Plant/Bacterial Virus-Based Drug Discovery, Drug Delivery, and Therapeutics

Current Advances in Viral Nanoparticles for Biomedicine

Viral nanoparticles (VNPs) have emerged as crucial tools in the field of biomedicine. Leveraging their biological and physicochemical properties, VNPs exhibit significant advantages in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of human diseases. Through techniques such as chemical bioconjugation, infusion, genetic engineering, and encapsulation, these VNPs have been endowed with multifunctional capabilities, including the display of functional peptides or proteins, encapsulation of therapeutic drugs or inorganic particles, integration with imaging agents, and conjugation with bioactive molecules. This review provides an in-depth analysis of VNPs in biomedicine, elucidating their diverse types, distinctive features, production methods, and complex design principles behind multifunctional VNPs. It highlights recent innovative research and various applications, covering their roles in imaging, drug delivery, therapeutics, gene delivery, vaccines, immunotherapy, and tissue regeneration. Additionally, the review provides an assessment of their safety and biocompatibility and discusses challenges and future opportunities in the field, underscoring the vast potential and evolving nature of VNP research.

Virus-like particle encapsulation of functional proteins: advances and applications

Proteins face several challenges in biomedicine, including issues with antibody production, degradation by proteases, rapid clearance by the kidneys, and short half-lives. To address these problems, various nano delivery systems have been developed, with virus-like particles (VLPs) emerging as a leading solution. VLPs, which are self-assembled protein complexes, offer effective encapsulation and transport of proteins. They provide enhanced stability, extended circulation time, preserved biological activity, improved targeting for therapies or imaging, and reduced side effects due to minimized systemic exposure. This review explores various methods for encapsulating proteins within VLPs. It assesses the benefits and limitations of each method and their applications in imaging, therapeutic enzyme delivery, vaccines, immunotherapy, nanoreactors, and biosensors. Future advancements in VLPs will depend on improving packaging methods, controlling protein loading, optimizing assembly techniques, and enhancing capsid design. The review also discusses current challenges and proposes solutions to advance the use of VLPs in various applications.

Advancements in Functional Nanomaterials Inspired by Viral Particles

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are nanostructures composed of one or more structural proteins, exhibiting stable and symmetrical structures. Their precise compositions and dimensions provide versatile opportunities for modifications, enhancing their functionality. Consequently, VLP-based nanomaterials have gained widespread adoption across diverse domains. This review focuses on three key aspects: the mechanisms of viral capsid protein self-assembly into VLPs, design methods for constructing multifunctional VLPs, and strategies for synthesizing multidimensional nanomaterials using VLPs. It provides a comprehensive overview of the advancements in virus-inspired functional nanomaterials, encompassing VLP assembly, functionalization, and the synthesis of multidimensional nanomaterials. Additionally, this review explores future directions, opportunities, and challenges in the field of VLP-based nanomaterials, aiming to shed light on potential advancements and prospects in this exciting area of research.

Problems of creating antibody phage libraries and their solutions

Phage display has become an efficient, reliable and popular molecular technique for generating libraries encompassing millions or even billions of clones of divergent peptides or proteins. The method is based on the correspondence between phage genotype and phenotype, which ensures the presentation of recombinant proteins of known amino acid composition on the surface of phage particles. The use of affinity selection allows one to choose variants with affinity for different targets from phage libraries. The implementation of the antibody phage display technique has revolutionized the field of clinical immunology, both for developing tools to diagnose infectious diseases and for producing therapeutic agents. It has also become the basis for efficient and relatively inexpensive methods for studying protein-protein interactions, receptor binding sites, as well as epitope and mimotope identification. The antibody phage display technique involves a number of steps, and the final result depends on their successful implementation. The diversity, whether natural or obtained by combinatorial chemistry, is the basis of any library. The choice of molecular techniques is critical to ensure that this diversity is maintained during the phage library preparation step and during the transformation of E. coli cells. After a helper phage is added to the suspension of transformed E. coli cells, a bacteriophage library is formed, which is a working tool for performing the affinity selection procedure and searching for individual molecules. Despite the apparent simplicity of generating phage antibody libraries, a number of subtleties need to be taken into account. First, there are the features of phage vector preparation. Currently, a large number of phagemid vectors have been developed, and their selection is also of great importance. The key step is preparing competent E. coli cells and the technology of their transformation. The choice of a helper phage and the method used to generate it is also important. This article discusses the key challenges faced by researchers in constructing phage antibody libraries.

