Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 19, 2026
09:35
Purification and Visualization of Influenza A Viral Ribonucleoprotein Complexes
Published on: February 9, 2009
AN EVALUATION OF METHODS FOR THE CONCENTRATION AND PURIFICATION OF INFLUENZA VIRUS.
1Department of Animal and Plant Pathology of The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, Princeton, New Jersey.
The Journal of Experimental Medicine
|October 30, 2009
Summary
Differential centrifugation is an effective method for concentrating and purifying influenza virus, yielding high purity and infectivity. This method, alone or combined with others, provides a homogeneous viral component suitable for large-scale preparation.
Area of Science:
- Virology
- Biochemistry
Background:
- Influenza virus purification is crucial for research and vaccine development.
- Existing methods for virus concentration and purification have limitations in yield and purity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate various methods for influenza virus concentration and purification.
- To determine the most efficient and scalable purification techniques.
Main Methods:
- Differential centrifugation in a vacuum centrifuge.
- Adsorption and elution from chicken red blood cells (adult and embryonic).
- Precipitation by freezing and thawing of allantoic fluid.
Main Results:
- Differential centrifugation, alone or combined, yielded 50-70% virus recovery with high purity.
- Methods using only red cells or freezing/thawing resulted in products with ~80% non-virus protein.
- Purified virus via centrifugation showed a homogeneous component (sedimentation constant ~600 S) with high agglutinating activity and infectivity.
Conclusions:
- Differential centrifugation is a superior method for influenza virus purification, yielding a homogeneous and infectious product.
- The Sharples centrifuge is a viable, large-capacity alternative to vacuum centrifuges for scalable virus preparation.
