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Assembly and Purification of Prototype Foamy Virus Intasomes
Published on: March 19, 2018
Controlled integration of polymers into viral capsids
Marta Comellas-Aragonès1, Andrés de la Escosura, A Ton J Dirks
1Institute for Molecules and Materials, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
Biomacromolecules
|October 21, 2009
Summary
Researchers created novel virus-like particles by incorporating synthetic polymers inside and outside the cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) capsid. This biohybrid material synthesis offers new possibilities for nanotechnology.
Area of Science:
- Biomaterials Science
- Nanotechnology
- Virology
Background:
- Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) is a plant virus with a protein capsid.
- Synthetic polymers can be attached to viral capsids to create new materials.
- Controlling polymer incorporation is key for stable virus-based nanostructures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the controlled incorporation of two synthetic polymers, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) and polystyrene sulfonate (PSS), into the CCMV capsid.
- To explore the effects of polymer functionalization on CCMV capsid stability and structure.
- To develop novel virus-like particles with polymers both inside and outside the capsid.
Main Methods:
- Functionalization of CCMV with PEG chains attached to lysine residues.
- Observation of PEG-CCMV conjugate dissociation into coat protein (CP) subunits.
- Reassembly of PEG-functionalized CP subunits with PSS to form new capsids.
Main Results:
- PEGylation of CCMV led to slow, irreversible capsid dissociation due to steric interference.
- Incorporation of PSS inside the capsid stabilized the structure.
- Formation of robust PSS-CCMV-PEG virus-like particles (18 nm diameter, T=1 capsids) with polymers both internally and externally.
Conclusions:
- Synthetic polymer incorporation can destabilize viral capsids but can be controlled with internal polymer presence.
- This study demonstrates the first creation of virus-like particles with polymers both inside and outside.
- This work opens new avenues for synthesizing biohybrid nanostructured materials using viruses.
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