Recent Progress in Phage-Based Nanoplatforms for Tumor Therapy

Nanodrug delivery systems have demonstrated a great potential for tumor therapy with the development of nanotechnology. Nonetheless, traditional drug delivery systems are faced with issues such as complex synthetic procedures, low reproducibility, nonspecific distribution, impenetrability of biological barrier, systemic toxicity, etc. In recent years, phage-based nanoplatforms have attracted increasing attention in tumor treatment for their regular structure, fantastic carrying property, high transduction efficiency and biosafety. Notably, therapeutic or targeting peptides can be expressed on the surface of the phages through phage display technology, enabling the phage vectors to possess multifunctions. As a result, the drug delivery efficiency on tumor will be vastly improved, thereby enhancing the therapeutic efficacy while reducing the side effects on normal tissues. Moreover, phages can overcome the hindrance of biofilm barrier to elicit antitumor effects, which exhibit great advantages compared with traditional synthetic drug delivery systems. Herein, this review not only summarizes the structure and biology of the phages, but also presents their potential as prominent nanoplatforms against tumor in different pathways to inspire the development of effective nanomedicine.

The Next Generation of Drug Delivery: Harnessing the Power of Bacteriophages

The use of biomaterials, such as bacteriophages, as drug delivery vehicles (DDVs) has gained increasing interest in recent years due to their potential to address the limitations of conventional drug delivery systems. Bacteriophages offer several advantages as drug carriers, such as high specificity for targeting bacterial cells, low toxicity, and the ability to be engineered to express specific proteins or peptides for enhanced targeting and drug delivery. In addition, bacteriophages have been shown to reduce the development of antibiotic resistance, which is a major concern in the field of antimicrobial therapy. Many initiatives have been taken to take up various payloads selectively and precisely by surface functionalization of the outside or interior of self-assembling viral protein capsids. Bacteriophages have emerged as a promising platform for the targeted delivery of therapeutic agents, including drugs, genes, and imaging agents. They possess several properties that make them attractive as drug delivery vehicles, including their ability to specifically target bacterial cells, their structural diversity, their ease of genetic manipulation, and their biocompatibility. Despite the potential advantages of using bacteriophages as drug carriers, several challenges and limitations need to be addressed. One of the main challenges is the limited host range of bacteriophages, which restricts their use to specific bacterial strains. However, this can also be considered as an advantage, as it allows for precise and targeted drug delivery to the desired bacterial cells. The use of biomaterials, including bacteriophages, as drug delivery vehicles has shown promising potential to address the limitations of conventional drug delivery systems. Further research is needed to fully understand the potential of these biomaterials and address the challenges and limitations associated with their use.

A short review on the applicability and use of cubosomes as nanocarriers

Abstract

Cubosomes are nanostructured lipid-based particles that have gained significant attention in the field of drug delivery and nanomedicine. These unique structures consist of a three-dimensional cubic lattice formed by the self-assembly of lipid molecules. The lipids used to construct cubosomes are typically nonionic surfactants, such as monoolein, which possess both hydrophilic and hydrophobic regions, allowing them to form stable, water-dispersible nanoparticles. One of the key advantages of cubosomes is their ability to encapsulate and deliver hydrophobic as well as hydrophilic drugs. The hydrophobic regions of the lipid bilayers provide an ideal environment for incorporating lipophilic drugs, while the hydrophilic regions can encapsulate water-soluble drugs. This versatility makes cubosomes suitable for delivering a wide range of therapeutic agents, including small molecules, proteins, peptides, and nucleic acids. The unique structure of cubosomes also offers stability and controlled release benefits. The lipid bilayers provide a protective barrier, shielding the encapsulated drugs from degradation and improving their stability. Moreover, the cubic lattice arrangement enables the modulation of drug release kinetics by varying the lipid composition and surface modifications. This allows for the development of sustained or triggered drug release systems, enhancing therapeutic efficacy and reducing side effects. Furthermore, cubosomes can be easily modified with targeting ligands or surface modifications to achieve site-specific drug delivery, enhancing therapeutic selectivity and reducing off-target effects. In conclusion, cubosomes offer a versatile and promising platform for the delivery of therapeutic agents. In this manuscript, we will highlight some of these applications.

Graphical abstract

Potential Applications of Thermophilic Bacteriophages in One Health

Bacteriophages have a wide range of applications such as combating antibiotic resistance, preventing food contamination for food safety, and as biomarkers to indirectly assess the quality of water. Additionally, bacteriophage components (endolysins and coat proteins) have a lot of applications in food processing, vaccine design, and the delivery of cargo to the body. Therefore, bacteriophages/components have a multitude of applications in human, plant/veterinary, and environmental health (One Health). Despite their versatility, bacteriophage/component use is mostly limited to temperatures within 4-40 °C. This limits their applications (e.g., in food processing conditions, pasteurization, and vaccine design). Advances in thermophilic bacteriophage research have uncovered novel thermophilic endolysins (e.g., ΦGVE2 amidase and MMPphg) that can be used in food processing and in veterinary medicine. The endolysins are thermostable at temperatures > 65 °C and have broad antimicrobial activities. In addition to thermophilic endolysins, enzymes (DNA polymerase and ligases) derived from thermophages have different applications in molecular biology/biotechnology: to generate DNA libraries and develop diagnostics for human and animal pathogens. Furthermore, coat proteins from thermophages are being explored to develop virus-like particle platforms with versatile applications in human and animal health. Overall, bacteriophages, especially those that are thermophilic, have a plethora of applications in One Health.

