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Nanoparticles

Designer labels for virus coats

Nature Nanotechnology volume 4, pages 14–15 (2009)Cite this article

Protein nanoparticles derived from viruses are commonly studied, but a new rod-shaped thermophilic virus isolated from acidic hot springs may yield another class of protein building blocks that are stable and can be selectively modified with diverse chemical groups.

Nanometre-scale particles derived from natural protein assemblies are increasingly being used to generate new materials for diverse applications. These protein particles can exist as rods or spheres and can be used as templates for constructing more complex nanomaterials. They can also be chemically modified with a variety of functional groups or be laden with cargos in their interiors. Writing in Advanced Functional Materials, Nicole Steinmetz of the Scripps Research Institute and co-workers from the Institut Pasteur and the John Innes Centre1 report the chemical functionalization of a thermostable virus obtained from a microbe isolated from an acidic hot spring in Iceland. The ability to label these particles selectively with diverse chemical groups offers additional building blocks that can be used in a variety of harsh conditions, such as acidic environments in the body or the high temperatures found in some electronic devices2.

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Figure 1: Strategies for generating viral nanoparticles with tailored properties.

References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Stony Brook University, New York, 11794, USA

    Isaac S. Carrico

  2. Department of Chemistry, New York University, New York, 10003, USA

    Kent Kirshenbaum

Authors
  1. Isaac S. Carrico
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  2. Kent Kirshenbaum
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Correspondence to Isaac S. Carrico or Kent Kirshenbaum.

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Carrico, I., Kirshenbaum, K. Designer labels for virus coats. Nature Nanotech 4, 14–15 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2008.389

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