Fluorous interaction induced self-assembly of tobacco mosaic virus coat protein for cisplatin delivery

A Multifunctionalized Potyvirus-Derived Nanoparticle That Targets and Internalizes into Cancer Cells

Plant viral nanoparticles (VNPs) are attractive to nanomedicine researchers because of their safety, ease of production, resistance, and straightforward functionalization. In this paper, we developed and successfully purified a VNP derived from turnip mosaic virus (TuMV), a well-known plant pathogen, that exhibits a high affinity for immunoglobulins G (IgG) thanks to its functionalization with the Z domain of staphylococcal Protein A via gene fusion. We selected cetuximab as a model IgG to demonstrate the versatility of this novel TuMV VNP by developing a fluorescent nanoplatform to mark tumoral cells from the Cal33 line of a tongue squamous cell carcinoma. Using confocal microscopy, we observed that fluorescent VNP-cetuximab bound selectively to Cal33 and was internalized, revealing the potential of this nanotool in cancer research.

Resistivity detection of perfluoroalkyl substances with fluorous polyaniline in an electrical lateral flow sensor

Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), known as "forever chemicals," are a growing concern in the sphere of human and environmental health. In response, rapid, reproducible, and inexpensive methods for PFAS detection in the environment and home water supplies are needed. We have developed a simple and inexpensive perfluoroalkyl acid detection method based on an electrically read lateral flow assay (e-LFA). Our method employs a fluorous surfactant formulation with undoped polyaniline (F-PANI) fabricated to create test lines for the lateral flow assay. In perfluoroalkyl acid sensing studies, an increase in conductivity of the F-PANI film is caused by acidification and doping of PANI. A conductivity enhancement by 104-fold can be produced by this method, and we demonstrate a limit of detection for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) of 400 ppt and perfluorobutanoic acid of 200 ppt. This method for PFOA detection can be expanded for wide-scale environmental and at-home water testing.

Plant Virus Nanoparticles Combat Cancer

Plant virus nanoparticles (PVNPs) have garnered considerable interest as a promising nanotechnology approach to combat cancer. Owing to their biocompatibility, stability, and adjustable surface functionality, PVNPs hold tremendous potential for both therapeutic and imaging applications. The versatility of PVNPs is evident from their ability to be tailored to transport a range of therapeutic agents, including chemotherapy drugs, siRNA, and immunomodulators, thereby facilitating targeted delivery to the tumor microenvironment (TME). Furthermore, PVNPs may be customized with targeting ligands to selectively bind to cancer cell receptors, reducing off-target effects. Additionally, PVNPs possess immunogenic properties and can be engineered to exhibit tumor-associated antigens, thereby stimulating anti-tumor immune responses. In conclusion, the potential of PVNPs as a versatile platform for fighting cancer is immense, and further research is required to fully explore their potential and translate them into clinical applications.

Fluorous Tagged Peptides for Intracellular Delivery and Biomedical Imaging

Fluorous tagged peptides have shown promising features for biomedical applications such as drug delivery and multimodal imaging. The bioconjugation of fluoroalkyl ligands onto cargo peptides greatly enhances their proteolytic stability and membrane penetration via a proposed "fluorine effect". The tagged peptides also efficiently deliver other biomolecules such as DNA and siRNA into cells via a co-assembly strategy. The fluoroalkyl chains on peptides with antifouling properties enable efficient gene delivery in the presence of serum proteins. Besides intracellular biomolecule delivery, the amphiphilic peptides can be used to stabilized perfluorocarbon-filled microbubbles for ultrasound imaging. The fluorine nucleus on fluoroalkyls provides intrinsic probes for background-free magnetic resonance imaging. Labeling of fluorous tags with radionuclide 18 F also allows tracing the biodistribution of peptides via positron emission tomography imaging. This mini-review will discuss properties and mechanism of the fluorous tagged peptides in these applications.

