

(a, b; large tumor) 10⁵ U87fluc-mCherry-EGFRvIII cells were implanted into the striatum of nude mice and 1 week later, 10¹⁰ genome copies AAV-NSE-GFP was infused intratumorally. Seven days later, brains were analyzed as above. Transduced cells are shown in green and tumor cells in red due to stable mCherry expression. Note the transduction of brain parenchyma on the perimeter of the tumor and also the few GFP+ cells within the tumor which did not co-localize with mCherry. Scale bar = 200 μm. (c, d; small tumor) Mice were injected with 10⁴ U87fluc-mCherry cells and were intratumorally injected with AAV-NSE-GFP 7 days later. Ten days later, mice were killed and brains analyzed for transduction. Note the excellent transduction of brain which completely surrounds the tumor. Scale bars = 200 µm. AAV, adeno-associated virus; EGFRvIII, epidermal growth factor receptor variant III; GFP, green fluorescent protein; NSE, neuron-specific enolase.