BacPAK™ Baculovirus Rapid Titer Kit

The BacPAK Baculovirus Rapid Titer Kit provides a fast and simple method for determining titers of baculovirus stocks, typically the most time-consuming part of baculovirus expression protocols. The kit uses a standard immunological assay to accurately determine baculovirus titers within 48 hours, whereas other methods, such as plaque and end-point dilution assays, require 4–8 days.

In BacPAK Baculovirus Expression Systems, infected cells express viral antigens long before plaques are formed. The BacPAK Rapid Titer assay allows titer determination after a much shorter incubation period (1). Furthermore, the titers obtained are comparable to those obtained with other methods. This kit is suitable for use with any virus stock with a titer of more than 10⁴ pfu/ml and is compatible with all commonly available (AcMNPV-based) baculovirus expression systems.

The Rapid Titer immunoassay uses a primary monoclonal antibody raised against an AcMNPV envelope glycoprotein (gp64) to accurately identify virus-infected cells. A secondary HRP-conjugated antibody enables you to visualize infected cells by light microscopy and determine viral titer. Recently we have improved the protocol to consistently offer our best ever signal-to-noise ration for identifying cells. Representative results are shown in Figure 2.

The BacPAK Rapid Titer Kit includes a baculovirus control and all the necessary reagents, except organic solvents, to perform five titration assays.