[Use of microfiltration and gel filtration technics for purifying and concentrating the Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis virus].

A system for purification and concentration of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus omitting large-scale ultracentrifugation was developed. The first step consists in prefiltration through large pore nuclear filters (NF) to remove large particle admixtures from the virus-containing fluid. In the second step, the resulting filtrage undergoes concentrating microfiltration through small pore NF. In this way the virus, but not total protein, is concentrated approximately 30-fold without any loss of biological activity. For VEE virus purification the next step uses gel filtration chromatography in a column with chemically modified macropore silica. In this stage, the purification factor by protein is approximately 100-fold and virus yield reaches 40%. It is suggested that the procedure used be applied for purification and concentration of a wide range of enveloped viruses.