Editing Rabies (section)

==Research==
The outer shell of the rabies virus, stripped of its RNA contents and thus unable to cause disease, may be used as a [[Viral vector|vector]] for the delivery of unrelated genetic material in a research setting. It has the advantage over other [[pseudotyping]] methods for gene delivery that the cell targeting ([[tissue tropism]]) is more specific for the [[central nervous system]], a difficult-to-reach site, obviating the need for invasive delivery methods. It is also capable of infecting neighboring "upstream" cells, moving from one cell to [[axon]]s of the next at [[synapses]], and is thus used for [[retrograde tracing]] in neuronal circuits.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Carpentier DC, Vevis K, Trabalza A, Georgiadis C, Ellison SM, Asfahani RI, Mazarakis ND | title = Enhanced pseudotyping efficiency of HIV-1 lentiviral vectors by a rabies/vesicular stomatitis virus chimeric envelope glycoprotein | journal = Gene Therapy | volume = 19 | issue = 7 | pages = 761–74 | date = July 2012 | pmid = 21900965 | doi = 10.1038/gt.2011.124 | doi-access = free }}</ref>

Evidence indicates artificially increasing the permeability of the [[blood–brain barrier]], which normally does not allow most immune cells across, promotes viral clearance.<ref name="Roy_2007b">{{cite journal | vauthors = Roy A, Hooper DC | title = Lethal silver-haired bat rabies virus infection can be prevented by opening the blood-brain barrier | journal = Journal of Virology | volume = 81 | issue = 15 | pages = 7993–8 | date = August 2007 | pmid = 17507463 | pmc = 1951307 | doi = 10.1128/JVI.00710-07 }}</ref><ref name="Roy_2007a">{{cite journal | vauthors = Roy A, Phares TW, Koprowski H, Hooper DC | title = Failure to open the blood-brain barrier and deliver immune effectors to central nervous system tissues leads to the lethal outcome of silver-haired bat rabies virus infection | journal = Journal of Virology | volume = 81 | issue = 3 | pages = 1110–8 | date = February 2007 | pmid = 17108029 | pmc = 1797506 | doi = 10.1128/JVI.01964-06 }}</ref>