High-Performance Liquid Chromatography Method for Rapid Assessment of Viral Particle Number in Crude Adenoviral Lysates of Mixed Serotype
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Gene Therapy (2007) 14, 180–184 & 2007 Nature Publishing Group All rights reserved 0969-7128/07 $30.00 www.nature.com/gt SHORT COMMUNICATION High-performance liquid chromatography method for rapid assessment of viral particle number in crude adenoviral lysates of mixed serotype I Kuhn, B Larsen, C Gross and T Hermiston Berlex Laboratories, Gene Therapy Department, Richmond, CA, USA Accurate adenovirus (Ad) quantification requires labor- and resulting in efficient retention of viral particles of all time-intensive viral stock purification. While crude viral serotypes, while non-viral components of crude infected lysates can be titered by plaque assay, this cell-based cultures remain largely in the flow-through. The high- assay is neither rapid nor accurate. Consequently, a method performance liquid chromatography-QSXL method allows for quantification of crude, unpurified viral culture lysates rapid, accurate adenoviral quantification in crude lysates as is needed. Given growing interest in alternative Ad well as identification of the various serotypes present in serotypes (different from well-studied and characterized mixed-serotype crude lysates. We also report on conditions serotype Ad5) for basic research and for therapeutic that efficiently strip and regenerate the column, extending its applications, such a method should also apply to alternative functional life. serotypes. Using a Q Sepharose XL (QSXL) column- Gene Therapy (2007) 14, 180–184. doi:10.1038/sj.gt.3302851; based method, we describe a robust quantification method published online 5 October 2006 Keywords: adenovirus quantification; HPLC; crude viral lysate Efficient and effective development of oncolytic viruses When running viruses in a series, the peak area of CsCl- and virotherapies requires rapid assessment of the purified viral standards analyzed at the end of, or late in, relative potencies of a large variety of viral candidates. a sequence of viral samples was often reduced more than As these viruses may differ in cellular tropisms, these 50% relative to the same standard analyzed at the start of potencies must be assessed on a per viral particle basis. the sequence. Peak areas for viral standards returned to Additionally, development of these agents may require their maxima when column compaction was reversed by rapid identification of the variety of viruses present in allowing the column to rest for at least 24 h, by backflow, any given mixed-serotype lysate without viral purifica- or by repacking the column. The tendency of the tion before quantification. This report describes a relatively soft TMAE matrix to compact, compromising comprehensive method that simultaneously accom- viral particle recovery, increased for adenoviral particles plishes these objectives. in crude culture lysates. In spite of sample centrifugation Methods have been explored to improve the speed and filtration, crude lysate samples clogged the column, and accuracy of adenoviral particle quantification, many increasing column backpressure and promoting TMAE of them based on chromatographic approaches. For bead compression and/or column compaction. The peak example, Shabram et al.1 described a method for areas of purified viral standards analyzed between crude quantification of purified adenoviral particles based on viral culture lysate samples showed that the TMAE Resource Q anion-exchange resin. The Shabram method column was rapidly compromised, requiring extensive was improved by use of an alternate anion-exchange stripping and salt regeneration combined with backflow resin, Fractogel EMD TMAE-650(S) (TMAE), which or column repacking before the peak area of the viral allowed resolution of RNA and viral peaks (E Lehmberg, quantification standard was restored. It is worth noting personal communication). This enhanced resolution that when samples of pure BSA (bovine serum albumin) was especially important for adenovirus (Ad)5 analyses standards were run on compressed TMAE columns (i.e. as this viral serotype is strongly retained on anion those that appeared to exclude viral particles), the exchange, and was formerly difficult to resolve from protein peak areas were not affected. We hypothesize RNA and transfer RNA. However, despite the ability to that when the TMAE beads are compressed, the viral resolve RNA from viral particles, TMAE is not ideal. particles, due to their large size, cannot access sufficient anion-exchange sites to be retained on the resin and so appear in the column flow-through (data not shown) Correspondence: Dr I Kuhn, Gene Therapy Department, Berlex rather than eluting at their known retention time. On the Laboratories, 2600 Hilltop Drive, Richmond, CA 94806, USA. E-mail: [email protected] other hand, we theorize that BSA protein standard