Abstract
Naturally occurring viral nanomaterials have gained popularity owing to their biocompatible and biodegradable nature. Plant virus nanoparticles (VNPs) can be used as nanocarriers for a number of biomedical applications. Plant VNPs are inexpensive to produce, safe to administer and efficacious as treatments. The following review describes how plant virus architecture facilitates the use of VNPs for imaging and a variety of therapeutic applications, with particular emphasis on cancer. Examples of plant viruses which have been engineered to carry drugs and diagnostic agents for specific types of cancer are provided. The drug delivery system in response to the internal conditions is known as stimuli response, recently becoming more applicable using plant viruses based VNPs. The review concludes with a perspective of the future of plant VNPs and plant virus-like particles (VLPs) in cancer research and therapy.
Highlights
The review concludes with a perspective of the future of plant viral nanoparticles (VNPs) and plant virus-like particles (VLPs) in cancer research and therapy
VLPs acting as nanoparticles have the ability to encapsulate therapeutic molecules within capsids for imaging as well as for several drug delivery applications [4]
We provide a series of examples to discuss how plant virus architecture contributes to their applications in cancer diagnostics and therapy [10]
Summary
Virus size data that is found in different databases has been obtained by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and virus sizes and architecture differs significantly [11]. A method of nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) can be used to determine the size and concentration of viruses and VLPs. A method of nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) can be used to determine the size and concentration of viruses and VLPs At present, this technique has been used to study icosahedral VLPs of Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) (Figure 2) [12], spherical VLPs of structurally modified Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) [13], and VLPs of filamentous Potato virus X (PVX) [14]. Various chemical and genetic approaches are reported to control the virus surface properties without affecting structural integrity, and that allow control on the attachment sites of drug molecules or contrast agents on the virus surface [21]. Plant-virus capsid pores are reported to be employed to encapsulate small therapeutic molecules [24]
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