rAAV-miniBEND: A targeted vector for brain endothelial cell gene delivery and cerebrovascular malformation modeling

Abstract

Defects in brain endothelial cells (brainECs) can cause severe cerebrovascular malformations, including arteriovenous malformation (AVM) and cerebral cavernous malformation (CCM). The lack of appropriate tools for cerebrovascular disease modeling and local genetic manipulation of the brain vasculature hinders research on cerebrovascular malformations. Here we develop a recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) tool miniBEND (rAAV-based mini-system for brain endothelial cells, rAAV-miniBEND), which combines a minimal promoter and an optimized cis-acting element (cis-element) isolated from the mouse gene Tek. This system achieves gene expression specifically in mouse and rat brainECs. Using rAAV-miniBEND, we achieve high-efficiency and high-specificity gene expression in brainECs through intracranial injection at various developmental stages and through intravenous administration at all postnatal stages in mice. Furthermore, we use rAAV-miniBEND to model sporadic CCMs mediated by MAP3K3I441M and AVMs mediated by BrafV600E. We demonstrate that somatic expression of BrafV600E in brainECs induces an AVM phenotype, and that brainEC proliferation are important for AVM development. Thus, our rAAV-miniBEND system provides a valuable and widely applicable tool for cerebrovascular disease modeling and local or global brainEC gene delivery.