title: The packaging of different cargo into enveloped viral nanoparticles.
abstract: Viral nanoparticles used for biomedical applications must be able to discriminate between tumor or virus-infected host cells and healthy host cells. In addition, viral nanoparticles must have the flexibility to incorporate a wide range of cargo, from inorganic metals to mRNAs to small molecules. Alphaviruses are a family of enveloped viruses for which some species are intrinsically capable of systemic tumor targeting. Alphavirus virus-like particles, or viral nanoparticles, can be generated from in vitro self-assembled core-like particles using nonviral nucleic acid. In this work, we expand on the types of cargo that can be incorporated into alphavirus core-like particles and the molecular requirements for packaging this cargo. We demonstrate that different core-like particle templates can be further enveloped to form viral nanoparticles that are capable of cell entry. We propose that alphaviruses can be selectively modified to create viral nanoparticles for biomedical applications and basic research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405, United States.
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: Irina B
authors.initials: IB
authors.lastname: Tsvetkova
authors.forename: Y-Lan
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Khuong
authors.forename: Alan W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Moore
authors.forename: Randy J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: Nancy L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Goicochea
authors.forename: Bogdan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dragnea
authors.forename: Suchetana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mukhopadhyay
mesh_terms: D000524:Alphavirus / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D019065:Virus Assembly
chemical_list: D006023:Glycoproteins; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D014759:Viral Envelope Proteins