[Introduction]
Due to the complexity of the brain, specific expression of genetic tools is necessary for identifying the responsible circuit for mental disorders. From this perspective, identification of promoter specifically active in a certain set of neurons is important. To this end, although many promoters of rodents have been identified, those of non-human primates such as macaque have been rarely identified. Here, we isolated the macaque promoter sequences and validated their functionality in mouse brain by using lentiviral vectors (LVV).[Method]Upstream sequence to somatostatin (SST), serotonin transporter (SERT), substance P (SP), vesicular acetylcholine transporter (vAChT), cholecystokinin (CCK), enkephalin (PENK), and parvalbumin (PV), was isolated from a monkey (Macaca fascicularis) gDNA.[Result]One week after LVV injection, we performed histological analysis. We found that 93.8 ± 4.1% of Venus(+) cells were SST(+) when SST promoter (0.3 k) was used. Similarly, colocalization rate for LVV bearing 0.5 k CCK promoter were 88.0 ± 3.3%, 0.7k PV were 84.0 ± 1.4%, 1.9k SERT were 93.8 ± 0.9%, 1.9k vACHT were 82.8 ± 3.9%, 0.8k SP were 91.7 ± 3.8% and 0.9k PENK were 88.0 ± 1.7% with colocalization . These findings suggest relative position of promoter leading to specificity differs from gene to gene, implying the importance of evaluation in vivo. The LVV we developed may be advantageous for application of genetic tools to non-human primates.