Intravenous rAAV9 Produces Time-Resolved Parenchymal Labeling Downstream of the Vasculature in Adult Mice

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Authors: Alejandro Soto-Avellaneda, Anton D. Pugel, Jocelyn R. Holmes, Alyssa Hicks, Sara Z. Alsaifi, Gyandarshika Koirala, Alexandra E. Oxford, Brad E. Morrison
Cited by: 0
References: 53

Abstract

Intravenous delivery of recombinant adeno-associated virus serotype 9 can lead to reporter activation in cell types beyond the vasculature, but the routes enabling downstream parenchymal labeling remain unclear. Here, we provide a systematic, time-resolved map of parenchymal labeling after a single intravenous dose of rAAV9 encoding Cre recombinase under a ubiquitous promoter in healthy adult Ai9 reporter mice. Following retro-orbital administration, we quantified tdTomato-positive labeling across 25 targets at multiple time points over six months and observed durable reporter activation in several nonvascular parenchymal populations relevant to systemic gene-delivery applications. We also identify a set of parenchymal cell types that are consistently labeled in both this vascularly initiated reporter system and our prior adult VE-cadherin-driven reporter paradigm, supporting a connection to vascular exposure without asserting lineage relationships. These results nominate mechanistic routes for future disambiguation, including viral transcytosis across endothelium, endothelial cell transdifferentiation and extracellular-vesicle-mediated transfer. The dataset and methods provide a reference framework for investigators optimizing systemic delivery and interpreting downstream labeling in vivo.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Virus-based gene therapy research RNA Interference and Gene Delivery Barrier Structure and Function Studies

Publication details

Journal / source
Biology
Volume
15
Issue
5
Pages
421–421
Publication date
5 March 2026
Language
EN