FIGURE 2.

In vivo AAV9-mediated mCherry expression in the adult rat heart provides robust, predominantly cardiomyocyte-specific transgene delivery. (A) Systemic delivery of 0.5 × 10¹² viral particles resulted in robust cardiac-specific expression of mCherry in 4 weeks using AAV9, but not AAV1 as measured using radiant efficiency. Other major organs (including brain, liver, and kidney) showed little to no signs of AAV-mediated infection. Scale bars are 500 μm. (B) AAV9-mediated transgene delivery resulted in transmural ChR2-mCherry expression in both the LV and RV free walls. Scale bars are 250 μm. (C) High-resolution images (brightfield and fluorescence) show cardiomyocyte-specific ChR2-mCherry expression using AAV9-mediated delivery. Scale bars are 50 μm.