Small, Smaller, Nano: New Applications for Potato Virus X in Nanotechnology

Abstract

Nanotechnology is an expanding interdisciplinary field concerning the development and application of nanostructured materials derived from inorganic compounds or organic polymers and peptides. Among these latter materials, proteinaceous plant virus nanoparticles have emerged as a key platform for the introduction of tailored functionalities by genetic engineering and conjugation chemistry. Tobacco mosaic virus and Cowpea mosaic virus have already been developed for bioimaging, vaccination and electronics applications, but the flexible and filamentous Potato virus X (PVX) has received comparatively little attention. The filamentous structure of PVX particles allows them to carry large payloads, which are advantageous for applications such as biomedical imaging in which multi-functional scaffolds with a high aspect ratio are required. In this context, PVX achieves superior tumor homing and retention properties compared to spherical nanoparticles. Because PVX is a protein-based nanoparticle, its unique functional properties are combined with enhanced biocompatibility, making it much more suitable for biomedical applications than synthetic nanomaterials. Moreover, PVX nanoparticles have very low toxicity in vivo , and superior pharmacokinetic profiles. This review focuses on the production of PVX nanoparticles engineered using chemical and/or biological techniques, and describes current and future opportunities and challenges for the application of PVX nanoparticles in medicine, diagnostics, materials science, and biocatalysis.

From stars to stripes: RNA‐directed shaping of plant viral protein templates—structural synthetic virology for smart biohybrid nanostructures

“…Plant VNPs have also emerged as surprisingly beneficial, richly available immobilization platforms for bioactive molecules such as peptides, antibodies and enzymes. Installed at high surface densities on elongated or fibrous viral carriers, or confined inside VLP nanocages, several biomolecules were stabilized by the plant viral protein context over extended storage periods and repetitive uses, and some even acquired increased activity (as outlined and exemplified in Cardinale & Michon, ; Eiben et al, ; Koch et al, ; Narayanan & Han, ; Roeder et al, ; Schwarz, Uchida, & Douglas, ; Selivanovitch & Douglas, ). Special types of catalytic biomaterials such as lipase‐exposing nanonets (Cuenca et al, ) or nanoreactor compartments contributing to intracellular metabolic pathways (reviewed for example, in Schwarz et al, ) may facilitate uses of enzymes in miniaturized systems or in vivo.…”

Viruses in Extreme Environments, Current Overview, and Biotechnological Potential

“…A similar approach can also consider to produce cellular biosensor (reviewed in [ 106 ]). Furthermore, studying the potato virus X (PVX) has proven beneficial to develop tools used in molecular imaging, tumor homing, drug delivery, vaccination, biosensor design, biomaterials development and biocatalysts [ 107 ]. Thus, virus nanoparticles are receiving more and more attention due to their outstanding structural characteristics and ease of functionalization compared to synthetic nanoparticles.…”

Field-Effect Sensors for Virus Detection: From Ebola to SARS-CoV-2 and Plant Viral Enhancers

“…Since more than two decades, several plant viruses attract increasing attention also from a different point of view: Their precise and robust nanostructures with repetitively organized, multivalent protein surfaces lend these viruses and derivatives thereof to uses in medical and technical environments, as carrier particles for the delivery and/or display of functional units enclosed and/or exposed at high densities (Bittner et al, 2013;Lin and Ratna, 2014;Culver et al, 2015;Khudyakov and Pumpens, 2016;Koch et al, 2016;Wen and Steinmetz, 2016;Dragnea, 2017;Steele et al, 2017;Lomonossoff and Wege, 2018;Wege and Lomonossoff, 2018;Balke and Zeltins, 2019;Chen et al, 2019;Eiben et al, 2019;Roeder et al, 2019;Chung et al, 2020;Wege and Koch, 2020;Wen et al, 2020). The respective plant viruses and VLPs are richly and sustainably available by farming (Marsian and Lomonossoff, 2016;Gowtham and Sathishkumar, 2019;Rybicki, 2020), and despite a remarkable durability biodegradable after use.…”