Plant-derived nanoparticles and plant virus nanoparticles: Bioactivity, health management, and delivery potential

Natural plants have acquired an increasing attention in biomedical research. Recent studies have revealed that plant-derived nanoparticles (PDNPs), which are nano-sized membrane vesicles released by plants, are one of the important material bases for the health promotion of natural plants. A great deal of research in this field has focused on nanoparticles derived from fresh vegetables and fruits. Generally, PDNPs contain lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, and other active small molecules and exhibit unique biological regulatory activity and editability. Specifically, they have emerged as important mediators of intercellular communication, and thus, are potentially suitable for therapeutic purposes. In this review, PDNPs were extensively explored; by evaluating them systematically starting from the origin and isolation, toward their characteristics, including morphological compositions, biological functions, and delivery potentials, as well as distinguishing them from plant-derived exosomes and highlighting the limitations of the current research. Meanwhile, we elucidated the variations in PDNPs infected by pathogenic microorganisms and emphasized on the biological functions and characteristics of plant virus nanoparticles. After clarifying these problems, it is beneficial to further research on PDNPs in the future and develop their clinical application value.

Surface characterization of alkane viral anchoring films prepared by titanate-assisted organosilanization

Studies of virus adsorption on surfaces with optimized properties have attracted a lot of interest, mainly due to the influence of the surface in the retention, orientation and stability of the viral capsids. Besides, viruses in whole or in parts can be used as cages or vectors in different areas, such as biomedicine and materials science. A key requirement for virus nanocage application is their physical properties, i.e. their mechanical response and the distribution of surface charge, which determine virus-substrate interactions and stability. In the present work we show two examples of viruses exhibiting strong surface interactions on homogeneous hydrophobic surfaces. The surfaces were prepared by titanate assisted organosilanization, a sol-gel spin coating process, followed by a mild annealing step. We show by surface and interface spectroscopies that the process allows trapping triethoxy-octylsilane (OCTS) molecules, exhibiting a hydrophobic alkane rich surface finishing. Furthermore, the surfaces remain flat and behave as more efficient sorptive surfaces for virus particles than mica or graphite (HOPG). Also, we determine by atomic force microscopy (AFM) the mechanical properties of two types of viruses (human adenovirus and reovirus) and compare the results obtained on the OCTS functionalized surfaces with those obtained on mica and HOPG. Finally, the TIPT+OCTS surfaces were validated as platforms for the morphological and mechanical characterization of virus particles by using adenovirus as initial model and using HOPG and mica as standard control surfaces. Then, the same characteristics were determined on reovirus using TIPT+OCTS and HOPG, as an original contribution to the catalogue of physical properties of viral particles.

Self-Adaptive Antibacterial Scaffold with Programmed Delivery of Osteogenic Peptide and Lysozyme for Infected Bone Defect Treatment

Bone defects caused by disease or trauma are often accompanied by infection, which severely disrupts the normal function of bone tissue at the defect site. Biomaterials that can simultaneously reduce inflammation and promote osteogenesis are effective tools for addressing this problem. In this study, we set up a programmed delivery platform based on a chitosan scaffold to enhance its osteogenic activity and prevent implant-related infections. In brief, the osteogenic peptide sequence (YGFGG) was modified onto the surface of cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) to form CCMV-YGFGG nanoparticles. CCMV-YGFGG exhibited good biocompatibility and osteogenic ability in vitro. Then, CCMV-YGFGG and lysozyme were loaded on the chitosan scaffold, which exhibited a good antibacterial effect and promoted bone regeneration for infected bone defect treatment. As a delivery platform, the scaffold showed staged release of lysozyme and CCMV-YGFGG, which facilitates the regeneration of infected bone defects. Our study provides a novel and promising strategy for the treatment of infected bone defects.

