Virology Assays
Vaccine development is a multi-step process that begins with the study of virus biology, infection mechanisms and host responses before developing vaccine strategies and other therapeutic mechanisms.
In the fight against newly emerging viruses, gaining insights quickly into key aspects of virology - including infection and transmission - ultimately accelerates the development of novel, efficacious therapeutics and vaccines.
Sartorius supports these early-stage investigations with innovative, robust instrumentation, assays, live-cell analysis, advanced flow cytometry and label-free binding analysis to better understand these dynamic processes and interactions.
Virology Assays Categories
Sartorius Virology Assays Solutions Offer:
Using the Incucyte® S3 Live-Cell Analysis System, researchers monitored cell death and cell-to-cell fusion when using isolated anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies from severe COVID-19 convalescent donors.
The Octet has been used to analyze the FAB, IgG binding characterization of SARS-CoV-2, to discover a highly conserved cryptic epitope in the receptor-binding domains.
The iQue® Advanced Flow Cytometry platform played an integral part in the workflow, where researchers determined that reshaping of antigenic surfaces of the major binding sites on the spike protein can lead to resistance to some potent neutralizing antibodies, resulting in enhanced viral fitness and immune evasion.
Product Highlights for Virology Assays
Octet® Bio-Layer Interferometry
Octet® BLI systems provide researchers with the capability to detect the interactions of a diverse range of biomolecules, from small molecules to proteins and viruses. It is widely used for determining the kinetics and affinity of host-pathogen binding interactions.
- Real-time binding kinetic and affinity measurements
- Measure interactions from purified and crude samples
- Fast data acquisition — simultaneously data from up to 96 biosensors
Incucyte® Real-Time Live-Cell Analysis
The Incucyte® Live-Cell Analysis Systems automatically capture and analyze images from multiple microwell plates in parallel, thereby significantly increasing throughput. The systems enable acquisition and analysis of data throughout the course of an experiment to capture time-dependent effects, which is in contrast to endpoint analysis by traditional cell culture techniques. The mechanism of infection can be studied by assessing virus-modulated cell death and proliferation.
- Real-time continuous kinetic measurements
- Never miss a data point
- Networked remote access reduces risk of contamination
- Monitor viral infection, cell health, movement, morphology, and function
iQue® Advanced Flow Cytometry
The iQue® Advanced Flow Cytometry Platform gets you from samples to actionable results in record time. The iQue® platform can be used for viral vaccine research and virology studies such as antibody library screening, immune response assessment, including epitope mapping and antibody neutralization studies.
- High-throughput multiplexed cytometry screening and real-time data analysis
- Sample as little as 1 ul from miniaturized assay volumes
- Multiplex cell phenotypes and cytokines in the same well
Virology Assays FAQs
In virology studies it is critical to develop an appropriate in-vivo model that is both biologically and clinically relevant. Incucyte® Live-Cell Imaging and Analysis support this by capturing Brightfield images of cell morphology during differentiation, better recapitulating in vivo conditions within the physiologically relevant environment of the incubator.
iQue® Advanced High-Throughput Flow Cytometry can rapidly screen monoclonal antibodies against cell surface proteins. Viral inhibition assays can help to identify clones that cause inhibition and block cell entry of viruses.
Viral infection and entry can also be studied using Incucyte® live-cell imaging and analysis to monitor signals from fluorescent reporters in treated cells. Download the Accelerating Discoveries for Viral Biology and Host Immunity with Advanced Cell Analysis Solutions White Paper.
Octet® Bio-Layer Interferometry (BLI) assays enable scientists to rapidly determine virus binding mechansims and cross-reactivity. Download the Recent Insights into Covid-19 Binding Epitopes Application Guide
Octet® systems enable multiple assay formats for cross-competition assessment and provide dedicated high-throughput software analysis tools for epitope binning. Cross-competition or epitope binning assays can be used to segment monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) into bins based upon the antigen region or epitope bound by each antibody.
- Simple Dip and Read workflows help you develop assays quickly and get results within minutes
- Minimal sample preparation time with analysis possible directly from crude samples.
- Range of available biosensor chemistries makes assay development easy
Our cell – and protein analysis platforms have been widely used in different virology and viral biology experiments including viral pathogens like Ebola virus (EBOV), dengue virus (DENV) and Zika virus (ZIKV), foot-and-mouth disease (FMDV) and equine rhinitis virus (ERAV), Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) and Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and more.
In our literature reviews we provide an overview of selected articles:
