HK1164930A - Compositions, methods and uses for inducing viral growth - Google Patents

Description

Compositions, methods and uses for inducing viral growth

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/120,262 filed on 5.12.2008, which is incorporated herein in its entirety for all purposes.

Technical Field

Embodiments of the present application generally report methods, compositions and uses for accelerated or increased viral growth. In certain embodiments, the present application reports methods, compositions and uses of copolymer compositions for inducing accelerated viral growth and/or increasing viral plaque size. In other embodiments, methods, compositions and uses of copolymer compositions that accelerate flavivirus growth, reduce flavivirus lag time and/or increase flavivirus plaque size are reported.

Background

Vaccines against infectious diseases have been used to improve human and animal health. One successful technique for viral vaccines is to immunize an animal or human with attenuated or attenuated strains of the virus ("live attenuated viruses"). Due to limited replication after immunization, the attenuated strain does not cause disease. However, this limited viral replication is sufficient to express all the components of the viral antigen and generate a potential and durable immune response to the virus. Thus, upon subsequent exposure to a pathogenic strain of the virus, the immunized individual is protected from disease.

Recent technological advances, such as reassortment, reverse genetics and cold adaptation, have led to the development of live attenuated viruses for influenza and rotavirus. Many live virus vaccines prepared using recombinant DNA technology are in human clinical trials, including vaccines for West Nile disease (West Nile disease), dengue fever, malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV. These recombinant viral vaccines rely on the manipulation of well-identified attenuated viral vaccines, such as adenovirus, vaccinia, yellow fever 17D or dengue virus, DEN-2 PDK-53. In general, live attenuated viral vaccines are one of the most successful medical interventions in human history, second only to the emergence of antibiotics, with the prospect of promoting public health worldwide.

Other vaccines have been developed by inactivating the virus after growth in cell culture. These "inactivated virus" vaccines induce immune responses due to the presence of high concentrations of antigen. Examples of effective inactivated virus vaccines include, but are not limited to, rabies vaccine, influenza vaccine, hepatitis a vaccine, and polio vaccine.

Flaviviruses cause a variety of human and animal diseases with significant effects. They are enveloped viruses with an RNA genome of about 11000 bases. Most flaviviruses are transmitted by arthropod vectors, typically mosquitoes. There are more than 70 different flaviviruses, which are classified into three main types based on serology: dengue fever, japanese encephalitis, and yellow fever. The increasing urbanization, global travel and environmental changes (e.g., deforestation or rain belt distribution) have led to the emergence of several flaviviruses that threaten human public health. Such viruses include, but are not limited to, yellow fever virus, dengue fever virus, west nile virus, japanese encephalitis virus, and tick-borne encephalitis virus.

Live attenuated and inactivated virus vaccines have been prepared which are safe and protect against flavivirus diseases such as yellow fever and Japanese encephalitis.

Summary of The Invention

Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods, compositions and uses for inducing, increasing and accelerating viral growth. In certain embodiments, the present application reports methods, compositions and uses of copolymer compositions for inducing accelerated viral growth and/or increased viral plaque size. In other embodiments, methods, compositions and uses of copolymer compositions for accelerating flavivirus growth, reducing flavivirus lag time, and/or increasing flavivirus plaque size are reported.

One limiting factor in the production of vaccines is the large-scale manufacture and in vitro culture of viruses to meet the demand for vaccines. Thus, there is a need in the art to increase and accelerate virus growth. Certain embodiments of the present invention relate to methods and compositions for increasing and accelerating viral growth. These compositions are useful, for example, for the production of viral vaccines and viral by-products for use in other technologies, such as the manufacture of virus-related gene therapy and other viral products. In addition, embodiments herein may be useful to increase or accelerate the growth of viral cultures used in inactivated viral vaccines.

Certain compositions disclosed herein may include copolymers alone or in combination with other agents or compounds for increasing and accelerating viral growth. Other embodiments herein relate to combinations of excipients that increase the growth of live attenuated viruses. Copolymers used herein include, but are not limited to, polyoxypropylene (Pluronic) F127, polyoxypropylene F68, polyoxypropylene P123, polyoxypropylene P85, other polyethylene oxide-polypropylene oxide (EO-PO) block copolymers having a molecular weight of greater than 3000 to 4000, or combinations thereof.