The diversity of protein-protein interaction interfaces within T=3 icosahedral viral capsids

Some non-enveloped virus capsids assemble from multiple copies of a single type of coat-protein (CP). The comparative energetics of the diverse CP-CP interfaces present in such capsids likely govern virus assembly-disassembly mechanisms. The T = 3 icosahedral capsids comprise 180 CP copies arranged about two-, three-, five- and six-fold axes of (quasi-)rotation symmetry. Structurally diverse CPs can assemble into T = 3 capsids. Specifically, the Leviviridae CPs are structurally distinct from the Bromoviridae, Tombusviridae and Tymoviridae CPs which fold into the classic “jelly-roll” fold. However, capsids from across the four families are known to disassemble into dimers. To understand whether the overall symmetry of the capsid or the structural details of the CP determine virus assembly-disassembly mechanisms, we analyze the different CP-CP interfaces that occur in the four virus families. Previous work studied protein homodimer interfaces using interface size (relative to the monomer) and hydrophobicity. Here, we analyze all CP-CP interfaces using these two parameters and find that the dimerization interface (present between two CPs congruent through a two-fold axis of rotation) has a larger relative size in the Leviviridae than in the other viruses. The relative sizes of the other Leviviridae interfaces and all the jelly-roll interfaces are similar. However, the dimerization interfaces across families have slightly higher hydrophobicity, potentially making them stronger than other interfaces. Finally, although the CP-monomers of the jelly-roll viruses are structurally similar, differences in their dimerization interfaces leads to varied dimer flexibility. Overall, differences in CP-structures may induce different modes of swelling and assembly-disassembly in the T = 3 viruses.

Biomimetic Exosomes: A New Generation of Drug Delivery System

Most of the naked drugs, including small molecules, inorganic agents, and biomacromolecule agents, cannot be used directly for disease treatment because of their poor stability and undesirable pharmacokinetic behavior. Their shortcomings might seriously affect the exertion of their therapeutic effects. Recently, a variety of exogenous and endogenous nanomaterials have been developed as carriers for drug delivery. Among them, exosomes have attracted great attention due to their excellent biocompatibility, low immunogenicity, low toxicity, and ability to overcome biological barriers. However, exosomes used as drug delivery carriers have significant challenges, such as low yields, complex contents, and poor homogeneity, which limit their application. Engineered exosomes or biomimetic exosomes have been fabricated through a variety of approaches to tackle these drawbacks. We summarized recent advances in biomimetic exosomes over the past decades and addressed the opportunities and challenges of the next-generation drug delivery system.

Therapeutic Role of Antimicrobial Peptides in Diabetes Mellitus

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have recently become widely publicized because they have the potential to function in alternative therapies as “natural” antibiotics, with their main advantage being a broad spectrum of activity. The potential for antimicrobial peptides to treat diabetes mellitus (DM) has been reported. In diabetes mellitus type I (T1D), cathelicidin-related antimicrobial peptide (CRAMP), cathelicidin antimicrobial peptide (CAMP) and mouse-β- defensin 14 (mBD14) are positively affected. Decreased levels of LL-37 and human neutrophil peptide 1-3 (HNP1-3) have been reported in diabetes mellitus type II (T2D) relative to healthy patients. Moreover, AMPs from amphibians and social wasps have antidiabetic effects. In infections occurring in patients with tuberculosis-diabetes or diabetic foot, granulysin, HNP1, HNP2, HNP3, human beta-defensin 2 (HBD2), and cathelicidins are responsible for pathogen clearance. An interesting alternative is also the use of modified M13 bacteriophages containing encapsulated AMPs genes or phagemids.

The viral capsid as novel nanomaterials for drug delivery

The purpose of this review is to highlight recent scientific developments and provide an overview of virus self-assembly and viral particle dynamics. Viruses are organized supramolecular structures with distinct yet related features and functions. Plant viruses are extensively used in biotechnology, and virus-like particulate matter is generated by genetic modification. Both provide a material-based means for selective distribution and delivery of drug molecules. Through surface engineering of their capsids, virus-derived nanomaterials facilitate various potential applications for selective drug delivery. Viruses have significant implications in chemotherapy, gene transfer, vaccine production, immunotherapy and molecular imaging.

Application of Plant Viruses in Biotechnology, Medicine, and Human Health

Plant-based nanotechnology programs using virus-like particles (VLPs) and virus nanoparticles (VNPs) are emerging platforms that are increasingly used for a variety of applications in biotechnology and medicine. Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and potato virus X (PVX), by virtue of having high aspect ratios, make ideal platforms for drug delivery. TMV and PVX both possess rod-shaped structures and single-stranded RNA genomes encapsidated by their respective capsid proteins and have shown great promise as drug delivery systems. Cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) has an icosahedral structure, and thus brings unique benefits as a nanoparticle. The uses of these three plant viruses as either nanostructures or expression vectors for high value pharmaceutical proteins such as vaccines and antibodies are discussed extensively in the following review. In addition, the potential uses of geminiviruses in medical biotechnology are explored. The uses of these expression vectors in plant biotechnology applications are also discussed. Finally, in this review, we project future prospects for plant viruses in the fields of medicine, human health, prophylaxis, and therapy of human diseases.

