Efficient Encapsulation of Fe₃O₄ Nanoparticles into Genetically Engineered Hepatitis B Core Virus‐Like Particles Through a Specific Interaction for Potential Bioapplications

Abstract

Self-assembly of viral coating proteins encapsulating functional nanoparticles provides a new class of biomaterials with robust chemical and physical properties for potential applications in functional imaging, and therapeutic or diagnostic agent delivery. Herein, a straightforward method is demonstrated for efficient encapsidation of magnetic nanoparticles into the engineered virus-like particle (VLP) through the affinity of histidine tags for the nickel- nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) chelate. Monodispersed, uniformly sized, magnetic core-containing VLPs are obtained at high efficiency (>85%) and used as the cellular T2 contrast agents for MR imaging applications thanks to their biocompatibility, higher cellular uptake, as well as higher r2 values.

Enhancement of shrimp immunity against white spot syndrome virus by Macrobrachium rosenbergii nodavirus-like particle encapsulated VP28 double-stranded RNA

“…They are not only known as nano-carriers in the delivery system but also act as an immunogen to induct immune response (Jeoung et al, 2010;Shen et al, 2015). Taking advantage of these VLP properties, in the present study, we demonstrate the effectiveness of using MrNV-VLPs to deliver heterogeneous dsRNA while also raising immune response to protect shrimp from WSSV infection compared to naked VP28 dsRNA, and MrNV-VLPs enhanced up-take of VP28 dsRNA in shrimp tissues (Fig.…”

Design of virus-based nanomaterials for medicine, biotechnology, and energy

“…130 Introducing histidine tags that have affinity for Ni-NTA is another method. 77 Additionally, some interactions that naturally exist for some particles include the association of scaffold proteins with bacteriophage P22 that aids in viral assembly 131, 132 and the binding of translational repression operator proteins to RNA stem-loops within MS2 bacteriophages. 14 Fusions to these proteins can then be utilized for encapsulation of materials of interest, such as enzyme cascades and therapeutic molecules.…”

Protein nanoparticles as multifunctional biocatalysts and health assessment sensors

“…This is accomplished through denaturation of the cage structure and reassembling it in the presence of cargos [28,53]. In many cases the specificity and loading efficiency can be increased through the use of electrostatics [21,25,38,54–56].…”