Short paper

Transduction of the rat brain by Bovine Herpesvirus 4

Marco Redaelli^1,2 , Andrea Cavaggioni¹ , Carla Mucignat-Caretta^1,2 , Sandro Cavirani³ , Antonio Caretta⁴ and Gaetano Donofrio³

¹Department of Human Anatomy and Physiology, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy

²Department of Neuroscience, University of Padova, 35131 Padova, Italy

³Department of Animal Health, University of Parma, 43100 Parma, Italy

⁴Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Parma, 43100 Parma, Italy

author email corresponding author email

Genetic Vaccines and Therapy 2008, 6:6doi:10.1186/1479-0556-6-6

Published:	12 February 2008

Abstract

Bovine herpesvirus 4 (BoHV-4) is a gamma-herpesvirus with no clear disease association. A recombinant BoHV-4 (BoHV-4EGFPΔTK) expressing Green Fluorescent Protein (EGFP), was successfully used to infect F98 rat glioma cells. BoHV-4EGFPΔTK was injected into the lateral ventricle of the rat brain. Histology and immunohistochemistry showed that ependymal and rostral migratory stream cells were transduced while neurons were not. Clinical scores, evaluated for 90 days, indicated that the virus was non neuropathogenic, suggesting this virus is a suitable vector for brain tumor gene therapy.