Denaturing and Native Mass Spectrometric Analytics for Biotherapeutic Drug Discovery Research: Historical, Current, and Future Personal Perspectives

Mass spectrometry (MS) plays a key role throughout all stages of drug development and is now as ubiquitous as other analytical techniques such as surface plasmon resonance, nuclear magnetic resonance, and supercritical fluid chromatography, among others. Herein, we aim to discuss the history of MS, both electrospray and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization, specifically for the analysis of antibodies, evolving through to denaturing and native-MS analysis of newer biologic moieties such as antibody-drug conjugates, multispecific antibodies, and interfering nucleic acid-based therapies. We discuss challenging therapeutic target characterization such as membrane protein receptors. Importantly, we compare and contrast the MS and hyphenated analytical chromatographic methods used to characterize these therapeutic modalities and targets within biopharmaceutical research and highlight the importance of appropriate MS deconvolution software and its essential contribution to project progression. Finally, we describe emerging applications and MS technologies that are still predominantly within either a development or academic stage of use but are poised to have significant impact on future drug development within the biopharmaceutic industry once matured. The views reflected herein are personal and are not meant to be an exhaustive list of all relevant MS performed within biopharmaceutical research but are what we feel have been historically, are currently, and will be in the future the most impactful for the drug development process.

Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology: Plant Nanoparticles for Anti-Cancer Therapy

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.

Discovery of Antivirals Using Phage Display

The latest coronavirus disease outbreak, COVID-19, has brought attention to viral infections which have posed serious health threats to humankind throughout history. The rapid global spread of COVID-19 is attributed to the increased human mobility of today's world, yet the threat of viral infections to global public health is expected to increase continuously in part due to increasing human-animal interface. Development of antiviral agents is crucial to combat both existing and novel viral infections. Recently, there is a growing interest in peptide/protein-based drug molecules. Antibodies are becoming especially predominant in the drug market. Indeed, in a remarkably short period, four antibody therapeutics were authorized for emergency use in COVID-19 treatment in the US, Russia, and India as of November 2020. Phage display has been one of the most widely used screening methods for peptide/antibody drug discovery. Several phage display-derived biologics are already in the market, and the expiration of intellectual property rights of phage-display antibody discovery platforms suggests an increment in antibody drugs in the near future. This review summarizes the most common phage display libraries used in antiviral discovery, highlights the approaches employed to enhance the antiviral potency of selected peptides/antibody fragments, and finally provides a discussion about the present status of the developed antivirals in clinic.

Tobacco mosaic virus for the targeted delivery of drugs to cells expressing prostate-specific membrane antigen

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a membrane-bound protein that is preferentially expressed in the prostate gland and induced in many prostate cancers, making it an important target for new diagnostics and therapeutics. To improve the efficacy of nanoparticle formulations for the imaging and/or eradication of prostate cancer, we synthesized the PSMA-binding glutamic acid derivative DUPA and conjugated it to the external surface of tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) particles. DUPA-targeted TMV was subsequently loaded with the antineoplastic agent mitoxantrone (MTO) or conjugated internally with the fluorescent dye cyanine 5 (Cy5). We found that TMV particles could be efficiently decorated with DUPA and loaded with MTO or Cy5 while maintaining structural integrity. DUPA-targeted TMV particles were able to bind more efficiently to the surface of PSMA⁺ LNCaP cells compared to non-targeted TMV; but there was little difference in binding efficiency between targeted and untargeted TMV when we tested PSMA⁻ PC3 cells (both cell lines are prostate cancer cell lines). DUPA-targeted TMV particles were internalized by LNCaP cells enabling drug delivery. Finally, we loaded the DUPA-targeted TMV particles and untargeted control particles with MTO to test their cytotoxicity against LNCaP cells in vitro. The cytotoxicity of the TMV-MTO particles (IC₅₀ = 10.2 nM) did not differ significantly from that of soluble MTO at an equivalent dose (IC₅₀ = 12.5 nM) but the targeted particles (TMV-DUPA-MTO) were much more potent (IC₅₀ = 2.80 nM). The threefold increase in cytotoxicity conferred by the DUPA ligand suggests that MTO-loaded, DUPA-coated TMV particles are promising as a therapeutic strategy for PSMA⁺ prostate cancer and should be advanced to preclinical testing in mouse models of prostate cancer.

Prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) is a membrane-bound protein that is preferentially expressed in the prostate gland and induced in many prostate cancers, making it an important target for new diagnostics and therapeutics.

