(85f) Microspotting of Adeno-Associated Virus for Combinatorial Genetic Testing

The development of native tissues is guided by a precise combination of signaling factors. Efficiently probing the effects of specific combinations of genes would allow for researchers to mimic optimal conditions in the laboratory. To fill this technology gap, we have constructed live cell microarrays of adeno-associated viruses (AAV) to enable biologists to study the effects of genetic circuit perturbations in cellular systems. Using a microarray robot, recombinant viral particles encapsidating overexpression or shRNA cassettes were spatially patterned onto modified glass slides. The genetic microarrays were seeded with a target cell type, resulting in reverse transduction, also called surface-mediated transduction. Since different combinations of over-/underexpression cassettes can be patterned in each microarray dot, biologists can investigate the combinatorial effects of different genes and shRNA on a variety of cell types for applications in stem cells and tissue engineering.