Development for Analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein in 293FT Cells by Flow Cytometry for Identity Determination of the mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines
Analysis of the SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein in 293FT Cells by Flow Cytometry
Keywords:
COVID-19 vaccine, mRNA vaccine, Spike protein, Flow cytometry, 293FT cellsAbstract
Regarding national quality control of vaccines and biological products, the Institute of Biological Products, Department of Medical Sciences, Thailand, developed a method to determine the identity of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. In this study, it was demonstrated that treating the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine in 293FT cell cultures induced the expression of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, which could be detected by a specific antibody using flow cytometry. The amount of mRNA added varied with the number of cells containing the spike protein. Additionally, the antibody used was specific to the spike protein compared to the antibody control. The method demonstrated that 30 micrograms of mRNA vaccine increased the percentage of cell-expressed spike protein to approximately 47%, compared to untreated cells or the control group, which showed less than 1% positive cell expression. This method was successful in determining the identity of the mRNA COVID-19 vaccine. It is also expected that this developed method will be a standardized assay that can be used with other products in the form of mRNA vaccines in the future.
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