According to these embodiments, the virus may include, but is not limited to, flavivirus, togavirus, coronavirus, rhabdovirus, filovirus, paramyxovirus, orthomyxovirus, bunyavirus, arenavirus, retrovirus, hepadnavirus, pestivirus, picornavirus, sepal virus, reovirus, parvovirus, papovavirus, adenovirus, herpesvirus, and poxvirus. Some embodiments relating to compositions used in viral culture may include, but are not limited to, cultures with one or more viruses, such as mixtures of viruses or a single virus, or one or more live attenuated viruses, grown in one or more copolymer compositions alone, or in combination with other agents.

In other embodiments, the compositions contemplated herein can increase plaque size for use in titrating, making, or measuring the activity of a viral preparation over a reduced or similar growth period as compared to a control culture without the disclosed compositions. In some aspects of the invention, higher viral titers can be obtained in reduced time periods. Alternatively, the compositions referred to herein may reduce lag time or accelerate growth time up to several days compared to control virus cultures without the use of the compositions referred to herein.

Other embodiments relate to a population of viruses for formulation and to methods of vaccine formulation that reduce or prevent the onset of a medical condition caused by one or more of the viruses contemplated herein. According to these embodiments, the medical condition may include, but is not limited to, conditions and infections including west nile fever, dengue fever, japanese encephalitis, kuarser forest disease, australian and new guinea melez valley encephalitis, Kunjin virus (proximal branch of west nile virus), alkhura hemorrhagic fever, st louis encephalitis, hepatitis c virus infection, tick borne encephalitis, yellow fever, african ewort virus, kotango virus and yaonne virus (Usutu, Koutango, yaonne virus), and cacipore virus in south africa. In certain embodiments, the production time to produce a vaccine formulation can be shortened by using the compositions contemplated herein for accelerating virus growth production and production, reducing lag time, and/or increasing plaque size of the virus population.

In certain embodiments, the viral cultures contemplated herein for production may be used in compositions including, but not limited to, partially or fully dehydrated or hydrated vaccine formulations or other viral formulations.

In certain embodiments, the live attenuated viruses used in the vaccine compositions contemplated herein may include, but are not limited to, one or more live attenuated flavivirus vaccines including, but not limited to, attenuated yellow fever virus (e.g., 17D), attenuated Japanese encephalitis virus (e.g., SA 14-14-2), attenuated dengue virus (e.g., DEN-2/PDK-53 or DEN-4 Δ 30), attenuated chimeric West Nile vaccine, or recombinant chimeric flavivirus.

Other embodiments relate to kits for culturing the viral cultures contemplated herein. It is contemplated that the kit may include a partially or fully dehydrated virus culture for use in generating a live attenuated virus population for vaccine production or other viral composition use. It is also contemplated that the kit may include one or more of the growth inducing compositions disclosed herein.

Brief Description of Drawings

The following drawings form part of the present specification and are included to further demonstrate certain embodiments herein. These embodiments may be better understood by referring to one or more of the drawings alone or in combination with the detailed description of the specific embodiments presented.

FIG. 1 shows an exemplary graph of the effect of polyoxypropylene on viral growth following cell infection and introduction of a control agent or copolymer composition during viral adsorption.

FIG. 2 shows an exemplary graph illustrating growth of a virus culture in the presence of a copolymer during virus adsorption and/or growth.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary graph illustrating growth of a viral culture in the presence of increased amounts of copolymer-containing composition during viral adsorption and growth.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary graph illustrating growth of a virus culture in the presence or absence of a particular copolymer during virus adsorption.

FIG. 5 shows an exemplary table illustrating plaque size changes for exemplary viral cultures in the presence or absence of various concentrations of copolymer.

Definition of

As used herein, "a" or "an" can refer to one or more than one item.

As used herein, a container may include, but is not limited to, a test tube, a mini-or microcentrifuge tube, a plate, a tissue culture flask, a cell factory, a channel, a vial, a microtiter plate, or a container.

As used herein, "subject" or "subjects" may include, but is not limited to, a mammal, such as a human or a domesticated or wild mammal, such as a dog, cat, ferret, rabbit, pig, horse, cow, or zoo animal.