Designing S100A9-Targeted Plant Virus Nanoparticles to Target Deep Vein Thrombosis

Thromboembolic conditions are a leading cause of death worldwide, and deep vein thrombosis (DVT), or occlusive venous clot formation, is a critical and rising problem that contributes to damage of vital organs, long-term complications, and life-threatening conditions such as pulmonary embolism. Early diagnosis and treatment are correlated to better prognosis. However, current technologies in these areas, such as ultrasonography for diagnostics and anticoagulants for treatment, are limited in terms of their accuracy and therapeutic windows. In this work, we investigated targeting myeloid related protein 14 (MRP-14, also known as S100A9) using plant virus-based nanoparticle carriers as a means to achieve tissue specificity aiding prognosis and therapeutic intervention. We used a combinatorial peptide library screen to identify peptide ligands that bind MRP-14. Candidates were selected and formulated as nanoparticles by using cowpea mosaic virus (CPMV) and tobacco mosaic virus (TMV). Intravascular delivery of our MRP-14-targeted nanoparticles in a murine model of DVT resulted in enhanced accumulation in the thrombi and reduced thrombus size, suggesting application of nanoparticles for molecular targeting of MRP-14 could be a promising direction for improving DVT diagnostics, therapeutics, and therefore prognosis.

Engineered Bacteriophage Therapeutics: Rationale, Challenges and Future

The current problems with increasing bacterial resistance to antibacterial therapies, resulting in a growing frequency of incurable bacterial infections, necessitates the acceleration of studies on antibacterials of a new generation that could offer an alternative to antibiotics or support their action. Bacteriophages (phages) can kill antibiotic-sensitive as well as antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and thus are a major subject of such studies. Their efficacy in curing bacterial infections has been demonstrated in in vivo experiments and in the clinic. Unlike antibiotics, phages have a narrow range of specificity, which makes them safe for commensal microbiota. However, targeting even only the most clinically relevant strains of pathogenic bacteria requires large collections of well characterized phages, whose specificity would cover all such strains. The environment is a rich source of diverse phages, but due to their complex relationships with bacteria and safety concerns, only some naturally occurring phages can be considered for therapeutic applications. Still, their number and diversity make a detailed characterization of all potentially promising phages virtually impossible. Moreover, no single phage combines all the features required of an ideal therapeutic agent. Additionally, the rapid acquisition of phage resistance by bacteria may make phages already approved for therapy ineffective and turn the search for environmental phages of better efficacy and new specificity into an endless race. An alternative strategy for acquiring phages with desired properties in a short time with minimal cost regarding their acquisition, characterization, and approval for therapy could be based on targeted genome modifications of phage isolates with known properties. The first example demonstrating the potential of this strategy in curing bacterial diseases resistant to traditional therapy is the recent successful treatment of a progressing disseminated Mycobacterium abscessus infection in a teenage patient with the use of an engineered phage. In this review, we briefly present current methods of phage genetic engineering, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages, and provide examples of genetically engineered phages with a modified host range, improved safety or antibacterial activity, and proven therapeutic efficacy. We also summarize novel uses of engineered phages not only for killing pathogenic bacteria, but also for in situ modification of human microbiota to attenuate symptoms of certain bacterial diseases and metabolic, immune, or mental disorders.

The pharmacology of plant virus nanoparticles

The application of nanoparticles for medical purposes has made enormous strides in providing new solutions to health problems. The observation that plant virus-based nanoparticles (VNPs) can be repurposed and engineered as smart bio-vehicles for targeted drug delivery and imaging has launched extensive research for improving the therapeutic and diagnostic management of various diseases. There is evidence that VNPs are promising high value nanocarriers with potential for translational development. This is mainly due to their unique features, encompassing structural uniformity, ease of manufacture and functionalization by means of expression, chemical biology and self-assembly. While the development pipeline is moving rapidly, with many reports focusing on engineering and manufacturing aspects to tailor the properties and efficacy of VNPs, fewer studies have focused on gaining insights into the nanotoxicity of this novel platform nanotechnology. Herein, we discuss the pharmacology of VNPs as a function of formulation and route of administration. VNPs are reviewed in the context of their application as therapeutic adjuvants or nanocarrier excipients to initiate, enhance, attenuate or impede the formulation's toxicity. The summary of the data however also underlines the need for meticulous VNP structure-nanotoxicity studies to improve our understanding of their in vivo fates and pharmacological profiles to pave the way for translation of VNP-based formulations into the clinical setting.

Innovative Applications of Plant Viruses in Drug Targeting and Molecular Imaging- A Review

BACKGROUND

Nature had already engineered various types of nanoparticles (NPs), especially viruses, which can deliver their cargo to the host/targeted cells. The ability to selectively target specific cells offers a significant advantage over the conventional approach. Numerous organic NPs, including native protein cages, virus-like particles, polymeric saccharides, and liposomes, have been used for the preparation of nanoparticles. Such nanomaterials have demonstrated better performance as well as improved biocompatibility, devoid of side effects, and stable without any deterioration.

