Simultaneous Detection and Genotype Determination of HSV 1 and 2 by Real-time PCR Using Melting Curve Analysis and a Unique Pair of Primers

Design and validation of a new method to detect and quantify residual host cell DNA in human recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO)

During the purification of human recombinant erythropoietin (rEPO) from host cells, residual DNA may remain in final products. This contamination is a risk factor for patients and may result in the inactivation of some tumor suppressor genes or activation of oncogenes if its concentration is more than the standard defined by WHO. Based on WHO's criteria, acceptable level of residual DNA in biopharmaceuticals is less than 10-100 pg/dose. In this study, we have designed a sensitive and specific quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the detection of residual DNA in human rEPO products. All reported sequences of CHO's GAPDH gene were retrieved from GenBank, and a multiple alignment was performed using Mega 6 software to find conserved regions of the gene. Primers and probe were designed by AlleleID7 software for the highly conserved region. Quantitative real-time PCR showed an R² value more than 0.99 and the efficiency equal to 101% indicating a highly accurate and efficiency of the reaction, respectively. Based on the standard curve, the limit of detection of the assay was determined to be 10 copies/µL (0.00967 fg/µL). In addition, the inter- and intra-assay of the test were determined to be 1.14% and 0.65%, respectively, which are in acceptable range according to the WHO's guidelines.

Development of an in-House TaqMan Real-Time PCR-Based Method to Detect Residual Host Cell DNA in HBV Vaccine

Biological therapeutic products such as recombinant hepatitis B virus (HBV) vaccine, produced by microbial fermentation in complex media, should be evaluated for host cell DNA contamination in purification steps. Eliminating these contaminations increases the efficacy of the vaccine and decreases its side effects. The objective of the present study is to trace the residual host cell DNA (HCD) in recombinant HBV vaccine by developing a TaqMan Real-Time PCR method which is more sensitive, specific, and reproducible than traditional methods such as Picogreen analysis and Threshold DNA assay. Primers and a probe were designed for the most highly conserved regions of Pichia pastoris genome. To determine the specificity of the assay, in addition to performing a BLAST for the primers and the probe in NCBI nucleotide database, 20 different human genomes and 8 bacterial and viral genomes were used. Moreover, serial dilutions of plasmids, from 10(2) to 10(7) copies/μL (from 0.00064 to 6.4 pg/μL), were prepared to find the sensitivity and the limit of detection (LOD) of the assay. Using 28 different genome samples, the specificity of the assay was determined to be 100 %. In addition, the sensitivity and LOD of the method was 0.39 × 10(-5) pg/μL. Moreover, the reproducibility of the assay based on intra- and inter-assay was 1.03 and 1.06 %, respectively. Considering the suitable specificity and sensitivity, ease of use, relatively low cost, and rapidity of the assay, it can be a reproducible and sensitive method to examine recombinant vaccines for P. pastoris residual DNA.