As used herein, "about" may refer to plus or minus 10%.

As used herein, "high molecular weight surfactant" may refer to an amphiphilic molecule having surface activity, with a molecular weight greater than 1500.

As used herein, "EO-PO block copolymer" may refer to a copolymer composed of polyethylene oxide and polypropylene oxide blocks. Further, as used herein, "polyoxypropylene" may refer to an EO-PO block copolymer in the form of EOx-POy-EOx. This structure of EO-PO block copolymers is also known as "poloxamer" or "Synperonic".

As used herein, "attenuated virus" may refer to a virus that, when administered to a subject, e.g., a mammal (e.g., a human or an animal), exhibits reduced or no clinical signs of a virus-associated disease.

As used herein, "accelerating" may refer to reducing the lag time or increasing the rate of virus production before virus production begins, such that a higher concentration of virus is produced in a shorter time, or in some embodiments, plaque size is increased relative to a control.

As used herein, "inactivated virus vaccine" may refer to a vaccine prepared by inactivating a virus by any of a number of physical or chemical methods known in the art.

Detailed Description

In the following section, various exemplary compositions and methods are described in order to detail various embodiments. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the various embodiments described above may be practiced without all or even some of the details set forth herein, and that concentrations, times, and other details may be modified by routine experimentation. In some instances, well known methods or components are not included in this specification.

Embodiments herein relate to the use of various compositions to increase the growth rate of virus growth or reduce lag time in culture. According to these embodiments, the composition may include a copolymer agent. Embodiments of the present application generally relate to methods, compositions and uses for inducing and accelerating viral growth. In certain embodiments, the present application relates generally to methods, compositions, and uses of copolymer compositions for accelerating virus growth and/or increasing plaque size. In other embodiments, methods, compositions and uses are directed to copolymer compositions for accelerating flavivirus growth, reducing growth arrest and/or increasing plaque size. Certain copolymer compositions contemplated herein include, but are not limited to, polyoxypropylene F127, polyoxypropylene F68, polyoxypropylene P85, polyoxypropylene P123, other EO-PO block copolymers having molecular weights greater than 3000 to 4000, or combinations thereof.

Copolymer

In certain embodiments, the composition may include a copolymer, for example, polyoxypropylene F127. Polyoxypropylene F127 (also referred to herein as F127) is a nonionic polyoxyethylene-polyoxypropylene copolymer. Polyoxypropylene block copolymers are known under their non-proprietary name poloxamers. They were originally developed for use as surfactants. These compoundsConsisting of hydrophilic Ethylene Oxide (EO) and hydrophobic Propylene Oxide (PO) blocks. The EO-PO block copolymer may include polyethylene oxide (-EO represented by CH2CH 2O-) and polypropylene oxide (-PO represented by CH2CHCH 3O-) blocks. Two EO blocks may be located on either side of the PO block, arranged as EOx-POy-EOx. Since the PO component is hydrophilic and the EO block is hydrophobic, the overall hydrophilicity, molecular weight, and surfactant properties can be tailored by varying x and y in the EOx-POy-EOx block structure. According to the manufacturer (e.g. BASF, Lutrol)F127) F127 may be used as a thickener and co-emulsifier in emulsions and liquid emulsions.

F127 performs a process called reverse thermal gelation because it undergoes a phase transition from liquid to gel after reaching physiological temperature. Higher temperatures promote dehydration of the alkylene oxide units of the block polymer, which can result in reduced solubility. In particular, at high concentrations (e.g., about 10% w/v), certain types of higher molecular weight EO-PO block copolymers undergo reverse gelation, forming a colloid as the temperature increases. Furthermore, when these block copolymers are located above the Critical Micelle Concentration (CMC), they self-assemble into micelles. In aqueous solution, the EO-PO block copolymer will self-assemble into micelles with a PO core and a hydrophilic EO group cap. In certain studies, EO-PO block copolymer formulations have been investigated as potential drug delivery agents for a variety of hydrophobic drugs and for protein, DNA or inactivated vaccines.

The mechanism of activity of these polyoxypropylene block copolymers is not known. However, polyoxypropylene F127 has been investigated as a slow release component of chitosan-conjugated vaccine delivery systems. Vaccination of mice with tetanus toxoid containing F127 increased the antibody response to tetanus antigen delivered intranasally and systemically. In certain methods, polyoxypropylene has been shown to induce changes in the micro-viscosity and fluidity of cell membranes, which can contribute to their pluripotency.

