Promoter for the specific expression of genes in müller cells

Abstract

The present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising, or consisting of, the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 or a nucleic acid sequence of at least 400 bp having at least 80% identity to said sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, wherein said isolated nucleic acid molecule specifically leads to the expression in Müller cells of a gene when operatively linked to a nucleic acid sequence coding for said gene.

1 . An isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid sequence of at least 400 base pairs and having at least 80% identity to the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1. 
     
     
         2 . The isolated nucleic acid molecule of  claim 1 , further comprising a minimal promoter. 
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         4 . An expression cassette comprising:
 the isolated nucleic acid molecule according to  claim 1 ; and   a nucleic acid sequence coding for a gene, wherein said isolated nucleic acid molecule is operatively linked to the nucleic acid sequence encoding for a gene.   
     
     
         5 . A vector comprising the expression cassette of  claim 4 . 
     
     
         6 . The vector of  claim 5 , wherein said vector is a viral vector. 
     
     
         7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . A method of expressing a gene in a cell, the method comprising transfecting an isolated cell, a cell line, or a cell population with the expression cassette according to  claim 4 . 
     
     
         9 . An isolated cell comprising the expression cassette of  claim 4 . 
     
     
         10 . The isolated cell of  claim 9 , wherein the expression cassette is stably integrated into the genome of said cell. 
     
     
         11 - 12 . (canceled) 
     
     
         13 . The isolated nucleic acid molecule of  claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid sequence is at least 400 base pairs and has at least 95% identity to the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1. 
     
     
         14 . The isolated nucleic acid molecule of  claim 1 , wherein the nucleic acid sequence comprises the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1. 
     
     
         15 . The isolated nucleic acid molecule of  claim 1 , wherein the isolated nucleic acid molecule is effective to drive expression of a gene in a cell when a nucleic acid sequence coding for said gene is operatively linked to said isolated nucleic acid molecule. 
     
     
         16 . The isolated nucleic acid molecule of  claim 15 , wherein the cell is a human cell. 
     
     
         17 . The isolated nucleic acid molecule of  claim 15 , wherein the cell is a rodent cell. 
     
     
         18 . The isolated nucleic acid molecule of  claim 15 , wherein the cell is a Müller cell. 
     
     
         19 . The isolated nucleic acid molecule of  claim 2 , wherein the minimal promoter comprises the nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:2. 
     
     
         20 . The expression cassette of  claim 4 , wherein the nucleic acid sequence coding for said gene is heterologous to said isolated nucleic acid molecule. 
     
     
         21 . The vector of  claim 5 , wherein said vector is an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the isolated cell is a human cell or the cell line or cell population comprises human cells. 
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the isolated cell is a rodent cell or the cell line or cell population comprises rodent cells. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the isolated cell is a Müller cell or the cell line or cell population comprises Müller cells.