OBJECTIVE

This review discusses current clinical and scientific research on naturally occurring nanomaterials. It also illustrates and updates the tailor-made approaches for selective delivery and targeted medications that require a high-affinity interconnection to the targeted cells.

METHODS

A comprehensive search was performed using keywords for viral nanoparticles, viral particles for drug delivery, viral nanoparticles for molecular imaging, theranostics applications of viral nanoparticles and plant viruses in nanomedicine. We searched on Google Scholar, PubMed, Springer, Medline, and Elsevier from 2000 till date and by the bibliographic review of all identified articles.

RESULTS

The findings demonstrated that structures dependent on nanomaterials might have potential applications in diagnostics, cell marking, comparing agents (computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging), and antimicrobial drugs, as well as drug delivery structures. However, measures should be taken in order to prevent or mitigate, in pharmaceutical or medical applications, the toxic impact or incompatibility of nanoparticle-based structures with biological systems.

CONCLUSION

The review provided an overview of the latest advances in nanotechnology, outlining the difficulties and the advantages of in vivo and in vitro structures that are focused on a specific subset of the natural nanomaterials.

Biomechanical Features of Graphene-Augmented Inorganic Nanofibrous Scaffolds and Their Physical Interaction with Viruses

Nanofibrous substrates and scaffolds are widely being studied as matrices for 3D cell cultures, and disease models as well as for analytics and diagnostic purposes. These scaffolds usually comprise randomly oriented fibers. Much less common are nanofibrous scaffolds made of stiff inorganic materials such as alumina. Well-aligned matrices are a promising tool for evaluation of behavior of biological objects affected by micro/nano-topologies as well as anisotropy. In this work, for the first time, we report a joint analysis of biomechanical properties of new ultra-anisotropic, self-aligned ceramic nanofibers augmented with two modifications of graphene shells (GAIN scaffolds) and their interaction of three different viral types (influenza virus A, picornavirus (human parechovirus) and potato virus). It was discovered that nano-topology and structure of the graphene layers have a significant implication on mechanical properties of GAIN scaffolds resulting in non-linear behavior. It was demonstrated that the viral adhesion to GAIN scaffolds is likely to be guided by physical cues in dependence on mutual steric factors, as the scaffolds lack common cell membrane proteins and receptors which viruses usually deploy for transfection. The study may have implications for selective viral adsorption, infected cells analysis, and potentially opening new tools for anti-viral drugs development.

Application of Bacteriophages in Nanotechnology

Bacteriophages (phages for short) are viruses, which have bacteria as hosts. The single phage body virion, is a colloidal particle, often possessing a dipole moment. As such, phages were used as perfectly monodisperse systems to study various physicochemical phenomena (e.g., transport or sedimentation in complex fluids), or in the material science (e.g., as scaffolds). Nevertheless, phages also execute the life cycle to multiply and produce progeny virions. Upon completion of the life cycle of phages, the host cells are usually destroyed. Natural abilities to bind to and kill bacteria were a starting point for utilizing phages in phage therapies (i.e., medical treatments that use phages to fight bacterial infections) and for bacteria detection. Numerous applications of phages became possible thanks to phage display-a method connecting the phenotype and genotype, which allows for selecting specific peptides or proteins with affinity to a given target. Here, we review the application of bacteriophages in nanoscience, emphasizing bio-related applications, material science, soft matter research, and physical chemistry.

Self-Assembled Nanoparticles: Exciting Platforms for Vaccination

Vaccination is successfully advanced to control several fatal diseases and improve human life expectancy. However, additional innovations are required in this field because there are no effective vaccines to prevent some infectious diseases. The shift from the attenuated or inactivated pathogens to safer but less immunogenic protein or peptide antigens has led to a search for effective antigen delivery carriers that can function as both antigen vehicles and intrinsic adjuvants. Among these carriers, self-assembled nanoparticles (SANPs) have shown great potential to be the best representative. For the nanoscale and multiple presentation of antigens, with accurate control over size, geometry, and functionality, these nanoparticles are assembled spontaneously and mimic pathogens, resulting in enhanced antigen presentation and increased cellular and humoral immunity responses. In addition, they may be applied through needle-free routes due to their adhesive ability, which gives them a great future in vaccination applications. This review provides an overview of various SANPs and their applications in prophylactic vaccines.

