Department of the Russian State Collection of Viruses

Laboratory of the Russian State Collection of Viruses

Managed by PhD in Biological Sciences I.V. Dolzhikova.

The State Collection of Viruses of II-IV Pathogenicity Groups operates on the basis of the D.I. Ivanovsky Institute of Virology of the Federal State Budgetary Institution N. F. Gamaleya National Research Center of the Ministry of Health of Russia. The collection has been operating since the establishment of the institute in 1944. The status of the State Collection of Viruses (SCV) of the Russian Federation and its Charter were approved in accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated June 24, 1996. In these documents, the SCV was recognized as the heritage of the state, and the need for its mandatory preservation and replenishment was confirmed.

Collecting purposes:

• research
• technological
• educational
• patenting.

Collection specialization:

• ecology
• taxonomy
• biotechnology
• industry
• agriculture / forestry
• medicine
• sanitation
• quarantine
• veterinary medicine.

The total fund of SCV exceeds 30,000 storage units.
Viruses: 2800 strains, over 600 species belonging to 18 families.
RNA-containing viruses: Arenaviridae, Вunyaviridae, Caliciviridae, Coronaviridae, Flaviviridae, Orthomyxoviridae, Paramyxoviridae, Picornaviridae, Rhabdoviridae, Reoviridae, Retroviridae, Togaviridae.
DNA-containing viruses: Adenoviridae, Hepadnaviridae, Herpesviridae, Papillomaviridae, Parvoviridae, Poxviridae. 
The SCV also contains about 60 strains of seven species of chlamydia from two genera: Chlamydia and Chlamydophilia of Chlamydiaceaе family.

Sources of fund formation:

• own developments of employees of the D.I. Ivanovsky Institute of Virology
• research organizations of state and private ownership
• biotechnological enterprises
• field studies of infection foci in the territory of the Russian Federation and the CIS countries.

Deposit criteria:

• original copyright strains
• reference strains
• international standard strains
• recombinant and mutant strains
• experimentally selected strains
• producer strains for obtaining diagnostic and prophylactic drugs.

Preservation methods used:

• lyophilization
• cryopreservation.

The main areas of activity of the SCV are the following:

• Preservation of the gene pool of viruses collected in the territory of Russia and the CIS countries during field investigations of outbreaks of infectious diseases of unknown etiology, as well as those obtained from abroad
• Expansion of the collection with viruses isolated during epidemic (epizootic) outbreaks and presenting problems for Russian healthcare as especially dangerous pathogens or pathogens of socially significant infections that can create emergency epidemic situations unforeseen in their consequences
• Expansion of the collection with viruses for the purpose of subsequent patenting of industrial strains obtained in scientific laboratories and suitable for the production of vaccines, diagnostic drugs on their basis, as well as for screening of antiviral drugs
• Use of viruses stored in the SCV for the development of modern diagnostic products, for obtaining virus-specific immunoglobulins, monoclonal antibodies, serum panels, antigens, genetic material necessary for express indication, diagnosis and identification of viruses in the process of decoding outbreaks of infectious diseases unclear etiology, and for other purposes.
• The use of viruses stored in the SCV for the development of therapeutic and prophylactic drugs, for the creation of experimental models of infections that are important for preclinical trials, for testing disinfectants of various origins, for evaluating the effectiveness of manufactured and developed vaccines against viral infections, for breeding vaccine variants of viruses, and for other purposes
• Use of viruses stored in the SCV to study the evolution and history of the emergence of epidemic strains, to study the variability of virus strains
• Supply of epidemiological institutions, virological laboratories of the country that have official permission to work with viruses of II-IV pathogenicity groups with collection strains of viruses for quality control and improvement of the developed diagnostic and prophylactic drugs and test systems.

Equipment.
The SCV has the necessary equipment for the implementation of all operational and current measures related to the main activity.
The SCV depository is capable of storing more than 100,000 samples at temperatures of -20, -80, -150 or -196°C.
For storage of lyophilized viral material, low-temperature freezers with reduced energy consumption are placed in the SCV storage. Cooling temperature is down to -80°C.
Ultra-low-temperature freezers are used to store liquid frozen viral suspensions. Temperature range is down to -150°C.
There is a cryostorage with liquid nitrogen for storing samples at temperatures down to -196°C.

Biological Safety.
The activity of the SCV is carried out in full compliance with the legislative acts regulating activities related to pathogenic microorganisms of II-IV pathogenicity groups.

International.

• Convention on Biological Diversity (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 3-14, 1992).
• Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit of Microorganisms for the Purposes of Patent Procedure signed in Budapest on April 28, 1977, as amended on September 26, 1980.

Federal.

