Characterization of human papillomavirus 6b L1 virus-like particles isolated from silkworms using capillary zone electrophoresis.

Human papillomavirus 6b L1 virus-like particles (VLPs) were successfully expressed using Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) bacmid expression system and rapidly purified using size exclusion chromatography after ultracentrifugation procedure and characterized by capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE). The average capillary electrophoresis migration time was 11 min with the relative standard deviation (RSD) of 0.3% of human papillomavirus 6b L1 VLPs. After this threefold fractionation, the CZE samples were still further investigated by dynamic light scattering and immuno blotting. The versatile technique, CZE not only proved to be a valuable tool for VLP characterization, but was also found to be reliable and precise. Thus CZE will also be an important option for the quality control of VLPs in pharmaceutical research level.