Lentiviral applications and understanding MOI

Lentiviral vectors have proven invaluable for introducing genetic material into mammalian cells, either in culture or whole animals. Lentiviruses, derived from a replication incompetent HIV vector, infect most cell types, including neurons. Applications for lentiviruses include gene overexpression, gene knockdown with shRNA, gene knockout with CRISPR (gene editing) and introduction of miRNA precursors and inhibitors. Getting started with particles can be difficult because you must first know your multiplicity of infection (MOI) for your specific cell type. MOI is the ratio of the number of viral particles diluted into the cell culture dish to the number of cells in the dish. For instance, if 10⁶ TU are used to infect 10⁶ cells, then the MOI is 1. MOI can range from 0.1 to over 100. Thus, it is important to know the MOI before beginning the experiment.

GeneCopoeia, Inc.
Download the Lentivirus Technical Note