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BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article

Front. Physiol.
Sec. Avian Physiology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fphys.2024.1467489
This article is part of the Research Topic Methods in Avian Physiology: 2023/24 View all 4 articles

Heart-specific expression of the green fluorescent proteinGFP gene in avian embryos by administration of recombinant adenovirus type-5 vector into the embryonic blood vessel

Provisionally accepted
Wonjun Choi Wonjun Choi 1Joonbum Lee Joonbum Lee 1Dong-Hwan Kim Dong-Hwan Kim 1Yeunsu Suh Yeunsu Suh 1Sang Suk Lee Sang Suk Lee 2Kichoon Lee Kichoon Lee 1*
  • 1 The Ohio State University, Columbus, United States
  • 2 Sunchon National University, Suncheon, South Jeolla, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Genetic modification in vivo could provide direct functions of genes that could potentially contribute to diverse areas of research including genetics, developmental biology, and physiology. It has been reported that genes of interest could be introduced via recombinant adenovirus type 5 (Ad5) in poultry. Successful gene delivery to mammal fetuses in utero promises substantial progress in clinical and developmental biology, but it is limited because of difficulties in injecting specific sites and invasiveness. On the other hand, developing avian embryos are easily accessible by making a window on the eggshell. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine permissive embryonic stages for gene transfer into specific avian tissue/organs by injection of Ad5 containing the green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene into blood vessels. At 2 d of post-injection, a strong GFP signal was predominantly identified in the heart of chicken embryos injected at Hamilton-Hamburger (HH) 14, 15, 16 and17 stages with the percentages (44%, 53%, 25%, and 14%, respectively) of GFP positive embryos. In quail embryos, the injection at the HH 15 resulted in heart-specific expression of GFP. Western blot analysis revealed that GFP was exclusively expressed in the avian hearts. These results suggest that the GFP gene is specifically delivered to the avian embryonic hearts when Ad5 is injected through the blood vessel at HH 14-17. This adenoviral transduction of genes of interest in avian embryonic hearts can provide new models for understanding functions of genetic factors on embryonic heart development and unravel genetic etiology of congenital heart diseases.

    Keywords: adenovirus type 5, Green fluorescent protein expression, Quail embryo, Heart, chicken embryo

    Received: 20 Jul 2024; Accepted: 03 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Choi, Lee, Kim, Suh, Lee and Lee. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Kichoon Lee, The Ohio State University, Columbus, United States

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