Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42049725›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Technical and biological sources of noise confound multiplexed enhancer AAV screening.

Avery C Hunker, John K Mich, Naz Taskin, Amy Torkelson, Trangthanh Cardenas, Jean-Benoît Lalanne, Joseph T Mahoney, Darren Bertagnolli, Anish Bhaswanth Chakka, Rushil Chakrabarty and 25 more

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

35 authors.

Avery C HunkerAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA. avery.hunker@alleninstitute.org.ORCID 0000-0003-0508-3637
John K MichAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA. johnmi@alleninstitute.org.ORCID 0000-0002-1626-1139
Naz TaskinAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Amy TorkelsonAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9465-4202
Trangthanh CardenasAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Jean-Benoît LalanneDepartment of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.
Joseph T MahoneyAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Darren BertagnolliAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Anish Bhaswanth ChakkaAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Rushil ChakrabartyAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1722-8557
Nicholas P DonadioAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Rebecca FerrerAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Molly GasperiniSeattle Hub for Synthetic Biology, Seattle, WA, USA.
Jeff GoldyAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Junitta GuzmanAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Kelly JinAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2393-6461
Shannon KhemAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Rana KutsalAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0009-0008-7190-6498
Refugio A MartinezAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Dakota NewmanAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Nick PenaAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Christine RimorinAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Dana RochaAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Nadiya V ShapovalovaAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Michael TieuAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Natalie WeedAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-0891-0327
Thomas ZhouAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.
Rebecca HodgeAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-5784-9668
Shenqin YaoAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-2992-4752
Jay ShendureDepartment of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1516-1865
Kimberly A SmithAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3142-1970
Ed S LeinAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9012-6552
Bosiljka TasicAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6861-4506
Boaz P LeviAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8346-872X
Jonathan T TingAllen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8266-0392

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Cis-acting regulatory enhancer elements are powerful tools for achieving cell type-specific genetic access in adeno-associated virus (AAV) delivery platforms. However, a significant bottleneck in enhancer discovery remains the accurate characterization of their in vivo expression patterns, which currently relies on labor-intensive, gold-standard one-by-one validation. Here, we evaluate multiple barcoded, multiplexed strategies for accelerated profiling of enhancer-driven expression at cell type resolution. As a proof-of-concept, we test small pools of well-validated enhancer AAVs with known activity across diverse cell types in the mouse brain. Despite extensive optimization and testing, we encounter substantial technical and biological noise, including chimeric AAV packaging products, that obscure true enhancer expression patterns. These effects are particularly pronounced for weaker enhancers and enhancers active in less abundant cell subpopulations. These findings highlight the challenges inherent to multiplexed enhancer AAV screening, the importance of careful enhancer pool design, and the complexity of enhancer AAV biology in vivo.

Indexed as

DependovirusEnhancer Elements, GeneticGenetic VectorsAnimalsBrainHEK293 CellsHumansMice

Identifiers

PMID42049725
PMCPMC13125632

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.