Viral Innovation Core

All vectors generated with VIC support will undergo a rigorous characterization process that will shed light on the purity, true infective titer, and stability of the reagent. The advanced vector characterization approach will help to establish best practices related to viral production and purification, which will improve the likelihood of success and the reliability of all supported research projects.

The VIC will employ a stringent process of product evaluation and quality control that will involve: a) screening for contaminating host cell DNA, host cell protein, and encapsidated helper component DNA, b) determining the ratio of empty capsid and encapsidated genomes, and c) measuring the stability of virus capsid. In aggregate, these data will represent a comprehensive profile of virus quality that can be used to help optimize vector production and purification approaches. Moreover, as capsid stability and dynamics could influence key aspects of vector function, including tropism, shelf life, and transduction efficiency, routine acquisition of these data – combined with application-specific feedback – will help the VIC best advise Investigators related to the design, use, and storage of these tools.

Over time, and with feedback from Investigators on AAV vector performance in project-specific settings,, data generated via this vector production and advanced characterization process will guide decision-making regarding subsequent vector design and production, and increase the likelihood that data obtained using AAV vectors will be reproducible.