Purification of Recombinant Adeno-Associated Viruses (rAAVs) by Cesium Chloride Gradient Sedimentation

Centrifugation to equilibrium in cesium chloride gradients has been used for more than 40 yr to purify viruses. The application of high G-forces for a long period of time to a solution of CsCl generates a density gradient that allows separation of empty, partially packaged, and fully packaged viral particles from cellular debris, proteins, and nucleic acids in the crude viral lysate on the basis of their buoyant densities. This protocol describes the use of CsCl gradients to purify AAV vectors from crude viral lysates.