Development of a Vero cell DNA reference standard for residual DNA measurement in China

This collaborative study developed a Vero cell DNA reference for standardizing dot blot hybridization, an assay widely employed to measure residual DNA contents of viral vaccines prepared with Vero cells. High purity of Vero cell DNA was extracted and characterized by Hind III enzyme digestion and DNA sequencing. Then, with a cooperative calibration, the concentration of Vero cell DNA reference bulk solution was determined (64.0 +/- 1.9 mu g/mL, OD260/OD280 = 1.87) and diluted (40 ng/mL) with Tris-EDTA buffer containing bovine serum albumin as freeze-dried excipients. With industrial filling apparatus, the diluted bulk was loaded into ampoules (0.5 mL each) which were heat sealed after nitrogen filling. Finally, a collaborative study showed that the Vero cell DNA reference could reach a sensitivity of 1 to 5 pg/dot and maintained good stability after accelerated destruction test. The successful establishment of the Vero cell DNA quantitative reference will facilitate the standardization of dot blot hybridization for testing residual host cell DNA.