Lentivirus Stability

When properly stored at –80 °C, MISSION ® lentivirus particles can effectively transduce cells even after ~2.5 years of storage. The above figure demonstrates the long-term stability of lentivirus. After two years and five months of storage at –80 °C, lentivirus particles were slowly thawed and applied to 1,000 A549 cells in a 96-well plate at a multiplicity of infection (M.O.I.) of 5 (5 particles per 1 cell). After 48 hours, selective pressure with puromycin was applied to the cells to eliminate all untransduced cells. After 1 week of puromycin selection, the cells were visualized under a microscope to assess viability. Cells that were not treated with lentivirus, but underwent puromycin selection, demonstrated no resistance to puromycin and did not survive after selection (A). However, when cells were transduced with either empty vector lentivirus, SHC001V (B) or non-target shRNA lentivirus, SHC002V (C), both express the puroR gene once integrated, the cells survive and proliferate without any morphological abnormalities after selection.