Virus-Inspired Function in Engineered Protein Cages.

Edwardson TGW; Hilvert D

doi:10.1021/jacs.9b03705

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Journal article

Virus-Inspired Function in Engineered Protein Cages.

Edwardson TGW Laboratory of Organic Chemistry , ETH Zurich , 8093 Zurich , Switzerland.
Hilvert D Laboratory of Organic Chemistry , ETH Zurich , 8093 Zurich , Switzerland.

2019-05-24

Published in:

Journal of the American Chemical Society. - 2019

English The structural and functional diversity of proteins combined with their genetic programmability has made them indispensable modern materials. Well-defined, hollow protein capsules have proven to be particularly useful due to their ability to compartmentalize macromolecules and chemical processes. To this end, viral capsids are common scaffolds and have been successfully repurposed to produce a suite of practical protein-based nanotechnologies. Recently, the recapitulation of viromimetic function in protein cages of nonviral origin has emerged as a strategy to both complement physical studies of natural viruses and produce useful scaffolds for diverse applications. In this perspective, we review recent progress toward generation of virus-like behavior in nonviral protein cages through rational engineering and directed evolution. These artificial systems can aid our understanding of the emergence of viruses from existing cellular components, as well as provide alternative approaches to tackle current problems, and open up new opportunities, in medicine and biotechnology.

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