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Rybka J.D.♦, Mieloch A.A.♦, Plis A.♦, Pyrski M.♦, Pniewski T.♦, Giersig M.♦, Assembly and characterization of HBc derived virus-like particles with magnetic core,
Nanomaterials, ISSN: 2079-4991, DOI: 10.3390/nano9020155, Vol.9, No.2, pp.155-1-11, 2019 Abstract:
Core-virus like particles (VLPs) assembly is a kinetically complex cascade of interactions between viral proteins, nanoparticle's surface and an ionic environment. Despite many in silico simulations regarding this process, there is still a lack of experimental data. The main goal of this study was to investigate the capsid protein of hepatitis B virus (HBc) assembly into virus-like particles with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) as a magnetic core in relation to their characteristics. The native form of HBc was obtained via agroinfection of Nicotiana benthamiana with pEAQ-HBc plasmid. SPIONs of diameter of 15 nm were synthesized and functionalized with two ligands, providing variety in ζ-potential and hydrodynamic diameter. The antigenic potential of the assembled core-VLPs was assessed with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Morphology of SPIONs and core-VLPs was evaluated via transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The most successful core-VLPs assembly was obtained for SPIONs functionalized with dihexadecyl phosphate (DHP) at SPIONs/HBc ratio of 0.2/0.05 mg/mL. ELISA results indicate significant decrease of antigenicity concomitant with core-VLPs assembly. In summary, this study provides an experimental assessment of the crucial parameters guiding SPION-HBc VLPs assembly and evaluates the antigenicity of the obtained structures. Keywords:
virus-like particles, VLPs, hepatitis B virus capsid protein, HBc, viral self-assembly, magnetic core, HBcAg Affiliations:
| Rybka J.D. | - | other affiliation | | Mieloch A.A. | - | other affiliation | | Plis A. | - | other affiliation | | Pyrski M. | - | other affiliation | | Pniewski T. | - | other affiliation | | Giersig M. | - | other affiliation |
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