Laboratory preparation of Varicella-Zoster Virus: Concentration of virus-containing supernatant, use of a debris fraction and magnetofection for consistent cell-free VZV infections

The research laboratory generation of free Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV) from cultured yields results relatively low titers, with the result that most study of VZV infection utilizes cell-associated infection. However, important aspects of VZV-cell interaction, such as the entry mechanism and superinfection exclusion have not yet been studied in detail, in part due to the difficulty in obtaining a high titer cell free virus. Here, a method to...