AAV Virus-Like Particles (VLPs)
AAV virus-like particles (sometimes referred to as AAV empty capsids) are well-characterized AAV capsids devoid of any viral genomic material that are widely used as reference materials during the development of AAV-based gene therapies. AAV virus-like particles can not only be used for the calibration and optimization of various analytical assays including ELISA and HPLC, but they can be used for various other applications during the drug development process, including biodistribution assessment and evaluation of in vivo immune responses to specific serotypes of AAV capsid. Our ready-to-ship AAV virus-like particles are extensively characterized and therefore, serve as reliable standards for evaluating the quality of AAV virus-like particles generated in-house. Moreover, they can be used as negative controls in studies aiming to demonstrate that an observed effect is caused by the expression cassette harbored by an AAV vector rather than its capsid. AAV virus-like particles also serve as critical tools for studying various processes during the AAV life cycle including capsid assembly and post-translational modifications of capsid proteins. In addition to AAV virus-like particles, we also offer AAV packaging and GMP-grade AAV manufacturing.
Highlights
- Ready-to-ship in vivo grade AAV virus-like particles of serotypes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 9, 2-retro, DJ, and DJ/8.
- Custom services available for AAV virus-like particles produced using any desired serotype, production system, purification method, or QC requirement
- Thorough characterization using various methods including SDS-PAGE, BCA, endotoxin testing, mycoplasma detection, and full/empty capsid ratio analysis
Ordering Information Price Match
*VPs = Virus Particles
Click here to view the amino acid sequence of the major viral capsid protein 1 (VP1) for different AAV serotypes >>Shipping and storage
Our AAV virus-like particles are stored in a PBS-based buffer and are shipped on dry ice. Upon receiving, they should be stored at -80°C for long term (stable for at least 1 year), or -20°C for short term, e.g. 2-3 weeks. Thawed AAV virus-like particles can be stored at 4 °C for 1-2 weeks.
Technical Information
Experimental validation
Figure 1. Silver stained SDS-PAGE of ready-to-ship AAV virus-like particles of serotypes 1, 2, 5, 8, and 9.
AAV VLPs
Conventional AAV
Figure 2. Charge detection mass spectrometry analysis indicating percentages of empty (black) and filled (green) capsids for AAV virus-like particles and conventional AAV preparations of serotype 8.
Figure 3. Transmission electron microscopy of serotype 9 AAV virus-like particles showing empty (black-filled spheres) and filled (white-filled spheres) capsids.
Tissue tropism of AAV serotypes
Many strains of AAV have been identified in nature. They are divided into serotypes based on different antigenicity of the capsid protein on the viral surface. Different serotypes can render the virus with different tissue tropism (i.e. tissue specificity of infection). When AAV vectors are packaged into the virus, different serotypes can be conferred to the virus by using different capsid proteins for the packaging. The tables below list the tissue specificity conferred by different AAV serotypes.
List by Serotype
List by Tissue Type
| Serotype | Tissue Tropism |
|---|---|
| AAV1 | Smooth muscle, skeletal muscle, CNS, brain, lung, retina, inner ear, pancreas, heart, liver |
| AAV2 | Smooth muscle, CNS, brain, liver, pancreas, kidney, retina, inner ear, testes |
| AAV3 | Smooth muscle, liver, lung |
| AAV4 | CNS, retina, lung, kidney, heart |
| AAV5 | Smooth muscle, CNS, brain, lung, retina, heart |
| AAV6 | Smooth muscle, heart, lung, pancreas, adipose, liver |
| AAV6.2 | Lung, liver, inner ear |
| AAV7 | Smooth muscle, retina, CNS, brain, liver |
| AAV8 | Smooth muscle, CNS, brain, retina, inner ear, liver, pancreas, heart, kidney, adipose |
| AAV9 | Smooth muscle, skeletal muscle, lung, liver, heart, pancreas, CNS, retina, inner ear, testes, kidney, adipose |
| AAV-rh10 | Smooth muscle, lung, liver, heart, pancreas, CNS, retina, kidney |
| AAV-DJ | Liver, heart, kidney, spleen |
| AAV-DJ/8 | Liver, brain, spleen, kidney |
| AAV-PHP.eB | CNS |
| AAV-PHP.S | PNS |
| AAV2-retro | Spinal nerves |
| AAV2-QuadYF | Endothelial cell, retina |
| AAV2.7m8 | Retina, inner ear |
| Tissue Type | Recommended AAV Serotypes |
|---|---|
| Smooth muscle | AAV1, AAV2, AAV3, AAV5, AAV6, AAV7, AAV8, AAV9, AAV-rh10 |
| Skeletal muscle | AAV1, AAV9 |
| CNS | AAV1, AAV2, AAV4, AAV5, AAV7, AAV8, AAV9, AAV-rh10, AAV-PHP.eB |
| PNS | AAV-PHP.S |
| Brain | AAV1, AAV2, AAV5, AAV7, AAV8, AAV-DJ/8 |
| Retina | AAV1, AAV2, AAV4, AAV5, AAV7, AAV8, AAV9, AAV-rh10, AAV2-QuadYF, AAV2.7m8 |
| Inner ear | AAV1, AAV2, AAV6.2, AAV8, AAV9, AAV2.7m8 |
| Lung | AAV1, AAV3, AAV4, AAV5, AAV6, AAV6.2, AAV9, AAV-rh10 |
| Liver | AAV1, AAV2, AAV3, AAV6, AAV6.2, AAV7, AAV8, AAV9, AAV-rh10, AAV-DJ, AAV-DJ/8 |
| Pancreas | AAV1, AAV2, AAV6, AAV8, AAV9, AAV-rh10 |
| Heart | AAV1, AAV4, AAV5, AAV6, AAV8, AAV9, AAV-rh10, AAV-DJ |
| Kidney | AAV2, AAV4, AAV8, AAV9, AAV-rh10, AAV-DJ, AAV-DJ/8 |
| Adipose | AAV6, AAV8, AAV9 |
| Testes | AAV2, AAV9 |
| Spleen | AAV-DJ, AAV-DJ/8 |
| Spinal nerves | AAV2-retro |
| Endothelial cells | AAV2-QuadYF |
Resources
Documents
Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) Certificate of Analysis (COA) Brochures & FlyersFAQ
All AAV virus-like particles produced by VectorBuilder are extensively characterized using various QC assays. While we perform SDS-PAGE, BCA, endotoxin testing, and mycoplasma detection on all our AAV virus-like particles by default, we can also offer TEM, CDMS, SV-AUC services for custom built AAV to determine full/empty capsid ratio upon request.