Geneticists control virus assembly using DNA origami
Scientists have developed a simple way to assemble the right viruses based on DNA origami templates. The study is published in the journal Nature Nanotechnology.Geneticists from Griffith University have developed a way to control the precise and controlled assembly of viral capsids - the inner protein shells of viruses. The results of the work could be used to create new vaccines and methods of targeted drug delivery for the treatment of various diseases.
Scientists use DNA-origami technology - a method of assembling structures of various shapes from DNA - as a basis. A properly programmed base of double stranded nucleotides serves as the basis for assembling the protein shell of viruses. "It's like wrapping a present - the viral proteins are laid on top of another shape that is determined by DNA origami," explains Frank Sainsbury, co-author of the study.
Most known viruses protect their genome by encapsulating it inside a protein capsid. Such inner shells can have different geometries, shaped by evolution to penetrate different cell and tissue types.
The research opens up the possibility of creating new types of drugs, geneticists believe. Using this method, virus-like particles can be engineered and modified for different purposes. For example, they found that one of the viruses found in mice is capable of carrying protein cargoes through an inhospitable environment to a specific subcellular compartment in human cells.
Given the vast existing space for developing viruses that can be used as carriers, we still have much to learn from their study. We will continue to push the boundaries of how virus-like particles can assemble and what can be learned from using them as carriers for drugs, vaccines, and vessels for biochemical reactions.
Geneticists will continue to work to find and recreate different forms of the virus' protective shells that may find medical applications.