{"id":2257,"date":"2014-05-23T15:35:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-23T19:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorecore\/safety-handling\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T08:51:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:51:19","slug":"safety-handling","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorcore\/safety-handling\/","title":{"rendered":"Safety &amp; Handling"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #4d4d4d;line-height: 1.3em\">AAV Safety<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors are classified as\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Biosafety Level 1 (BSL-1)<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. These vectors\u00a0contain\u00a0recombinant transgene sequences (such as reporter or human genes) flanked by AAV inverted terminal repeats (ITRs).\u00a0Most\u00a0viral structural genes have been removed,\u00a0rendering\u00a0the vectors replication-defective and dependent on a helper virus for replication.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:300}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">AAV preparations are typically supplied as purified viral particles suspended in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), with titers commonly in the range of 10\u00b9\u00b2 particles\/mL.\u00a0Viral stocks consist of a mixture of genome-containing particles (full capsids) and a variable proportion of empty capsids. Trace components may include inorganic salts, vitamins and nutrients, residual human cellular proteins, carbohydrates, amino acids, and lipids. Materials are shipped and stored frozen.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:300}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Please click here for <strong><a class=\"internal-link\" title=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorecore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/810\/2018\/07\/unc-vc-raav-msds.pdf\" rel=\"noopener\">AAV MSDS<\/a>.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>Please click here for the reference publication <strong>\u201c<a class=\"external-link\" title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/24195602\" rel=\"noopener\">Biosafety of Recombinant Adeno-Associated Virus Vectors<\/a>\u201d<\/strong> in Current Gene Therapy, 2013 Dec;13(6): 434-52.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div>\n<h2>AAV Virus Handling &amp; Storage<\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">All viral vectors are shipped frozen on dry ice and should be transferred to\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u201380\u00b0C storage\u00a0immediately\u00a0upon receipt<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0for long-term preservation. For short-term use, vectors may be stored at \u201320\u00b0C or 4\u00b0C.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:300}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">To\u00a0maintain\u00a0vector integrity and activity:<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:300}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"65\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"1\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Aliquot vectors into\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">single-use volumes<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0whenever possible to avoid repeated freeze\u2013thaw cycles.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:300}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"65\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"2\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Use aliquots of\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">at least 10 \u00b5L per tube<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:300}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li data-leveltext=\"\uf0b7\" data-font=\"Symbol\" data-listid=\"65\" data-list-defn-props=\"{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;\uf0b7&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}\" data-aria-posinset=\"3\" data-aria-level=\"1\"><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Use\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">low protein-binding tubes<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">\u00a0to minimize viral loss.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:300}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Vectors are ready for use upon receipt. If dilution is\u00a0required, use sterile PBS and perform dilution\u00a0<\/span><b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">only\u00a0immediately\u00a0prior to use<\/span><\/b><span data-contrast=\"auto\">. Do not dilute vectors unless they\u00a0are\u00a0used promptly.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559738&quot;:0,&quot;335559739&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:300}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>AAV Safety Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors are classified as\u00a0Biosafety Level 1 (BSL-1). These vectors\u00a0contain\u00a0recombinant transgene sequences (such as reporter or human genes) flanked by AAV inverted terminal repeats (ITRs).\u00a0Most\u00a0viral structural genes have been removed,\u00a0rendering\u00a0the vectors replication-defective and dependent on a helper virus for replication.\u00a0 AAV preparations are typically supplied as purified viral particles suspended in &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorcore\/safety-handling\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Safety &amp; Handling\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22429,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-2257","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"_links_to":[],"_links_to_target":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorcore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorcore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorcore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorcore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22429"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorcore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2257"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorcore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2257\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2566,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorcore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2257\/revisions\/2566"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/vectorcore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}