A Borna disease virus vector for expression of foreign genes in neurons of rodents.

An expression cassette for green fluorescent protein was successfully inserted at a site near the 5' end of the genome of Borna disease virus (BDV). When introduced into a mutant virus with highly active polymerase, the foreign gene was strongly expressed in neurons of infected rats. Since BDV can establish long-term persistence in the central nervous system of rodents, it may be used to engineer efficient vectors for specific delivery of foreign genes into highly differentiated neurons.