Verteporfin-loaded supramolecular micelles for enhanced cisplatin-based chemotherapy via autophagy inhibition

Cisplatin (CDDP) is one of the most successful chemotherapeutic agents for cancer therapy. However, CDDP can activate pro-survival autophagy, which inhibits the therapeutic efficacy of CDDP. Herein, autophagy inhibitor verteporfin (VTPF) is integrated into CDDP-conjugated micelles to address this issue. The CDDP-conjugated micelles are prepared by host-guest interaction of zwitterionic poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl phosphorylcholine)-co-poly(2-(methacryloyloxy)ethyl adamantane-1-carboxylate) (P(MPC-co-MAd)) and CDDP conjugated β-cyclodextrin (CD-CDDP). VTPF is then physically encapsulated into the supramolecular micelles by hydrophobic interaction. Due to the zwitterionic corona of the supramolecular micelles, the micelles are stable in different media. CDDP and VTPF could be released in a reductive environment. CDDP-activated autophagy could be inhibited by VTPF, which is fully characterized by western blot, fluorescence imaging, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Moreover, the outstanding therapeutic efficacy of CDDP and VTPF co-loaded micelles is validated both in vitro and in vivo. This research not only provides a new strategy to fabricate CDDP delivery systems by supramolecular self-assembly, but also presents an innovative way to enhance cisplatin-based chemotherapy via autophagy inhibition.

Application of Plant Viruses in Biotechnology, Medicine, and Human Health

Plant-based nanotechnology programs using virus-like particles (VLPs) and virus nanoparticles (VNPs) are emerging platforms that are increasingly used for a variety of applications in biotechnology and medicine. Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and potato virus X (PVX), by virtue of having high aspect ratios, make ideal platforms for drug delivery. TMV and PVX both possess rod-shaped structures and single-stranded RNA genomes encapsidated by their respective capsid proteins and have shown great promise as drug delivery systems. Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) has an icosahedral structure, and thus brings unique benefits as a nanoparticle. The uses of these three plant viruses as either nanostructures or expression vectors for high value pharmaceutical proteins such as vaccines and antibodies are discussed extensively in the following review. In addition, the potential uses of geminiviruses in medical biotechnology are explored. The uses of these expression vectors in plant biotechnology applications are also discussed. Finally, in this review, we project future prospects for plant viruses in the fields of medicine, human health, prophylaxis, and therapy of human diseases.

Virus-Based Supramolecular Structure and Materials: Concept and Prospects

Rodlike and spherelike viruses are various monodisperse nanoparticles that can display small molecules or polymers with unique distribution following chemical modifications. Because of the monodisperse property, aggregates in synthetic protein-polymer nanoparticles could be eliminated, thus improving the probability for application in protein-polymer drug. In addition, the monodisperse virus could direct the growth of metal materials or inorganic materials, finding applications in hydrogel, drug delivery, and optoelectronic and catalysis materials. Benefiting from the advantages, the virus or viruslike particles have been widely explored in the field of supramolecular chemistry. In this review, we describe the modification and application of virus and viruslike particles in surpramolecular structures and biomedical research.

Metal-Coordinated Supramolecular Self-Assemblies for Cancer Theranostics

Metal-coordinated supramolecular nanoassemblies have recently attracted extensive attention as materials for cancer theranostics. Owing to their unique physicochemical properties, metal-coordinated supramolecular self-assemblies can bridge the boundary between traditional inorganic and organic materials. By tailoring the structural components of the metal ions and binding ligands, numerous multifunctional theranostic nanomedicines can be constructed. Metal-coordinated supramolecular nanoassemblies can modulate the tumor microenvironment (TME), thus facilitating the development of TME-responsive nanomedicines. More importantly, TME-responsive organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials can be constructed in vivo by exploiting the metal-coordinated self-assembly of a variety of functional ligands, which is a promising strategy for enhancing the tumor accumulation of theranostic molecules. In this review, recent advancements in the design and fabrication of metal-coordinated supramolecular nanomedicines for cancer theranostics are highlighted. These supramolecular compounds are classified according to the order in which the coordinated metal ions appear in the periodic table. Furthermore, the prospects and challenges of metal-coordinated supramolecular self-assemblies for both technical advances and clinical translation are discussed. In particular, the superiority of TME-responsive nanomedicines for in vivo coordinated self-assembly is elaborated, with an emphasis on strategies that enhance the accumulation of functional components in tumors for an ideal theranostic outcome.

