Virus-Based Nanomaterials and Nanostructures

Dear Colleagues,

A virus is considered as a nanoscale organic material that can infect and replicate only inside the living cells of other organisms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. The structure of viruses consists of two or three parts: (i) the genetic material made from either DNA or RNA, that carry genetic information; (ii) a protein coat, called the capsid, which surrounds and protects the genetic material; and in some cases; and (iii) an envelope of lipids that surrounds the protein coat. By inserting the gene encoding functional proteins into the viral genome, the functional proteins can be genetically displayed on the protein coat to form bioengineered viruses. Therefore, viruses can be depicted as biological nanoparticles with genetically tunable surface chemistry and serve as models for developing virus-like nanoparticles and even nanostructures.

Via such a process, ‘viral display’, bioengineered viruses can be mass-produced with lower cost and potentially applied to tissue regeneration, gene/peptide/drug delivery, theranostics, bio-sensing, and even energy harvesting and storage. In this Special Issue, any type of manuscripts that focus on those biomedical applications, as well as specific approaches and strategies to deal with “Virus-Based Nanomaterials and Nanostructures” will be considered.

We are highly interested in the following topics, including but not limited to:

• virus-decorated nanobiomaterials as scaffolds for tissue engineering
• virus-incorporated hybrid composites for regenerative and translational medicine
• virus-based delivery carriers for gene, siRNA, peptide, antibody, oligomer, drug, etc.
• virus or virus-like nanoparticles for modulating stem cell fate
• virus or virus-like nanoparticles for nanomedicine and theranostics
• virus or virus-like nanoparticles for bioimaging and biosensing
• virus-based nanostructures for energy harvesting and storage devices

Prof. Dr. Dong-Wook Han
Prof. Dr. Jin-Woo Oh
Guest Editors

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