Understanding viral partitioning in two-phase aqueous nonionic micellar systems: 1. Role of attractive interactions between viruses and micelles

The partitioning behavior of viruses in the two‐phase aqueous nonionic n‐decyl tetra(ethylene oxide) (C10E4) micellar system cannot be fully explained by considering solely the repulsive, steric, excluded‐volume interactions that operate between the viruses and the nonionic C10E4 micelles. Specifically, an excluded‐volume theory developed recently by our group is not able to quantitatively predict the observed viral partition coefficients, even though this theory is capable of providing reasonable quantitative predictions of protein partition coefficients. To shed light on the discrepancy between the theoretically predicted and the experimentally measured viral partition coefficients, a central assumption underlying the excluded‐volume theory that the viruses and the C10E4 micelles interact solely through repulsive, excluded‐volume interactions was challenged in this study. In particular, utilizing bacteriophage P22 as a model virus, a competitive inhibition test and a partitioning study of the capsids of bacteriophage P22 were conducted. Based on the results of these two experimental studies, it was concluded that any attractive interactions between the tailspikes of bacteriophage P22 and the C10E4 micelles are negligible. Another experimental study was carried out wherein the partition coefficients of the model viruses, bacteriophages P22 and T4, were measured at various temperatures, and compared with those previously obtained for bacteriophage ϕX174. This comparison also indicated that possible attractive, electromagnetic‐induced interactions between the bacteriophage particles and the C10E4 micelles cannot be invoked to rationalize the observed discrepancy between the theoretically predicted and the experimentally measured viral partition coefficients. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 78: 190–202, 2002; DOI 10.1002/bit.10193