Quality control and analytical methods for baculovirus-based products

Recombinant baculoviruses (rBac) are used for many different applications, ranging from bio-insecticides to the production of heterologous proteins, high-throughput screening of gene functions, drug delivery, in vitro assembly studies, design of antiviral drugs, bio-weapons, building blocks for electronics, biosensors and chemistry, and recently as a delivery system in gene therapy. Independent of the application, the quality, quantity and purity of rBac-based products are pre-requisites demanded by regulatory authorities for product licensing. To guarantee maximization utility, it is necessary to delineate optimized production schemes either using trial-and-error experimental setups ("brute force" approach) or rational design of experiments by aid of in silico mathematical models (Systems Biology approach). For that, one must define all of the main steps in the overall process, identify the main bioengineering issues affecting each individual step and implement, if required, accurate analytical methods for product characterization. In this review, current challenges for quality control (QC) technologies for up- and downstream processing of rBac-based products are addressed. In addition, a collection of QC methods for monitoring/control of the production of rBac derived products are presented as well as innovative technologies for faster process optimization and more detailed product characterization. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.