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Current Protein & Peptide Science

Editor-in-Chief

ISSN (Print): 1389-2037
ISSN (Online): 1875-5550

Review Article

Engineering Virus-like Particles for Antigen and Drug Delivery

Author(s): Brett D. Hill, Andrew Zak, Eshita Khera and Fei Wen*

Volume 19, Issue 1, 2018

Page: [112 - 127] Pages: 16

DOI: 10.2174/1389203718666161122113041

Price: $65

Abstract

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are nanoscale biological structures consisting of viral proteins assembled in a morphology that mimic the native virion but do not contain the viral genetic material. The possibility of chemically and genetically modifying the proteins contained within VLPs makes them an attractive system for numerous applications. As viruses are potent immune activators as well as natural delivery vehicles of genetic materials to their host cells, VLPs are especially well suited for antigen and drug delivery applications. Despite the great potential, very few VLP designs have made it through clinical trials. In this review, we will discuss the challenges of developing VLPs for antigen and drug delivery, strategies being explored to address these challenges, and the genetic and chemical approaches available for VLP engineering.

Keywords: Virus-like particles, drug delivery, vaccines, epitope, immunity, protein engineering, chemistry, nanoparticles.

Graphical Abstract

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