Phage Display Derived Monoclonal Antibodies: From Bench to Bedside

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have become one of the most important classes of biopharmaceutical products, and they continue to dominate the universe of biopharmaceutical markets in terms of approval and sales. They are the most profitable single product class, where they represent six of the top ten selling drugs. At the beginning of the 1990s, an in vitro antibody selection technology known as antibody phage display was developed by John McCafferty and Sir. Gregory Winter that enabled the discovery of human antibodies for diverse applications, particularly antibody-based drugs. They created combinatorial antibody libraries on filamentous phage to be utilized for generating antigen specific antibodies in a matter of weeks. Since then, more than 70 phage–derived antibodies entered clinical studies and 14 of them have been approved. These antibodies are indicated for cancer, and non-cancer medical conditions, such as inflammatory, optical, infectious, or immunological diseases. This review will illustrate the utility of phage display as a powerful platform for therapeutic antibodies discovery and describe in detail all the approved mAbs derived from phage display.

The Antitumor Efficacy of CpG Oligonucleotides is Improved by Encapsulation in Plant Virus-Like Particles

Oligodeoxynucleotides (ODNs) with CpG motifs have potent immunostimulatory effects on many subsets of immune cells. For example, Class B CpG-ODNs, such as ODN1826 induce the phagocytic activity of macrophages by activating the Toll-like receptor 9 signaling pathway. Systemic ODN delivery results in unfavorable pharmacokinetic profiles and can trigger adverse effects. To address this issue, plant virus-like particles (VLPs) are developed for the targeted delivery of ODN1826 to tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). ODN1826 is encapsulated by the in vitro disassembly and reassembly of Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV), producing VLPs that are structurally analogous to the native virus. The encapsulation of ODN1826 in CCMV-derived VLPs promotes ODN uptake by TAMs ex vivo and significantly enhance their phagocytic activity. The antitumor activity of the VLPs in vivo is also evaluated, revealing that the direct injection of ODN1826 VLPs into established tumors induces a robust antitumor response by increasing the phagocytic activity of TAMs in the tumor microenvironment. CCMV encapsulation significantly enhances the efficacy of ODN1826 compared to the free drug, slowing tumor growth and prolonging survival in mouse models of colon cancer and melanoma.

Phage Display Derived Monoclonal Antibodies: From Bench to Bedside

Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) have become one of the most important classes of biopharmaceutical products, and they continue to dominate the universe of biopharmaceutical markets in terms of approval and sales. They are the most profitable single product class, where they represent six of the top ten selling drugs. At the beginning of the 1990s, an in vitro antibody selection technology known as antibody phage display was developed by John McCafferty and Sir. Gregory Winter that enabled the discovery of human antibodies for diverse applications, particularly antibody-based drugs. They created combinatorial antibody libraries on filamentous phage to be utilized for generating antigen specific antibodies in a matter of weeks. Since then, more than 70 phage-derived antibodies entered clinical studies and 14 of them have been approved. These antibodies are indicated for cancer, and non-cancer medical conditions, such as inflammatory, optical, infectious, or immunological diseases. This review will illustrate the utility of phage display as a powerful platform for therapeutic antibodies discovery and describe in detail all the approved mAbs derived from phage display.

Drug Delivery Technology Development in Canada

Canada has a long and rich history of ground-breaking research in drug delivery within academic institutions, pharmaceutical industry and the biotechnology community. Drug delivery refers to approaches, formulations, technologies, and systems for transporting a pharmaceutical compound in the body as needed to safely achieve its desired therapeutic effect. It may involve rational site-targeting, or facilitating systemic pharmacokinetics; in any case, it is typically concerned with both quantity and duration of the presence of the drug in the body. Drug delivery is often approached through a drug’s chemical formulation, medical devices or drug-device combination products. Drug delivery is a concept heavily integrated with dosage form development and selection of route of administration; the latter sometimes even being considered part of the definition. Drug delivery technologies modify drug release profile, absorption, distribution and elimination for the benefit of improving product efficacy and safety, as well as patient convenience and adherence. Over the past 30 years, numerous Canadian-based biotechnology companies have been formed stemming from the inventions conceived and developed within academic institutions. Many have led to the development of important drug delivery products that have enhanced the landscape of drug therapy in the treatment of cancer to infectious diseases. This Special Issue serves to highlight the progress of drug delivery within Canada. We invited articles on all aspects of drug delivery sciences from pre-clinical formulation development to human clinical trials that bring to light the world-class research currently undertaken in Canada for this Special Issue.

Delivery of siRNA therapeutics using cowpea chlorotic mottle virus-like particles

While highly promising in medicine, gene therapy requires delivery agents to protect and target nucleic acid therapeutics. We developed a plant viral siRNA delivery platform making use of self-assembling cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV). CCMV was loaded with siRNAs targeting GFP or FOXA1; to further enhance cell uptake and intracellular trafficking, resulting in more efficient gene knockdown, we appended CCMV with a cell penetrating peptide (CPP), specifically M-lycotoxin peptide L17E.