Adenoviral vectored vaccines against infectious diseases are currently in clinical trials due to their capacity to induce potent antigen-specific B- and T-cell immune responses. Heterologous prime-boost vaccination with adenoviral vector and, for exa...
Capsid-like particles (CLPs) are multimeric, repetitive assemblies of recombinant viral capsid proteins, which are highly immunogenic due to their structural similarity to wild-type viruses. CLPs can be used as molecular scaffolds to enable the prese...
The HIV-1 mature capsid (CA) assumes an amorphous, fullerene conical configuration due to its high flexibility. How native CA self-assembles is still unclear despite having well-defined structures of its pentamer and hexamer building blocks. Here we...
Due to constant antigenic drift and shift, current influenza-A vaccines need to be redesigned and administered annually. A universal flu vaccine (UFV) that provides long-lasting protection against both seasonal and emerging pandemic influenza strains...
We showed that antimicrobial polypeptides, when translated as gene fusions to the bacteriophage lambda capsid decoration protein gpD, formed highly toxic molecules within E. coli, suggesting that they can retain their antimicrobial activity conformat...
Bacteriophage T4 is decorated with 155 180 Å-long fibers of the highly antigenic outer capsid protein (Hoc). In this study, we describe a near-atomic structural model of Hoc by combining cryo-electron microscopy and AlphaFold structure predicti...
A specific humoral response to bacteriophages may follow phage application for medical purposes, and it may further determine the success or failure of the approach itself. We present a long-term study of antibody induction in mice by T4 phage applie...
Chimeric virus-like particles (VLPs) have been widely exploited for various purposes including their use as vaccine candidates, particularly due to their ability to induce stronger immune responses than VLPs consisting of single viral proteins. In th...
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the second most common infectious agent causing cancer. Persistent infection with high-risk (HR)-HPV can lead to cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia and cervical carcinomas (CC). While host immune response is necessary f...
Tailed phages are the most abundant and diverse group of viruses on the planet. Yet, the smallest tailed phages display relatively complex capsids and large genomes compared to other viruses. The lack of tailed phages forming the common icosahedral c...
The capsid structures of most Adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotypes, already assigned to an antigenic clade, have been previously determined. This study reports the remaining capsid structures of AAV7, AAV11, AAV12, and AAV13 determined by cryo-elec...
The focus of this study was to explore phage display systems employing bacteriophage lambda (λ) gene fusions to its capsid decoration protein gpD as reagent tools for tackling disease. The biological activity of gpD-fusions was examined by tes...
Parvoviruses are small, single-stranded DNA viruses with non-enveloped capsids. Determining the capsid structures provides a framework for annotating regions important to the viral life cycle. Aleutian mink disease virus (AMDV), a pathogen in minks,...
Artificial construction of spherical protein assemblies has attracted considerable attention due to its potential use in nanocontainers, nanocarriers, and nanoreactors. In this work, we demonstrate a novel strategy to construct peptide nanocapsules (...
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) vaccine efficacy is mainly determined by the content of intact virions (146S) and empty capsids (75S). Both particles may dissociate into 12S subunits upon vaccine manufacturing, formulation, and storage, reducing vaccine...
In the tailed bacteriophages, DNA is packaged into spherical procapsids, leading to expansion into angular, thin-walled mature capsids. In many cases, this maturation is accompanied by cleavage of the major capsid protein (CP) and other capsid-associ...
The capsid (CA) protein of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) is an essential structural component of a virion and facilitates many crucial life cycle steps through interactions with host cell factors. Capsid shields the reverse transcri...
Phage display is widely used in biomedical research. One of the great advantages of phage display is the specificity of the connection of a foreign peptide exposed outside the capsid to the intended target. Secondary detection systems, which are ofte...
Human papillomavirus (HPV) 16 capsids have been chosen as a DNA delivery vehicle in many studies. Our preliminary studies suggest that HPV58 capsids could be better vehicles than HPV16 capsids to deliver encapsidated DNA in vitro and in vivo. In the...
Porcine circovirus Type 2 (PCV2) is a primary etiological pathogen of post-weaning multi-systemic wasting syndrome (PMWS). The capsid protein of PCV2 is the crucial immunogenic protein which can induce antibody generation and immune responses. Howeve...
Adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are small, non-pathogenic ssDNA viruses being used as therapeutic gene delivery vectors for the treatment of a variety of monogenic diseases. An obstacle to successful gene delivery is inefficient capsid trafficking th...
Bocaparvovirus is an expansive genus of the Parvovirinae, with a wide range of vertebrate hosts. This study investigates Canine minute virus (CnMV), Rat bocavirus (RBoV), and Porcine bocavirus 1 (PBoV1). Both CnMV and PBoV1 have been found in gastroi...
Decoration proteins are viral accessory gene products that adorn the surfaces of some phages and viral capsids, particularly tailed dsDNA phages. These proteins often play a “cementing” role, reinforcing capsids against accumulating inter...
Major viral structural proteins interact homotypically and/or heterotypically, self-assembling into polyvalent viral capsids that usually elicit strong host immune responses. By taking advantage of such intrinsic features of norovirus capsids, two su...
Virus infections are initiated by the attachment of the viral particle to protein or carbohydrate receptors on the host cell. Sialic acid-bearing glycan structures are prominently displayed at the cell surface, and, consequently, these structures can...
Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is the pathogen that causes Japanese encephalitis (JE) in humans and horses. Lethality of the virus was reported to be between 20–30%, of which, 30–50% of the JE survivors develop neurological and psychiatric sequela...
The baculovirus-insect cell system has long been deployed for a variety of applications including for use as biopesticides, for recombinant protein production, transient transgene expression, tissue therapy, and for vaccine production. Apart from the...
Virus-like particles (VLPs) formed as a result of self-assembly of viral capsid proteins are widely used as a platform for antigen presentation in vaccine development. However, since the inclusion of a foreign peptide into the capsid protein can alte...
LuIII, a protoparvovirus pathogenic to rodents, replicates in human mitotic cells, making it applicable for use to kill cancer cells. This virus group includes H-1 parvovirus (H-1PV) and minute virus of mice (MVM). However, LuIII displays enhanced on...
The picornavirus foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is the causative agent of the economically important disease of livestock, foot-and-mouth disease (FMD). VP4 is a highly conserved capsid protein, which is important during virus entry. Previous pu...
Capsid virus-like particles (cVLPs) are used as molecular scaffolds to increase the immunogenicity of displayed antigens. Modular platforms have been developed whereby antigens are attached to the surface of pre-assembled cVLPs. However, it remains u...
Since its introduction in 1985, phage display technology has been successfully used in projects aimed at deciphering biological processes and isolating molecules of practical value in several applications. Bacteriophage lambda, representing a classic...
Coxsackievirus A8 (CV-A8) is one of the pathogens associated with hand, foot and mouth disease (HFMD) and herpangina (HA), occasionally leading to severe neurological disorders such as acute flaccid paralysis (AFP). Only one study aimed at CV-A8 has...
Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is a highly contagious vesicular disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals and often causes enormous economic loss in the livestock industry. The capsid of FMD virus (FMDV) consists of four structural proteins. Initially...
Background: The extracellular domain of the M2 protein (M2e) and the conserved region of the second subunit of the hemagglutinin (HA2, 76–130 а.а.) of the influenza A virus, could be used to develop broad-spectrum influenza vaccines...
Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are the most common sexually transmitted infections worldwide. Ninety percent of infected individuals clear the infection within two years; however, in the remaining 10% of infected individuals, the infection(s) persists...
The human papillomaviruses (HPVs) are a family of small DNA tumor viruses including over 200 genotypes classified by phylogeny into several genera. Different genera of HPVs cause ano-genital and oropharyngeal cancers, skin cancers, as well as benign...
The cowpea chlorotic mottle virus (CCMV) is a plant virus explored as a nanotechnological platform. The robust self-assembly mechanism of its capsid protein allows for drug encapsulation and targeted delivery. Additionally, the capsid nanoparticle ca...
Integrase is the retroviral protein responsible for integrating reverse transcripts into cellular genomes. Co-packaged with viral RNA and reverse transcriptase into capsid-encased viral cores, human immunodeficiency virus 1 (HIV-1) integrase has long...
Merging targeted systemic gene delivery and systemic chemotherapy against cancer, chemovirotherapy, has the potential to improve chemotherapy and gene therapy treatments and overcome cancer resistance. We introduced a bacteriophage (phage) vector, na...
Hepatitis B virus (HBV), an international public health concern, is a leading viral cause of liver disease, such as hepatocellular carcinoma. Sequence-specific ribozymes derived from ribonuclease P (RNase P) catalytic RNA are being explored for gene...
Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) inflict a significant burden on the human population. The clinical manifestations caused by high-risk HPV types are cancers at anogenital sites, including cervical cancer, as well as head and neck cancers. Host cell defe...
JC virus (JCV) replicates within the nuclei of glial cells in the human brain and causes progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy. JCV possesses a small, circular, double-stranded DNA genome, divided into early and late protein-coding regions. The...
The search for innovative anti-cancer drugs remains a challenge. Over the past three decades, antibodies have emerged as an essential asset in successful cancer therapy. The major obstacle in developing anti-cancer antibodies is the need for non-immu...
Tetraviruses are a group of relatively unknown small RNA viruses with particles that display a characteristic T=4 capsid architecture. Tetraviruses are classified into three families, the Alphatetraviridae, Permutotetraviridae and Carmotetraviridae,...
Currently there is a clear trend towards the establishment of virus-like particles (VLPs) as a powerful tool for vaccine development. VLPs are tunable nanoparticles that can be engineered to be used as platforms for multimeric display of foreign anti...
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) capsid assembly modulators (CpAMs) have shown promise as potent anti-HBV agents in both preclinical and clinical studies. Herein, we report our efforts in identifying novel CpAM hits via a structure-based virtual screening aga...
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) has a complicated life cycle including stages of primary lytic infection, latent infection, and reactivation. Although the HSV genomic DNA within the viral capsid is devoid of histones, it rapidly associates with histones u...
Human norovirus is the leading cause of foodborne illness globally. One of the challenges in detecting noroviruses is the identification of a completely broadly reactive ligand; however, all detection ligands generated to date target the viral capsid...
Background: Pancreas disease (PD) is a serious disease in European salmonid aquaculture caused by salmonid alphavirus (SAV), of which six genotypes (SAV1–6) have been described. The use of inactivated virus and DNA PD vaccines is common in mari...
of 3