Degradation of Poliovirus Sabin 2 Genome after Electron Beam Irradiation

Objectives: Most antiviral vaccines are created by inactivating the virus using chemical methods. Inactivation and production of viral vaccine preparations after irradiation of viruses with accelerated electrons has a number of significant ad-vantages. Determining the integrity of the genome of the resulting viral particles is necessary to assess their quality and degree of inactivation after irradiation. Methods: The work was performed on the Sabin 2 model polio virus. To deter-mine the most sensitive and most radiation-resistant part, the polio virus genome was divided into 20 segments. After irradiation at temperatures of 25°C, 2-8°C, -20°C, or -70°C, the amplification intensity of these segments was measured in re-al time. Results: The best correlation between the amplification cycle and the irra-diation dose at all temperatures was observed for segment 3D left. Consequently, this section of the poliovirus genome is the least resistant to the action of acceler-ated electrons and is the most representative for determining genome integrity. The worst dependence was observed for the VP1 right section, which, therefore, cannot be used to determine genome integrity during inactivation. The electro-chemical approach was also employed for a comparative assessment of viral RNA integrity before and after irradiation. An increase in the irradiation dose was accompanied by an increase in signals indicating the electrooxidation of RNA heterocyclic bases. The increase of peak current intensity of viral RNA electrochemical signals confirmed breaking of viral RNA strands during irradia-tion. The shorter the RNA fragments, the greater the peak current intensities. In turn, this made the heterocyclic bases more accessible to electrooxidation on the electrode. Conclusions: These results are necessary for characterizing the integrity of the viral genome for the purpose of creating of antiviral vaccines.