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Scientific Method / Science & Exploration

A new artificial virus construction with therapeutic potential

Chemists uses a new technique to create an artificial virus with properties …



Artificial virus with siRNA and guest Lee's group proposed that the self-assembled virus can bind to therapeutic agents and deliver it into the cell. They tested their idea using small interfering RNA (siRNA), a double stranded RNA that induces specific post-transcriptional gene-silencing. Based on evidence from circular dichroism and transmission electron microscopy, their artificial virus can make a complex with the negatively charged siRNA. To examine the virus' ability as an intracellular siRNA delivery carrier, the chemists compared Glu-KW with Lipofectamine 2000, a commercial compound with high siRNA transfection efficiencies, using a human cervical cancer cell line. In gene knockdown experiments, Glu-KW performed just as well as Lipofectamine 2000.

In addition to delivering nucleic acids like siRNA, the artificial virus can also carry a hydrophobic guest molecule because the β ribbon bilayer forms a hydrophobic space useful for encapsulation. The chemists tested Glu-KW's potential for delivering nile red, a hydrophobic stain, while the virus was complexed with siRNA. Nile red was delivered to the cytoplasm and nucleus of the cells and gene knockdown still occurred, although with less efficiency.

The β ribbon templates are capable of assembling artificial viruses with favorable sizes and shapes. The virus' simultaneous ability to deliver genetic materials and hydrophobic therapeutic reagents are particularly useful, and the researchers' approach is flexible and allows for a variety of structural changes to the virus. Until we study the toxicology of these artificial viruses, however, we cannot judge their full potential for treating diseases. 

Angewandte, 2008. DOI: 10.1002/anie.200800266

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