Design and Applications of Protein‐Cage‐Based Nanomaterials

Abstract

Materials science is beginning to focus on biotemplation, and in support of that trend, it is realized that protein cages-proteins that assemble from multiple monomers into architectures with hollow interiors-can instill a number of unique advantages to nanomaterials. In addition, the structural and functional plasticity of many protein-cage systems permits their engineering for specific applications. In this review, the most commonly used viral and non-viral protein cages, which exhibit a wide diversity of size, functionality, and chemical and thermal stabilities, are described. Moreover, how they have been exploited for nanomaterial and nanotechnology applications is summarized.

Recent Progress in Micro/Nanoreactors toward the Creation of Artificial Organelles

“…In contrast to other structures that have been previously reported such as liposomes or polymersomes, protein nanocages possess enhanced stability, low polydispersity regarding their size, and an intrinsic permeability to substrates due to the channels in their protein shell . Protein cages vary in size from several to hundreds of nanometers and this fact greatly influences its properties . For example, virus capsids possess a large interior volume and are, therefore, suitable for entrapping multiple enzymes and outperform as enzymatic nanoreactors.…”

Virus‐Like Particles as Theranostic Platforms

“…[ 8,9 ] They can provide much higher levels of local contrast agent or therapeutic concentrations of drugs to diseased tissues, ensuring more‐effective treatments, limiting off‐target effects, and even transporting therapeutic drugs to places they are usually unable to reach. [ 6,10,11 ]…”

Self‐Assembly and Stabilization of Hybrid Cowpea Chlorotic Mottle Virus Particles under Nearly Physiological Conditions

“…In addition, these nanoparticles are biocompatible, biodegradable,a nd robust. [2,6] It is therefore not surprising that recent developments enabling (future)i nv ivo use have been made with both naturalp rotein cages, such as ferritin, [7][8][9] bacterial encapsulins, [10,11] and the bacteriophage P22, [12][13][14] as well as with designed protein cages. [15][16][17] In particular,v irus-like particles (VLPs), that is, viruses devoid of their endogenousg enetic material, are promising vehicles for nanocarrier purposes because their natural role is to safely transport the viral genome to the right place in the host organism.…”