SARS-CoV-2 B.1.351 variant lentivector packaging kit: pPACK-SPIKE

The SARS-CoV-2 pPACK-SPIKE™ packaging kit can be used to produce high titre SARS-CoV-2 Spike pseudotyped lentivirus particles. The mixes incorporate three critical mutations in the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) of the Spike protein found in the B.1.351 (S. African) variant - K417N, E484 and N501Y - which have been characterised as critical changes in the Spike sequence. This kit helps researchers to understand how mutations in the Spike protein impact SARS-CoV-2 behaviour and is ideal for vaccine and antiviral efficacy studies under BSL2 conditions.

Benefits of using the pPACK-SPIKE lentivector packaging kit
• High titre SARS-CoV-2 Spike pseudotyped lentivirus particles produced
• Ideal for vaccine and antiviral efficacy studies under BSL2 conditions
• Incorporates K417N, E484 and N501Y mutations found in the B.1.351 (S. African) variant
• Based on SBI’s highly cited pPACKH1 Packaging System
• Uses codon-optimised SARS-CoV-2 K417N, E484K, N501Y “S” protein in place of VSV-G envelope protein
• Available for other strains including the original Wuhan-Hu-1 strain, the D614G Spike protein variant and the B.1.153 variant (also known as 501Y.V2)

How it works
pPACK-SPIKE is easy to use — simply co-transfect the pPACK-SPIKE plasmids and your lentivector construct into 293TN producer cells or other lentiviral production cells, isolate pseudoviral particles with an optional concentration step, and conduct your studies.

pPACK-SPIKE pseudovirus particles efficiently infect ACE2 overexpression cells

pPACK-SPIKE packaging mix was used to generate Spike pseudoviral particles carrying a GFP-reporter vector, concentrated using PEG-it Concentration Reagent, and transduced ACE2-overexpressing cells. GFP imaging shows expression of the GFP reporter only in cells overexpressing ACE2, demonstrating the SARS-CoV-2-like behavior of the Spike pseudoviral particles. Data courtesy of Henry David Herce and Michelle Prew from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School.

Material available for download
pPACK-SPIKE™ B.1.351 RBD Mutations manual
pPACK-SPIKE™ SARS-CoV-2 family (Wuhan-Hu-1, D614G and N501Y Spike proteins) manual

Applications
SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and antiviral efficacy studies
SARS-CoV-2 neutralisation assays
SARS-CoV-2 virus - host surface protein interaction studies
SARS-CoV-2 vaccine and therapeutic development

pPACK-SPIKE lentivector packaging kit citations