Figure 4

Capsid stability and morphology of CPV-VLPs. A and B. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) of CPV-VLPs. Sucrose gradient purified samples were passed through a Superose6 size exclusion column. Absorbance values recorded at 260 nm (for nucleic acids), 280 nm (for protein) and 496 nm (for OG-488 dye) are shown on the y-axis. The elution profile from the column in ml is shown on x-axis. Panel A shows SEC of freshly purified CPV-VLPs and panel B shows SEC of CPV-VLPs labeled with OG-488 dye following 1 week of storage at 4°C. C and D. Electron micrographs of CPV-VLPs. CPV-VLPs were deposited onto carbon-coated copper grids and stained with uranyl acetate. The micrographs of (C) full capsids in a freshly purified CPV-VLPs preparation and (D) empty capsids in CPV-VLPs sample after 1 week of storage are shown. Both micrographs were taken at a nominal magnification of 60,000×.