1. Transfecting C6/36 Cells with Aedes aegypti densovirus (rAaeDV) Plasmids
- Culture C6/36 cells in Roswell park memorial institute (RPMI) 1640 medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum (FBS) and 1% penicillin/streptomycin in a 28 °C incubator.
- On day 0, plate the cells in ten 25 cm2 culture flasks 18-20 h before transfection by splitting 90-95% confluent cells in a 1:2 dilution.
NOTE: By day 1, the cells should reach 90-95% confluence. - On day 1, transfect the cells with the series of rAaeDV plasmids.
- Dilute 10 µg DNA in 600 µL of RPMI-1640 medium in a microcentrifuge tube and mix gently. Meanwhile, prepare 600 µL of RPMI-1640 medium and 25 µL of transfection reagent per transfection.
- Incubate for 5-10 min at room temperature (RT). Then, add 625 µL of the 1640- transfection reagent mixture to the RPMI-1640-plasmid DNA mixture.
- Incubate this mixture for 20-30 min at RT. Before transfection, wash the cells twice with 2 mL of RPMI-1640 medium.
- After the RT incubation (step 1.3.3), add the RPMI-1640-transfection reagent DNA plasmid mixture to the 25 cm2 culture flask and incubate for 6 h at 28 °C.
- At approximately 6 h post-transfection, remove the transfection media, wash the cells twice with 5 mL of RPMI-1640 medium, and then add RPMI-1640 medium with 10% FBS.
NOTE: rAaeDV shows high rates of infection (95%) in Ae. albopictus larvae; however, in our experience, in nearly 50% of infected larvae, the infection was restricted to primary infection sites (e.g., anal papillae and bristle cells) without dissemination. Therefore, if there is a need to infect larvae in multiple tissues, a defective recombinant virus expressing fluorescent protein should be co-infected to enable the visualization of infection sites. For example, to produce a defective recombinant virus expressing DsRed, p7NS1-DsRed should be co-transfected with a helper plasmid into C6/36 cells.
2. Harvesting rAaeDV Virions from Transfected C6/36 Cells
- Harvest the cells 5 days after transfection. Dislodge and suspend the cells in the dishes using a 5 mL glass dropper, pipetting up and down with the culture medium. Transfer all cell suspensions to sterile 15-mL tubes.
- Freeze at -80 °C or in a dry ice/ethanol bath for 30 min and then thaw at 37 °C. Vortex for 1 min. Repeat the freeze-and-thaw procedure 3 times.
- Centrifuge the sample at 4,800 x g for 20 min at 4 °C. Collect the supernatant and discard the pellet. Then, pass the supernatant through a 0.22 µm disposable syringe filter. Aliquot and store the final purified virion stocks at -80 °C.
NOTE: Avoid repeated freeze-thaw cycles.