Chemistry and Materials Development of Protein-Based Nanoparticles

Abstract

Protein nanoparticles, including viruses, virus-like particles, ferritins, enzyme complexes, and other protein assemblies, have aroused great attention recently for their promising applications in catalysis, materials synthesis, drug and gene delivery, vaccine development, and bio-imaging. These protein nanoparticles are generated by a limited set of amino acids exhibiting sophisticated functionalities and structural features with atomic precision that are difficult to mimic by synthetic chemistry. This chapter provides a brief overview of different protein nanoparticles as building blocks for the development of novel nanomaterials through chemical and genetic modifications, template synthesis, and self-assembly. Basic structure and properties of protein nanoparticles are introduced by highlighting tobacco mosaic virus, bacteriophage M13, cowpea chlorotic mottle virus, cowpea mosaic virus, turnip yellow mosaic virus, mammalian ferritins, and heat shock proteins. Genetic or chemical surface modifications for the addition of special functions, template synthesis to produce inorganic composite nanostructures, and self-assembly for the organization of various well-defined architectures are then introduced, respectively. Ultimately, in combination with molecular cloning, sophisticated chemistries, and self-assembly, these protein nanoparticles can be incorporated into many of the future nanotechnology-related applications.