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Structurally plastic peptide capsules for synthetic antimicrobial viruses.

ABSTRACT: A conceptual design for artificial antimicrobial viruses is described. The design emulates viral assembly and function to create self-assembling peptide capsules that promote efficient gene delivery and silencing in mammalian cells. Unlike viruses, however, the capsules are antimicrobial, which allows them to exhibit a dual biological function: gene transport and antimicrobial activity. Unlike other antimicrobials, the capsules act as pre-concentrated antimicrobial agents that elicit rapid and localised membrane-disrupting responses by converting into individual pores at their precise landing positions on membranes. The concept holds promise for engineering virus-like scaffolds with biologically tuneable properties.

SUBMITTER: Castelletto V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5633914 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Structurally plastic peptide capsules for synthetic antimicrobial viruses.

Castelletto Valeria V de Santis Emiliana E Alkassem Hasan H Lamarre Baptiste B Noble James E JE Ray Santanu S Bella Angelo A Burns Jonathan R JR Hoogenboom Bart W BW Ryadnov Maxim G MG

Chemical science 20151221 3

A conceptual design for artificial antimicrobial viruses is described. The design emulates viral assembly and function to create self-assembling peptide capsules that promote efficient gene delivery and silencing in mammalian cells. Unlike viruses, however, the capsules are antimicrobial, which allows them to exhibit a dual biological function: gene transport and antimicrobial activity. Unlike other antimicrobials, the capsules act as pre-concentrated antimicrobial agents that elicit rapid and l ...[more]

PMID: 29081944

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