Removal of chromatin by salt‐tolerant endonucleases for production of recombinant measles virus

Host cell DNA is a critical impurity in downstream processing of enveloped viruses. Especially, DNA in the form of chromatin is often neglected. Endonuclease treatment is an almost mandatory step in manufacturing of viral vaccines. In order to find the optimal performer, four different endonucleases, two of them salt tolerant, were evaluated in downstream processing of recombinant measles virus. Endonuclease treatment was performed under optimal temperature conditions after clarification and before the purification by flow-through chromatography with a core shell chromatography medium: Capto™ Core 700. Virus infectivity was measured by TCID50. DNA and histone presence in process and purified samples was determined using PicoGreen™ assay and Western blot analysis using an anti-histone antibody, respectively. All tested endonucleases allowed the reduction of DNA content improving product purity. The salt-tolerant endonucleases SAN and M-SAN were more efficient in the removal of chromatin compared with the non-salt-tolerant endonucleases Benzonase® and DENARASE®. Removal of chromatin using M-SAN was also possible without the addition of extra salt to the cell culture supernatant. The combination of the endonuclease treatment, using salt-tolerant endonucleases with flow-through chromatography, using core-shell particles, resulted in high purity and purification efficiency. This strategy has all features for a platform downstream process of recombinant measles virus and beyond.