and Received 11 May 2006; revised 19 July 2006; accepted 20 July 2006; multimers are sufficiently small to access sites, and published online 5 October 2006 their retention times remain unaffected by column HPLC method for rapid assessment of viral particle number I Kuhn et al 181 Figure 1 QSXL chromatograms of pure Ad stocks. HPLC separa- tions were performed using an Agilent 1100 HPLC that included a well-plate autosampler, quaternary pump and multiwavelength detector. An in-line conductivity meter was used to follow actual salt conditions. Samples and buffers were at ambient temperature, and the column compartment was controlled at 221C. Pharmacia HR 5/5 columns were packed with 1.25 ml bed volume of QSXL (GE Healthcare, no. 17-5072-01) anion-exchange media. The mobile phases were Buffer A, 20 mM Tris/HCl, pH 7.5, 0.1 M NaCl, and Buffer B, 20 mM Tris/HCl, pH 7.5, 1 M NaCl. The flow rate was 1 ml/min, except during the strip method at which time flow rate decreased to 0.02 ml/min. Typical sample injection volume was 0.1 ml; up to 1 ml sample volume of very low titer viral stocks was loaded. A 0.5 mm prefilter was included upstream of the column to extend the life of the column, and this prefilter was changed after no more than 15 crude samples were injected onto the column. The column was equilibrated for 4 column volumes (CV) with Buffer A. After sample loading, the column was washed with 4 CV of Buffer A, followed by sample separation with a linear salt gradient of 0–55% Buffer B over 15 CV, 2 CV of 70% Buffer B, then a second gradient of 70–100% Buffer B over 2 CV, which constituted the first salt regeneration of the column. The column was then re- equilibrated with 5 CV of Buffer A before stripping. The column was stripped (cleaned of any remaining nucleic acids) by loading 1 CV of 0.5 N NaOH, reducing the pump flow rate to 0.02 ml/min for 10 min, followed by 3 CV of Buffer A at 1 ml/min flow rate. This strip step was followed by a salt regeneration step of 3 CV of 100% Buffer B. The column was then re-equilibrated by 10 CV of Buffer A before loading the next sample. Prior to using QSXL, columns for viral particle separations were packed with Fractogel EMD TMAE- 650(S) (EM Science, Gibbstown, NJ, USA) (TMAE), and the buffers and gradients used were those specified by Shabram et al.1 All adenovirus serotypes (Ad3, Ad5, Ad9, Ad11p, Ad16, Ad35) were obtained from the ATCC (American Type Culture Collections). Viral compression adversely affecting viral peak areas. These stocks for HPLC viral titer analysis were prepared by infection of experiences with TMAE led us to test the use of an A549, 293, HT-29 or PC-3 cells. All cells were obtained from the alternate, more rigid column matrix. ATCC, and were grown to approximately 70–80% confluency in the 2 ATCC-recommended culture media before infection. Cells were One such method, reported by Blanche et al., allowed infected at multiplicity of infection (MOI) of 1–10 in Dulbecco’s reproducible quantification of virus of several serotypes modified Eagle’s media Gibco (Invitrogen, Frederick, MD) supple- in crude lysates by employing Q Sepharose XL (QSXL). mented with 2% FBS (Hyclone, Logan, Utah), 2 mM glutamine and We tested the QSXL-based method for the analysis of gentimicin. Full cytopathic effect (CPE) was generally reached by crude viral lysate samples, but found that contaminants 48–72 h post-infection, at which time the viral lysates were eluting at the beginning of the salt gradient obscured harvested. Cells and supernatants were harvested, cells ruptured by 1–3 cycles of freeze–thaw, cell debris pelleted by a 5 min adenoviral serotypes, such as Ad3, Ad9 and Ad16, that centrifugation at 3000 r.p.m. in a Beckman Allegra 6R centrifuge and elute in a similar region of the gradient. To improve the viral stock supernatants collected. These crude viral lysates were sensitivity and precision, we sought to eliminate con- filtered through 0.45 mm filters before loading on the QSXL columns. taminating peaks from the chromatogram. We tested For preparation of pure viral stocks, virus was purified from the alternative starting buffer conditions in which the salt crude lysates using the cesium chloride buoyant density method as described by Tollefson et al.3 Viral HPLC peaks are identified after concentration was increased in 20 mM increments from QSXL chromatography due to their distinctively narrow shape, 0.01 M NaCl to 0.1 M NaCl (data not shown). The their 260 nm/280 nm ratio of 1.3370.06 and the distinctive serotype majority of non-viral culture components that bound retention times. The Ad5 chromatogram is that of our viral standard under the no-salt buffer conditions (and co-eluting early for quantification, an Ad5 stock that was purified, then analyzed by in the salt gradient with early-eluting viral serotypes) reversed-phase HPLC to determine the exact number of viral 4 were not retained when 0.1 M NaCl salt was added to the particles per ml.