BHUBANESWAR: Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar has successfully established in-vitro cultures of coronavirus from the patient samples using vero cells.
The vero cell culture technology is used worldwide to develop cell-based vaccines. At least 17 virus cultures have been established from swab samples with varying virus loads collected from different locations of the country.
The virus cultures have been established by scientists Dr Soma Chattopadhyay and Dr Gulam H Syed as per international protocols and safety precautions in the Biosafety level-3 facility.
Virus cultures have been stabilised with multiple passages in vero cell culture and titres in culture supernatants of 7 to 9 passages were estimated by Foci- Forming Unit (FFU) assay.
Infection of the vero cells with SARS-CoV2 clinical isolate was also confirmed by immunofluorescence detection of SARS-CoV2 infection.
ILS Director Dr Ajay Parida said it is a significant development as only three other laboratories from India have reported establishing virus cultures so far.
“This has potential application in testing and screening for possible drug targets, formulations as well as possible use in vaccine development. Cultured SARS-CoV-2 can also be used in developing antibodies or anti-dotes, testing of antibodies and identification of effective therapeutic agents,” he said.
Dr Parida expressed confidence that the virus culture will be a useful resource for the country in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic.
It will also help academicians as well as industry for testing and validating various antiviral products contributing to diagnostic, cure and management of the pandemic, he said. ILS has been selected as one of the 16 institutions in the country for setting up a biorespository of clinical samples for furthering research and development efforts for coronavirus.