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Updated: Sep 24, 2025

Advancing High-Resolution Imaging of Virus Assemblies in Liquid and Ice
Published on: July 20, 2022
Controlled assembly of filamentous viruses into hierarchical nano- to microstructures at liquid/liquid interfaces
Michihiro Tanaka1, Toshiki Sawada1,2, Xiang Li3
1Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Materials and Chemical Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1 Ookayama Meguro-ku Tokyo 152-8550 Japan sawada@mac.titech.ac.jp serizawa@mac.titech.ac.jp.
Abstract:
Recently, viruses have been regarded as useful molecular assemblies for materials applications rather than as disease-causing agents. The orderly assembled structures of the viruses are highly related to the resultant properties and functions of the assemblies; however, methods to control the assembly are still limited. Here, we demonstrated the assembly of filamentous viruses into hierarchical nano- to microstructures at liquid/liquid interfaces through emulsification in a controlled manner. The viruses form fibrous nanostructures of several micrometers length, which are much longer than the original virus. Subsequently, the fibers self-assemble into well-packed ordered microstructures. Furthermore, the resultant hierarchically assembled structures showed long-term stability and potential applicability through the desired functionalization.
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