AAV8 Luciferase-eGFP

Adeno-Associated Virus serotype 8 (AAV8) was first isolated from rhesus monkey tissue, and the AAV8 rep and cap nucleotide sequences have 88% homology with AAV7 and 82% with AAV2. AAV8 exhibits greater transduction efficiency in the liver than other AAV serotypes. AAV8 and 9 have recently been used to correct disease-causing mutations and improve muscle function in mouse models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. These AAV8 particles constitutively express the firefly (Photinus pyralis) luciferase and enhanced Green Fluorescent Protein (eGFP) genes connected via a T2A linker, under the control of a CMV promoter. The T2A self-cleaving peptide (derived from Thosea asigna virus 2A) leads to the efficient cleavage of the transcript, and expression of luciferase and eGFP as two separate proteins.