• Sanitary and epidemiological rules "Safety of work with microorganisms of I-II groups of pathogenicity (hazard)".
• Sanitary and epidemiological rules "Procedure for issuing a sanitary and epidemiological conclusion on the possibility of working with pathogens of human infectious diseases of I-IV groups of pathogenicity (hazard), genetically modified microorganisms, poisons of biological origin, and helminths."
• Sanitary and Epidemiological Rules "Procedure for recording, storage, transfer and transportation of microorganisms of I-IV pathogenicity groups".
• Sanitary and Epidemiological Rules "Safety of work with microorganisms of III-IV pathogenicity groups".

Departmental.

• Rules for depositing and issuing microorganisms (viruses, prions, and chlamydia).
• Regulation on the State Collection of Viruses.

Physical security.

The SCV has a security, monitoring and warning system in case of emergency situations.

Information Security.

A protected local computer network is established in the SCV.

The result of the existence and activity of the SCV is the solution of fundamental issues of biological safety associated with the study of new and recurring infections, viruses with a high degree of genome variability, which have an increased epidemic hazard, on the problem of socially significant infections.

A number of applied tasks are being solved within the framework of the SCV activity.

• Recommendations on optimal conditions for conservation and long-term storage of viral strains were developed and published.
• To conduct environmental and epidemiological monitoring on the territory of Russia, based on viral strains stored in the SCV, new diagnostic preparations and test systems for diagnosing a number of especially dangerous arbovirus infections circulating in the Russian Federation have been created and their production has commenced.
• Virus strains characterized by properties suitable for practical use are being patented.
• On the basis of viral strains stored in the SCV, new drugs have been created for the treatment of dangerous and socially significant infections (AIDS, herpesvirus infections).

Chronic viral infections laboratory

Managed by Doctor of Medical Sciences, professor D.N.Nosik.

The main areas of research are:

• Study of the properties of immunodeficiency viruses.
• Preclinical expert evaluation of the antiviral efficacy of compounds of various natures for the prevention and treatment of the disease caused by the immunodeficiency virus.
• Research and expert evaluation of disinfectants on the model of regulatory test viruses.

On the basis of the laboratory, there is an accredited Testing Laboratory Center of the D.I. Ivanovsky Institute of Virology for testing antiviral agents and disinfectants.

Accreditation certificate No. ГСЭН.RU.ЦОА.315.

State registration No. РOCC.RU.0001.513126.

The center conducts trials for preclinical study of antiviral drugs as well as the study and expert assessment of the virucidal properties of disinfectants proposed for use in the Russian Federation.

Tissue Culture Laboratory

Managed by Doctor of Biological Sciences M.М. Mezentseva.

On the basis of the laboratory, the Collection of Animal and Human Cell Cultures is maintained, which includes more than 150 certified cell lines that are widely used in virology and biotechnology. All certified lines are included in the catalog of the All-Union Collection of Cell Cultures (1991) and the European Catalog of Human and Animal Cell Lines (1993). The laboratory has created a working and seed pools of the vaccine cell line Vero (B), characterized according to the WHO requirements, which can be used for the preparation of viral vaccines and test systems. An antiherpetic vaccine is currently being produced on the basis of this line.

To preserve the gene pool of collection cultures, an automatic freezer Minicool LC-40 made by CFRO (France) is used, which provides standardization of cryopreservation and long-term storage conditions.

Key areas of business:

• determination of optimal conditions for cell cultivation (use of conditioned environments, identification of non-toxic native embryonic bovine sera by determining their toxicity by the MIT24 method and proliferative activity by the MTT method)
• application of methods of cell metabolism inhibition (MIT24 and MTT) to determine the toxicity of biological or chemical substances on a highly sensitive diploid culture of lung cells of the human embryo
• determination of various contaminants (mycoplasma, diarrhea virus) in cell cultures using karyological and cytological, virological (hemadsorption reaction) and molecular biological (PCR) methods
• certification of new cell cultures in accordance with the requirements of the "Guidelines for the certification of transplanted cell lines-substrates for the production and control of medical immunobiological preparations" (RD 42-28-10-89)
• the use of cell cultures for research in the field of nanotechnology (nanoparticles, nanosorbents, nanotubes)
• creation of mini-banks for working with a homogeneous population of cells- an annual practical training on the job "Course on the basics of primary and transplantable cell lines cultivation ".

A collection of cell cultures is available at cells.virology.ru.
Hela and Hela-like lines.
Human cell lines not contaminated with Hela cells.
Human diploid cell lines.
Human lymphoblastoid cell lines.
Transplantable animal cell lines, lymphoblastoid animal cell lines.
Transplantable monkey cell lines.
Transplantable mouse cell lines.
Plasmacytoma (myeloma) of the mouse.
Transplantable hamster cell lines.
Transplantable pig cell lines.
Transplantable cattle cell lines.
Transplantable rabbit cell lines.
Transplantable rat cell lines.
Transplantable cell lines of a different origin.