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Updated: Aug 9, 2026

Production of E. coli-expressed Self-Assembling Protein Nanoparticles for Vaccines Requiring Trimeric Epitope Presentation
Published on: August 21, 2019
Nanoparticle-templated assembly of viral protein cages
Chao Chen1, Marie-Christine Daniel, Zachary T Quinkert
1Department of Chemistry, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, USA.
Abstract:
Self-assembly of regular protein surfaces around nanoparticle templates provides a new class of hybrid biomaterials with potential applications in medical imaging and in bioanalytical sensing. We report here the first example of efficiently self-assembled virus-like particles (VLPs) having a brome mosaic virus protein coat and a functionalized gold core. The present study indicates that functionalized gold particles can initiate VLP assembly by mimicking the electrostatic behavior of the nucleic acid component of the native virus. These VLP constructs are symmetric, with the protein stoichiometry and packaging properties indicating similarity to the icosahedral packing of the capsid. Moreover, a pH-induced swelling transition of the VLPs is observed, in direct analogy to the native virus.
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