Adenoviral vectors
Adenoviral vectors (AVs) play a crucial role in both gene therapies and vaccines development. Evaluating these vectors involves analyzing key aspects like infectivity and safety. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) emerges as a powerful tool in this process. It distinguishes between intact, broken, empty or filled viral particles, irrespective of the influence of proteins, vector fragments, and other impurities associated with the vectors.
By assessing the ratio of empty to filled particles, a clearer understanding of infectivity and transduction efficiency can be gained. Additionally, TEM serves as a valuable visual aid for identifying impurities and assessing particle integrity throughout all purification and manufacturing stages.
nsTEM image of adenoviral vectors
Assessing the quality and stability with TEM
Negative stain TEM (nsTEM) visualizes morphological changes that can indicate non-optimal processing conditions or formulations that can lead to poor transgene delivery. For adenoviral vectors, this may appear as the partial or complete breakage of critical surface features, like hexons, or the aggregation of particles. Insight into these features is crucial for ensuring the stability and efficacy of adenoviral vector products.
Analyses
At QuTEM, we generally offer the following analyses for adenoviral vectors.
Revealing internal structures
Cryogenic TEM (cryoTEM) reveals variations in the internal density of individual adenoviral vectors, which indicates the packaging of materials within them. By classifying these vectors based on their density profile, our clients can enhance their comprehension of their product's efficacy.
Example reports
Download an example report that includes:
- Analysis of an adenoviral vector sample by cryoTEM
- Analysis of an adenoviral vector sample by nsTEM
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