Polyoxypropylene F127 has been used in a variety of human pharmaceutical applications including dental, oral and laxative drugs. Vaccine formulations have also used surfactants as stabilizers to prevent loss of material. Studies delivering DNA vaccines with certain concentrations of F127 (0.01% w/v) have shown increased drug delivery, possibly by increasing cellular uptake and recruitment of mature dendritic cells. Gel formation at body temperature allows the use of the EO-PO block copolymer gel as a drug depot in vaccine and drug delivery applications.

Certain compositions disclosed herein may include copolymers alone or in combination with other agents or compounds. In addition, the compositions disclosed herein can include a media composition having one or more copolymer agents (or more) added to the media, in addition to other media supplements. The culture medium for the compositions disclosed herein may include any medium known in the art for culturing the viral organisms contemplated herein, or a medium specific for a particular viral organism. Other embodiments herein relate to combinations of excipients that greatly increase the growth of live viruses (e.g., attenuated viruses). While other compositions and methods herein relate to reducing lag time associated with viral biological growth. Some embodiments relate to modulating plaque size of a viral organism. Copolymers used herein include, but are not limited to, polyoxypropylene F127, polyoxypropylene F68, polyoxypropylene P85, polyoxypropylene P123, other EO-PO block copolymers with molecular weights greater than 3000 to 4000, or combinations thereof.

The compositions contemplated herein may be used alone or in combination with a culture medium before, during, or after the viral culture is introduced into the host culture. The cell culture medium of the compositions disclosed herein can be a liquid, solid, or semi-solid liquid. In certain embodiments, the supplemental composition may be added throughout the viral growth period to monitor, regulate, or promote the viral growth process. In other embodiments, one or more supplemental copolymer compositions can be added to reduce lag time, accelerate virus growth, and/or increase virus plaque size. The compositions contemplated herein may be used alone, in combination with other supplements (e.g., vitamins, metal ions, and amino acids), or as media supplements when media is added to a culture.

Other embodiments include stock solutions for culturing viral cultures such as live attenuated viruses including, but not limited to, small RNA viruses (e.g., poliovirus, foot and mouth disease virus), sepal viruses (e.g., SARS virus, feline infectious peritonitis virus), togaviruses (e.g., sindbis virus, equine encephalitis virus, chikungunya virus, rubella virus, ross river virus, bovine diarrhea virus, hog cholera virus), flaviviruses (e.g., dengue virus, west nile virus, yellow fever virus, japanese encephalitis virus, st Canine distemper virus, mumps virus, parainfluenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, newcastle disease virus, rinderpest virus), orthomyxovirus (e.g., human influenza virus, avian influenza virus, equine influenza virus), bunyavirus (e.g., hantavirus, lacrosse virus, valley fever virus), arenavirus (e.g., lassa virus, marjoram virus), reovirus (e.g., human reovirus, human rotavirus), birnaviruses (e.g., infectious bursal disease virus), fish pancreatic necrosis virus), retrovirus (e.g., HIV1, HIV2, HTLV-1, HTLV-2, bovine leukemia virus, feline immunodeficiency virus, feline sarcoma virus, mouse mammary tumor virus), hepadnavirus (e.g., hepatitis B virus), parvovirus (human parvovirus B, canine parvovirus, feline leukopenia virus) Papovaviruses (e.g., human papilloma virus, SV40, bovine papilloma virus), adenoviruses (e.g., human adenovirus, canine adenovirus, bovine adenovirus, porcine adenovirus), herpesviruses (e.g., herpes simplex virus, varicella zoster virus, bovine rhinotracheitis virus, human cytomegalovirus, human herpesvirus 6), and poxviruses (e.g., vaccinia, avipox virus, raccoon poxvirus, skunkpox virus, monkeypox virus, vaccinia virus, molluscum contagiosum virus).

According to these embodiments, certain live attenuated viruses include, but are not limited to, live attenuated flaviviruses. Some embodiments involving compositions may include, but are not limited to, one or more live attenuated viruses, such as one or more live attenuated flaviviruses, cultured alone or in combination with other agents in one or more copolymer compositions. According to these embodiments, the flavivirus may include, but is not limited to, dengue virus, west nile virus, yellow fever virus, japanese encephalitis virus, st.

