Does Recombinant Adeno-associated Virus-vectored Proximal Region of Mouse Rhodopsin Promoter Support Only Rod-type Specific Expression in Vivo?

Purpose: We have previously found that the -385 to +86 portion of the mouse rod opsin promoter (mOP500) can limit recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV)-mediated transgene expression to photoreceptor cells when delivered subretinally. However, the photoreceptor (PR) subtype-specificity of expression remains unclear. Here, we evaluated whether the presence of certain cis-elements in this proximal promoter, such as the rod-specific, neural retina leucine zipper protein (NRL) response element (NRE), can render it a driver of rod-specific expression.

Methods: Subretinal injections of a serotype 5 rAAV vector carrying the green fluorescent protein (GFP) cDNA, driven by mOP500, were administered to male Sprague-Dawley rats at postnatal day (P) 40-48. Two weeks to eight months later, the distribution of GFP-expressing cells in the retina was characterized by GFP-, cone-specific alpha-transducin-immuno-, and peanut agglutinin-lectin histochemistry and by morphological criteria. The same viral suspension was also injected sub-retinally into rhodopsin-knockout rho (-/-) mice either at P18 or P78, and retinas were analyzed by immunohistochemistry and PNA lectin histochemistry two weeks later.

Results: GFP reactivity was found exclusively in the outer nuclear layer (ONL) of rat retinas two weeks after treatment, with abundant reporter gene expression observed in both rods and cones. GFP-positive cones, defined by their typical morphology and the co-linearity of PNA-lectin labeling with GFP-immunoreactivity, were found in all regions of the transduced retinas. GFP-positive cones constituted up to 6% of the total GFP-positive photoreceptors. By eight months post-injection, a low level of GFP-reactivity was additionally observed in the inner nuclear layer (INL) and ganglion cell layer. Photoreceptor-specific GFP expression was also seen in the rho (-/-) mice at both ages tested. In pups injected at P18, costaining with PNA-lectin revealed that up to 15% of the GFP-positive photoreceptors were cones. Despite only a single row of photoreceptors remaining in these knockout mice by P90, numerous GFP-positive cones were still present.

Conclusions: Subretinal delivery of rAAV5 harboring a reporter gene driven by mOP500 results in passenger gene expression in both rod and cones, indicating that this promoter is photoreceptor-specific but not rod-specific. The lack of photoreceptor subtype-specificity suggests that although cones do not express the NRL and NR2E3 trans-factors considered necessary for activation of mOP500, other general transcription factors in cones may compensate.