Viral‐based nanomaterials for plasmonic and photonic materials and devices

Abstract

Over the last decade, viruses have established themselves as a powerful tool in nanotechnology. Their proteinaceous capsids benefit from biocompatibility, chemical addressability, and a variety of sizes and geometries, while their ability to encapsulate, scaffold, and self-assemble enables their use for a wide array of purposes. Moreover, the scaling up of viral-based nanotechnologies is facilitated by high capsid production yield and speed, which is particularly advantageous when compared with slower and costlier lithographic techniques. These features enable the bottom-up fabrication of photonic and plasmonic materials, which relies on the precise arrangement of photoactive material at the nanoscale to control phenomena such as electromagnetic wave propagation and energy transfer. The interdisciplinary approach required for the fabrication of such materials combines techniques from the life sciences and device engineering, thus promoting innovative research. Materials with applications spanning the fields of sensing (biological, chemical, and physical sensors), nanomedicine (cellular imaging, drug delivery, phototherapy), energy transfer and conversion (solar cells, light harvesting, photocatalysis), metamaterials (negative refraction, artificial magnetism, near-field amplification), and nanoparticle synthesis are considered with exclusive emphasis on viral capsids and protein cages. This article is categorized under: Biology-Inspired Nanomaterials > Protein and Virus-Based Structures.

Assembly of gold nanoparticles using turnip yellow mosaic virus as an in-solution SERS sensor

“…1 Conjugated with inorganic or organic nano-objects, the resulting bio-hybrid materials present wide-ranging applications, such as bioimaging, biosensing, catalysis, energy conversion etc. [2][3][4] Viruses are increasingly being used in nanotechnology as 3D scaffolds. [5][6][7][8][9][10][11] Their capsids are composed of self-assembled protein subunits, and are uniform in shape and size (20-200 nm in diameter).…”

Biomolecular Self-Assembly of Nanorings on a Viral Protein Template

“…Bottom-up nanofabrication techniques that rely on deposition or self-assembly represent attractive alternatives that can overcome these limitations. Recently, optical metamaterials have been prepared via chemical vapor deposition, , electrochemical deposition, , liquid-phase layer-by-layer deposition, , colloidal self-assembly, − block co-polymer self-assembly, , DNA self-assembly, − and protein self-assembly. , Among these, biomolecular self-assembly approaches using DNA and viral proteins stand out for the fabrication of nanorings. − DNA and viral proteins not only constitute dynamic templates that can self-assemble over multiple length scales but also provide chemically addressable command surfaces that afford exquisite nanometer control over the spatial arrangement of nanostructures. Furthermore, these biomolecules can be readily prepared via well-established DNA synthesizer and recombinant protein expression technologies.…”

“…Recently, optical metamaterials have been prepared via chemical vapor deposition, 10,11 electrochemical deposition, 12,13 liquid-phase layer-by-layer deposition, 14,15 colloidal self-assembly, 16−18 block co-polymer self-assembly, 19,20 DNA self-assembly, 21−23 and protein self-assembly. 24,25 Among these, biomolecular self-assembly approaches using DNA and viral proteins stand out for the fabrication of nanorings. 26−29 DNA and viral proteins not only constitute dynamic templates that can self-assemble over multiple length scales but also provide chemically addressable command surfaces that afford exquisite nanometer control over the spatial arrangement of nanostructures.…”

The Role of Virus-Like Particles in Medical Biotechnology

“…The generation of virus-like particles (VLPs) was first described in 1955 with the in vitro reconstitution of the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) . Since then, VLPs became key entities to study the physical properties and interactions that control virus assembly, which has set the basis for the development of bionanomaterials, , cargo/drug delivery systems, − nanoreactors, − gene therapy vehicles, − selective carriers for contrast media, − diagnostics, and vaccines. − The development of different types of VLPs has allowed us to understand the rules of capsid assembly and genome packaging and to apply them in the rational design of self-replicating VLPs and/or nanomaterials that have functions that can be tailored to specific needs. The advent of genetic engineering and the advances in structural virology led to significant progress in the implementation of systems for the design and production of VLPs.…”