In other embodiments, the compositions contemplated herein can increase plaque size over a reduced or similar growth period as compared to a control not cultured in the compositions disclosed herein for assessment of viral activity or titration of a viral preparation. Alternatively, the compositions contemplated herein may reduce lag time or accelerate growth time by up to several days earlier than a control virus culture without the use of the compositions contemplated herein. In certain embodiments, the predetermined viral titer can occur hours, half a day, 1 day, 2 days, 3 days, 4 days, or even up to 10 days earlier than a viral preparation cultured in other media known in the art or in a supplemental composition provided to a culture without a copolymer. The optimal viral titer for some embodiments may be about 1 × 10⁶pfu/ml to about 1X 10⁸pfu/ml. In some embodiments, the titer of flavivirus can reach about 1X 10 in culture medium containing F127 for about 4 days⁷pfu/ml, compared to the culture of flavivirus in medium without F127, which takes about 6 days.

Some embodiments herein relate to compositions and methods for adjusting the time for which a viral culture is grown to reach a predetermined concentration. According to these embodiments, the growth time may be reduced by about 5%, about 10%, about 15%, about 20%, about 25%, about 30%, about 35%, about 40%, or more. In various embodiments, a predetermined virus culture density can be achieved within about 80%, or about 70%, or about 60% of the time using the compositions disclosed herein, as compared to other compositions known in the art.

In certain embodiments, the viral cultures contemplated herein for production may be used in compositions including, but not limited to, partially or fully dehydrated or hydrated vaccine formulations. In other embodiments, the viral cultures contemplated herein for use in the production of vaccine formulations can be cultured in reduced time and cost. In addition, production of these vaccine formulations can reduce labor, time and cost, for example, when a flavivirus related disease epidemic or outbreak occurs, requiring the vaccine formulation in a short period of time.

In some embodiments, the live attenuated viruses contemplated herein for use in the vaccine compositions can include, but are not limited to, one or more live attenuated flavivirus vaccines including, but not limited to, attenuated yellow fever virus (e.g., 17D), attenuated Japanese encephalitis virus (e.g., SA 14-14-2), attenuated dengue virus (e.g., DEN-2/PDK-53 or DEN-4 Δ 30), attenuated chimeric West Nile virus, or recombinant chimeric flavivirus. In certain embodiments, a flavivirus culture for use in a vaccine composition can be cultured in a medium composition containing one or more of the copolymers disclosed herein.

Other embodiments relate to viral populations for formulations and to methods of vaccine formulations that reduce or prevent the occurrence of medical conditions caused by one or more of the flaviviruses contemplated herein. According to these embodiments, the medical condition may include, but is not limited to, west nile virus infection, dengue fever, japanese encephalitis, kuarser forest disease, murelin valley encephalitis, alkhura hemorrhagic fever, st. Thus, production times for producing these formulations can be shortened using the compositions contemplated herein for increasing growth, reducing lag time, and/or increasing plaque size of the viral populations used in the disclosed formulations.

Other embodiments relate to viral compositions for therapeutic applications. Such uses may include, but are not limited to, gene therapy applications. Viruses used in gene therapy applications to deliver genes to cells include lentiviruses, adenoviruses, adeno-associated viruses, and herpes viruses. Other uses of the viral compositions may include, but are not limited to, cancer virus therapy (e.g., "oncolytic" viruses) or cancer immunotherapy.

Any medium contemplated herein for use in culturing a cell culture (e.g., a host cell) can be used herein. For example, customary media for cell cultures are contemplated. According to these embodiments, the Medium may include, but is not limited to, DMEM (Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium, high glucose, L-glutamine containing pyridoxine hydrochloride, sodium pyruvate free, 3.7 g/liter sodium bicarbonate containing), MEM, BBS/YE-LAH, F-10 (Ham's), F-12, M-199, RPMI, agar, LB Broth, and PBS-based Medium. In addition, it is contemplated that the cells may be cultured by any method known in the art. For example, cells can be cultured in confluent layers, as a suspension, in roller bottles, in wells, or in tubes in multiple layers.

In certain embodiments, the host cell can be used to culture a virus disclosed herein. Any cell known to the host viruses disclosed herein is contemplated. Some host cells for culturing the viruses disclosed herein include, but are not limited to, Vero (African green monkey Vero cells), LLC-MK₂Cells, C6/36 mosquito cells, or other cells known in the art.

Some embodiments of the present invention report compositions comprising one or more high molecular weight surfactant or copolymer compounds for use in methods of culturing a variety of viral cultures, wherein some compositions disclosed herein are capable of modulating aspects of viral growth (e.g., larger plaque size, reduced lag phase) by about 10%, about 15%, about 20%, about 25%, about 30%, about 35%, about 40%, about 45%, about 50% or more, as compared to compositions without the copolymer composition.

Reagent kit

Additional embodiments relate to kits for use in the methods and compositions described herein. Compositions including, but not limited to, copolymer compositions and live virus preparations can be provided in kits. The kit also includes, but is not limited to, suitable containers, copolymer compositions, live virus compositions detailed herein, and optionally, one or more additional agents such as other antiviral, antifungal, or antibacterial agents, for example, to modulate the growth of an undesirable species.

The kit may also contain a suitable aliquot of the copolymer composition for virus culture. In addition, the compositions herein may be partially or fully dehydrated or aqueous virus cultures and/or host cells for propagating the virus and liquid or partially or fully dehydrated media. Kits contemplated herein may be stored at room temperature, frozen or refrigerated temperatures, as disclosed herein depending on the particular formulation and components.

The container means of the kit will generally comprise at least one vial, test tube, flask, bottle, syringe or other container means into which the composition may be placed and, preferably, appropriately dispensed. When additional components are provided, the kit will also typically include one or more additional containers into which the agent or component may be placed. The kits herein will also typically comprise a means for hermetically packaging the medicament, composition and any other reagent containers for commercial sale. Such containers may include injection or blow molded plastic containers in which the desired vials remain.

The following examples are included to illustrate certain embodiments described herein. It should be appreciated by those of skill in the art that the techniques disclosed in the examples which follow represent techniques discovered in the practice of the disclosure and can be considered to function well in the practice thereof. However, those of skill in the art should, in light of the present disclosure, appreciate that many changes can be made in the specific embodiments which are disclosed and still obtain a like or similar result without departing from the spirit and scope herein.

Examples

Example 1

In one exemplary method, as shown in FIG. 1, the effect of polyoxypropylene on flavivirus growth was tested in an exemplary cell line, Vero cells (African green monkey Vero cells). Vero cells are cultured to confluence, for example in T-75cm2 flasks for 2 days, then infected with flavivirus (as indicated) at an MOI of 0.001. Viral adsorption was evaluated for 180 minutes in 2mL PBS in the presence or absence of polyoxypropylene (P123 or F127). The control sample contained viral adsorption in PBS without copolymer. Growth medium (18mL serum free DMEM) was added after adsorption. Aliquots were taken daily and titrated on a monolayer of Vero cells. The measured virus titers are shown in figure 1.

In another example, as shown in figure 2, the presence or absence of varying concentrations of copolymer, polyoxypropylene F127, was determined for the growth of chimeric flavivirus DEN2/4 in Vero cells. Vero cells are cultured to confluence, for example in T-75cm2 flasks for 2 days, then infected with DEN2/4 at an MOI of 0.001. The virus was adsorbed for 120 min in 2mL DMEM with or without F127. The virus inoculum was rinsed from the cell monolayer with PBS and then 25mL of the indicated growth medium containing 5% PBS with or without F127 was added and incubated for 14 days. Aliquots were taken daily and titers were determined on Vero cell monolayers. The measured virus titers are shown in figure 2.

Example 2

In another exemplary method, the growth of DEN2/4 (dengue 2/4) chimeric virus in Vero cells containing increasing amounts of F127 during adsorption and growth was examined (see, e.g., figure 3). Confluent monolayers of Vero cells were cultured in T75cm2 flasks in 25mL DMEM medium containing 10% PBS and control or increasing concentrations of F127. Exemplary F127 concentrations used in this experiment include 0.063%, 0.125%, 0.25%, 0.5%, 1.0%, and 2.0% F127. Cells were infected with DEN2/4 at MOI 0.001. Parameters included adsorption in 1mL DMEM/F127 for 1.5 hours. Aliquots were taken every two days and titrated on Vero cell monolayers. The measured virus titers are shown in figure 3.

In addition, another experiment analyzed the chimeric flavivirus DEN2/1 during virus adsorption of copolymer F127 effect. In this example, DEN2/1 was adsorbed onto confluent flasks of Vero cells at an MOI of 0.001 for 90 minutes. Adsorption was performed in 1mL growth medium (BA-1) with or without 1% F127. After virus adsorption, 20mL of DMEM containing 2% FBS, without F127, was added to the culture. Aliquots were taken every two days and titrated on Vero cell monolayers. The virus titers determined are shown in figure 4.

Example 3

Another exemplary method analyzed whether plaque size increased in the presence of exemplary copolymer F127. FIG. 5 shows an exemplary table, Table 1. This experiment demonstrates that flavivirus plaque size increases in the presence of increasing concentrations of polyoxypropylene F127 during growth. Here, confluent monolayers of Vero cells were cultured in 20mL DMEM 2% FBS medium with or without F127 in T75cm2 flasks, where Vero cells were infected with DEN2/4 at MOI 0.001. Adsorption was performed for 1.5 hours in 1mL DMEM with (0.1% or 1.0%) or without F127. Plaques (e.g. 8) were visualized on a light box and their diameters measured. Table 1 shows the results of one-way analysis of variance (one way ANOVA) of the difference in size (mm) of the grown plaques by DENVax 2/4 in the absence of F127 or in the presence of increasing concentrations of F127.

The material and the method are as follows:

it is contemplated that any method known in the art may be used with any of the compositions, methods, and/or uses described herein. In certain embodiments, it is contemplated that certain methods may be more suitable for viral growth than others, such as materials for flavivirus growthAnd a method. In other embodiments, it is contemplated that certain methods will be more appropriate for the growth of dengue virus than other flaviviruses. The following provides a brief description of the method for culturing a high titer chimeric dengue vaccine or any live attenuated flavivirus in the presence of F127. For example, using T-75cm2 flasks, Vero cells were seeded at a density of 5X 10^6 cells per flask 2 days prior to virus infection/adsorption. The virus growth can be "scaled up" to include tissue culture vessels from T-25cm2 to 10 sets of cell factories. 2 days after cell seeding, virus was adsorbed onto confluent monolayers of Vero cells in 1mL of DMEM containing F127 (0.1%). The culture vessel was incubated at 37 ℃ for 1.5 hours with shaking of the vessel every 10 minutes. After virus adsorption, the cell monolayer was washed 3 times with 10ml pbs. Growth medium (10mL DMEM, pH 7.2, containing 3.7 g/LNaHCO) was then added₃And 0.1% F127, FBS-free) were added to the monolayer and incubated at 37 ℃ for 4 days with or without ventilation. On day 4 of virus growth, the growth medium was changed as done after virus adsorption. From day 6 onwards until day 12, the infection medium was completely removed from the culture chamber and clarified by centrifugation. The virus culture was stabilized and stored at-80 ℃ until its titer could be determined by plaque assay on Vero cell monolayers. After each day of harvest, as was done on day 4, the growth medium on the tissue culture vessels was replaced. Harvesting was continued daily until day 12. The daily harvest was titrated separately on Vero cells and high titer harvests could be mixed to obtain a homogeneous sample. Typically, the day one harvest (day 6) was not included to avoid high levels of host cell (Vero) DNA.

Table 1 examples of DMEM-F12: f-12 nutritional mixture (Ham), powder containing L-glutamine (21700). Per 10L of additive: 11.76g of sodium bicarbonate and 100ml of penicillin streptomycin were adjusted to pH 7.2

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All of the compositions and methods disclosed and claimed herein can be made and executed without undue experimentation in light of the present disclosure. While the compositions and methods are described in terms of preferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variations may be applied to the compositions and methods and in the steps or in the sequence of steps of the methods described herein without departing from the concept, spirit and scope of the invention. More specifically, certain chemically and physiologically relevant agents may be substituted for the agents described herein while the same or similar results would be achieved. All such similar substitutes and modifications apparent to those skilled in the art are deemed to be within the spirit, scope and concept as defined by the appended claims.

Claims (24)

1. A composition for culturing a virus culture comprising:

one or more high molecular weight surfactants or copolymers; and

optionally, the concentration of the culture medium,

wherein the high molecular weight surfactant or copolymer accelerates the growth of the virus culture.

2. The composition of claim 1 wherein the high molecular weight surfactant or copolymer comprises polyoxypropylene F127, polyoxypropylene F68, polyoxypropylene P85, polyoxypropylene P123, other EO-PO block copolymers having molecular weights greater than 3000-4000, or combinations thereof.

3. The composition of claim 1, wherein the viral culture is selected from the group consisting of flavivirus, togavirus, coronavirus, rhabdovirus, filovirus, paramyxovirus, orthomyxovirus, bunyavirus, arenavirus, retrovirus, hepadnavirus, pestivirus, picornavirus, sepavirus, reovirus, parvovirus, papovavirus, adenovirus, herpesvirus, and poxvirus.

4. The composition of claim 1, wherein the virus culture is a flavivirus culture.

5. The composition of claim 1, wherein the viral culture is a poxvirus culture.

6. The composition of claim 1, wherein the high molecular weight surfactant comprises an EO-PO block copolymer polyoxypropylene F127, polyoxypropylene P123, or a combination thereof.

7. The composition of claim 1, wherein at least one of the high molecular weight surfactants has a molecular weight of 1500 or greater.

8. The composition of claim 1, wherein at least one of the high molecular weight surfactants further comprises one or more copolymers, wherein the molecular weight of at least one high molecular weight surfactant is 3000 or greater.

9. The composition of claim 1, wherein at least one of the high molecular weight surfactants is present in a concentration of about 0.001% to about 3.0%.

10. The composition of claim 1, wherein at least one of the high molecular weight surfactants comprises polyoxypropylene F127 and the Medium comprises Dulbecco's Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM).

11. A method of increasing the growth rate of a virus comprising administering to a culture of host cells infected with the virus a composition comprising one or more high molecular weight surfactants or copolymers, wherein the composition increases the growth rate of the virus.

12. A method of increasing the growth rate of a virus comprising administering to a host cell culture a composition comprising one or more high molecular weight surfactants or copolymers before, during, or during infection of the host cell culture by the virus.

13. A method of increasing plaque size in a viral culture comprising administering to a host cell culture infected with a virus a composition comprising one or more high molecular weight surfactants or copolymers, wherein the composition increases viral plaque size compared to a control viral culture that has not been administered one or more high molecular weight surfactants or copolymers.

14. A method of reducing the lag time of growth of a viral culture comprising administering to a host cell culture infected with a virus a composition comprising one or more high molecular weight surfactants or copolymers, wherein the composition reduces the lag time of the viral culture compared to a control viral culture that has not been administered one or more high molecular weight surfactants or copolymers.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the virus culture is selected from a flavivirus culture.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the virus culture comprises a virus culture used to produce a live attenuated vaccine.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein the reduction in lag time comprises a reduction in lag time of at least 10% compared to a viral culture without administration of one or more high molecular weight surfactants or copolymers.

18. The method of claim 14 wherein the at least one high molecular weight surfactant comprises polyoxypropylene F127, polyoxypropylene F68, polyoxypropylene P85, polyoxypropylene P123, other EO-PO block copolymers having molecular weights greater than 3000-4000, or combinations thereof.

19. A kit for culturing a virus comprising:

at least one container;

a composition comprising one or more high molecular weight surfactants; and

optionally, one or more virus cultures.

20. The kit of claim 19 wherein at least one of the high molecular weight surfactants comprises polyoxypropylene F127, polyoxypropylene F68, polyoxypropylene P85, polyoxypropylene P123, other EO-PO block copolymers having molecular weights greater than 3000-4000, or combinations thereof.

21. The kit of claim 19 wherein the EO-PO block copolymer polyoxypropylene F127 concentration is from 0.001% to about 3.0%.

22. The kit of claim 19, wherein the virus culture comprises one or more flaviviruses.

23. The kit of claim 19, further comprising a culture medium.

24. The kit of claim 19, further comprising a stock culture of host cells.