Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a double stranded DNA virus with envelope, which comes from herpesvirus family. HSV-1 has a wide range of host cells and has been observed to infect most differentiated mammalian cell types. When the virus destroys the epithelial cells of skin or mucosa, it can produce strong and rapid expression in a series of species such as rodents and zebrafish within 1-2 weeks.

Figure 1: Amplicon plasmid structure and vector generation. (Artusi, S., 2018)

Creative BioMart can provide you with a series of services including HSV vector design and construction, purification, production and quality verification, and provide HSV vectors with high titer and purity for basic, preclinical and clinical research. The vector can be used to express channelrhodopsin gene in the brain of adult zebrafish, so that the target zebrafish can be used for optogenetic research.

Figure 2: Schematic representation of the HSV-1 virion structure and lytic life cycle (Artusi, S., 2018)

Why Select HSV Vectors for Your Optogenetic Experiment

• Large size: large insertion capacity
• A wide host range: infection of dividing and non dividing cells
• Persistent expression of long-term infection genes
• The risk of insertion mutation is small
• Low toxicity
• It is relatively stable and can be concentrated to high virus titer
• Tendency of nerve cells used to target neurons

Construction of Herpes Simplex Virus Vector

A major advantage of HSV is that it has a huge (150 KB) packaging capacity and can accommodate long sequences of foreign DNA, such as full-length promoter sequences for compact cell type specific expression.

Replication incompetent HSV vectors do not pass through synapses, but they have the ability to transduce axon terminals and retrograde to neuronal cell bodies. This provides a method of targeting neurons based on connectivity.

Some photogenetic studies utilize HSV-1 cell bodies or projection specific operations.

Potential of Herpes Simplex Virus Vector

HSV vector has a natural tendency to neurons and can be used in corrective gene therapy or cancer gene therapy of neurogenic tumors. HSV vectors have been applied to various diseases for a long time, including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN), sensory neuropathy (SN), epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and encephalitis.

Creative BioMart is always devote us to provide high-quality and satisfactory service to our customers, if you are interested in our services or have some question, please feel free to contact us or make online inquiry.

Reference

1. Artusi, S., Miyagawa, Y., Goins, W. F., Cohen, J. B., & Glorioso, J. C. (2018). Herpes Simplex Virus Vectors for Gene Transfer to the Central Nervous System. Diseases (Basel, Switzerland), 6(3), 74.

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