Virus preservation liquid

Virus preservation liquid is a liquid reagent used to preserve virus samples. It usually consists of multiple components to maintain the activity and stability of the virus, facilitating subsequent detection, research, and other tasks. The following is a detailed introduction in terms of main components and their functions, types, and application scenarios:

Main Components and Their Functions

• Buffers: Such as Tris – HCl, phosphate – buffered saline, etc. They can maintain the pH value of the preservation liquid within an appropriate range, generally between 7.2 – 7.4, providing a stable acid – base environment for the virus and preventing virus inactivation due to pH fluctuations.
• Salts: Including sodium chloride, potassium chloride, etc. Their function is to mimic the physiological environment and maintain a certain osmotic pressure, keeping the virus particles in a stable state and avoiding damage caused by abnormal osmotic pressure.
• Proteins: Commonly, bovine serum albumin (BSA) can protect the structural integrity of virus particles, prevent virus protein denaturation, and also reduce the non – specific adsorption of the virus to the container surface during preservation and transportation.
• Antibiotics: Usually, penicillin, streptomycin, etc. are added. Their main purpose is to inhibit the growth and reproduction of bacteria, fungi, and other microorganisms, prevent sample contamination, and ensure the purity and activity of the virus.
• Cryoprotectants: Such as glycerol, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), etc. When stored at low temperatures, they can lower the freezing point of water, reduce ice crystal formation, avoid mechanical damage to the virus caused by ice crystals, and improve the survival rate of the virus during freezing and thawing.

Common Types

• Inactivated Type: It contains components that can denature virus proteins, such as guanidine salts, etc. It can rapidly lyse the virus, release nucleic acids, and at the same time inactivate the virus. This type is highly operationally safe and is suitable for the collection and transportation of samples for large – scale nucleic acid testing.
• Non – inactivated Type: It does not contain components that inactivate the virus, can maintain the activity and infectivity of the virus, and is often used in experiments that require live viruses, such as virus culture, isolation, virus load determination, and virus antigen detection.

Application Scenarios

• Clinical Diagnosis: It is used to collect and preserve samples from patients, such as throat swabs, nasal swabs, sputum, etc., for virus nucleic acid testing, antigen testing, etc., assisting doctors in making an accurate diagnosis of viral infectious diseases.
• Disease Surveillance: In disease surveillance work, it can be used to preserve environmental samples, animal samples, etc., to monitor the spread of the virus in the environment and the infection situation in the animal population, providing a basis for epidemic prevention and control.
• Virus Research: When researchers conduct studies on the biological characteristics of viruses, vaccine development, antiviral drug screening, etc., they need to use virus preservation liquid to preserve virus samples, ensuring the activity and stability of the virus for subsequent experiments.