Brain area, age and viral vector-specific glial cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor expression and transport in rat

We investigated the feasibility of viral vector-mediated expression and axonal transport of the glial cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor, a potential antiepileptic agent, to the hippocampus and the piriform cortex, areas involved in the induction and spread of seizure activity. Glial cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor overexpression was induced by injections of recombinant vectors derived from serotype 2 adeno-associated virus or lentivirus. We found that recombinant adeno-associated viral vector was able to effectively transduce mitral cells of the olfactory bulb and pyramidal cells of CA1, resulting in transport of glial cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor to the piriform cortex and to the contralateral CA1 area, respectively. These data suggest that the recombinant adeno-associated viral vector vector system is an optimal alternative for therapeutic glial cell-line-derived neurotrophic factor gene transduction and transport of the protein to the epileptogenic brain areas.