Baculovirus-Free SARS-CoV-2 Virus-like Particle Production in Insect Cells for Rapid Neutralization Assessment.

ABSTRACT: Virus-like particles (VLPs) resemble authentic virus while not containing any genomic information. Here, we present a fast and powerful method for the production of SARS-CoV-2 VLP in insect cells and the application of these VLPs to evaluate the inhibition capacity of monoclonal antibodies and sera of vaccinated donors. Our method avoids the baculovirus-based approaches commonly used in insect cells by employing direct plasmid transfection to co-express SARS-CoV-2 envelope, membrane, and spike protein that self-assemble into VLPs. After optimization of the expression plasmids and vector ratios, VLPs with an ~145 nm diameter and the typical "Corona" aura were obtained, as confirmed by nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Fusion of the membrane pro

SUBMITTER: Jaron M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9606917 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature