Virus Neutralization Using Laser Force Cytlogy™
A neutralization assay in vaccine manufacturing is a test designed to determine the effectiveness of a vaccine or therapeutic antibody by measuring its ability to neutralize or inhibit the infectivity of a target virus or pathogen, providing crucial insights into the vaccine’s protective properties. Common methodologies, including plaque reduction neutralization tests (PRNT), are time-consuming, subjective, labor-intensive, and allow limited throughput, all leading to high operational costs and variable results. These challenges can hinder the efficiency and reliability of assessing the neutralization capabilities of antibodies and vaccines, which are critical in the development and quality control of biopharmaceutical products. Addressing these challenges is essential to ensure the safety and effectiveness of therapeutic treatments and to meet the growing demands of the biomanufacturing industry.
Advantages of using Radiance® for neutralization assays include:
Quantitative, objective results due to automated capture and analysis
Fewer serum dilutions necessary due to a larger dynamic range
Shorter incubation time compared to traditional assays such as PRNT
Standalone assay does not require correlation to the current assay
By leveraging the power of Laser Force Cytology™ (LFC), the Radiance® instrument allows for rapid, label-free, and highly precise measurements of viral infectivity. This technology provides a means to directly assess the neutralization potential of antibodies against specific viruses, offering critical insights into the development and testing of vaccines and therapies.
Laser Force Cytology™ Neutralization Assay
LFC™ based neutralization assays can provide results similar to the PRNT but with reduced time and labor and without the need to optimize an overlay medium. Additionally, antibody labeling is not needed, reducing the assay development time for new and emerging threats for which antibodies have not yet been developed, thus improving the speed at which valuable vaccines can be developed for emerging threats.
Zika Virus Neutralization
In this technical note, we present the application of LFC™ and Radiance® to directly assess the neutralization potential of antibodies against specific viruses (Zika virus in particular), offering invaluable insights into the development and testing of vaccines and therapies.
