20 - Retrovirus-Mediated Gene Transfer into Mouse Cerebellar Cultures

Abstract

Publisher Summary With the development of technology, it has become possible to introduce foreign genes to primary cerebellar cells and express them stably in the cerebellar cell culture via retrovirus-mediated gene transfer. However, it is necessary to examine the conditions for preparation of primary cerebellar cells and effective infection of recombinant retroviruses in the light of the purpose of a particular project. This chapter describes a study in which primary cerebellar cells infected with retroviruses were applied to neural transplantation into adult mouse cerebellum; the introduced CAT gene could be expressed stably in the transplanted cell mass for at least 3 weeks after transplantation. Using the dissociated cell culture described in the chapter, on the other hand, it is also possible to apply this retrovirus-mediated gene transfer to the investigation of the effects of introduced gene products on the electrophysiological and morphological properties of cerebellar cells in vitro .