title: Engineering Virus-like Particles for Antigen and Drug Delivery.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Brett D
authors.initials: BD
authors.lastname: Hill
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zak
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Eshita
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Khera
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000941:Antigens / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000379:methods*; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D014780:Viruses / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D000941:Antigens
keywords: Virus-like particles; chemistry; drug delivery; epitope; immunity; nanoparticles.; protein engineering; vaccines