Recent progress in targeted delivery vectors based on biomimetic nanoparticles

Over the past decades, great interest has been given to biomimetic nanoparticles (BNPs) since the rise of targeted drug delivery systems and biomimetic nanotechnology. Biological vectors including cell membranes, extracellular vesicles (EVs), and viruses are considered promising candidates for targeted delivery owing to their biocompatibility and biodegradability. BNPs, the integration of biological vectors and functional agents, are anticipated to load cargos or camouflage synthetic nanoparticles to achieve targeted delivery. Despite their excellent intrinsic properties, natural vectors are deliberately modified to endow multiple functions such as good permeability, improved loading capability, and high specificity. Through structural modification and transformation of the vectors, they are pervasively utilized as more effective vehicles that can deliver contrast agents, chemotherapy drugs, nucleic acids, and genes to target sites for refractory disease therapy. This review summarizes recent advances in targeted delivery vectors based on cell membranes, EVs, and viruses, highlighting the potential applications of BNPs in the fields of biomedical imaging and therapy industry, as well as discussing the possibility of clinical translation and exploitation trend of these BNPs.

Fluoropolymers in biomedical applications: state-of-the-art and future perspectives

Biomedical applications of fluoropolymers in gene delivery, protein delivery, drug delivery, ¹⁹F MRI, PDT, anti-fouling, anti-bacterial, cell culture, and tissue engineering.

Viral nanoparticles for drug delivery, imaging, immunotherapy, and theranostic applications

Viral nanoparticles (VNPs) encompass a diverse array of naturally occurring nanomaterials derived from plant viruses, bacteriophages, and mammalian viruses. The application and development of VNPs and their genome-free versions, the virus-like particles (VLPs), for nanomedicine is a rapidly growing. VLPs can encapsulate a wide range of active ingredients as well as be genetically or chemically conjugated to targeting ligands to achieve tissue specificity. VLPs are manufactured through scalable fermentation or molecular farming, and the materials are biocompatible and biodegradable. These properties have led to a wide range of applications, including cancer therapies, immunotherapies, vaccines, antimicrobial therapies, cardiovascular therapies, gene therapies, as well as imaging and theranostics. The use of VLPs as drug delivery agents is evolving, and sufficient research must continuously be undertaken to translate these therapies to the clinic. This review highlights some of the novel research efforts currently underway in the VNP drug delivery field in achieving this greater goal.

Nanotopographical Cues Mediate Osteogenesis of Stem Cells on Virus Substrates through BMP-2 Intermediate

Recent studies have demonstrated rapid osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) on substrates with plant virus modified nanotopographical cues as a promising strategy for bone repair; however, the mechanisms remain unclear. We hypothesized that the highly structurally ordered virus coat proteins, responsible for targeting specific cellular components, are critical for the osteogenesis promotion. In this study, hybrid viral gold nanorods were prepared to explore the effects of highly ordered arranged virus coat proteins on osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. The results herein indicate that it is the nanotopographical cues modified by structurally ordered virus nanoparticles, not the chemical properties of virus surface, that mediate osteogenesis. Bone morphogenetic protein 2 (BMP-2) expression is significantly increased and serves as a modulator that mediates the osteogenic differentiation in response to the viral particle coatings. After BMP-2 is inhibited by Noggin, the osteogenesis promoting effects are significantly compromised, demonstrated by lower alkaline phosphatase activity and calcium sequestration. This study reveals that plant virus modified nanotopographical substrates promote osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs through increasing BMP-2 autocrine. It provides key insights to engineering functional materials for rapid bone repair.

Integration of Cell-Penetrating Peptides with Rod-like Bionanoparticles: Virus-Inspired Gene-Silencing Technology

Inspired by the high gene transfer efficiency of viral vectors and to avoid side effects, we present here a 1D rod-like gene-silencing vector based on a plant virus. By decorating the transacting activator of transduction (TAT) peptide on the exterior surface, the TAT-modified tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) achieves a tunable isoelectric point (from ∼3.5 to ∼9.6) depending on the TAT dose. In addition to enhanced cell internalization, this plant virus-based vector (TMV-TAT) acquired endo/lysosomal escape capacity without inducing lysosomal damage, resulting in both high efficiency and low cytotoxicity. By loading silencer green fluorescent protein (GFP) siRNA onto the TMV-TAT vector (siRNA@TMV-TAT) and interfering with GFP-expressing mouse epidermal stem cells (ESCs/GFP) in vitro, the proportion of GFP-positive cells could be knocked down to levels even lower than 15% at a concentration of ∼100% cell viability. Moreover, by interfering with GFP-expressing highly metastatic hepatocellular carcinoma (MHCC97-H/GFP) tumors in vivo, treatment with siRNA@TMV-TAT complexes for 10 days achieved a GFP-negative rate as high as 80.8%. This work combines the high efficiency of viral vectors and the safety of nonviral vectors and may provide a promising strategy for gene-silencing technology.