Virus-like nanoparticles as a theranostic platform for cancer

Kyeong Rok Kim; Ae Sol Lee; Su Min Kim; Hye Ryoung Heo; Chang Sup Kim

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2022.1106767

Virus-like nanoparticles as a theranostic platform for cancer

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2023 Jan 12:10:1106767. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.1106767. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Kyeong Rok Kim¹, Ae Sol Lee¹, Su Min Kim¹, Hye Ryoung Heo², Chang Sup Kim^{1

3}

Affiliations

¹ Graduate School of Biochemistry, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, South Korea.
² Senotherapy-Based Metabolic Disease Control Research Center, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, South Korea.
³ School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan, South Korea.

Abstract

Virus-like nanoparticles (VLPs) are natural polymer-based nanomaterials that mimic viral structures through the hierarchical assembly of viral coat proteins, while lacking viral genomes. VLPs have received enormous attention in a wide range of nanotechnology-based medical diagnostics and therapies, including cancer therapy, imaging, and theranostics. VLPs are biocompatible and biodegradable and have a uniform structure and controllable assembly. They can encapsulate a wide range of therapeutic and diagnostic agents, and can be genetically or chemically modified. These properties have led to sophisticated multifunctional theranostic platforms. This article reviews the current progress in developing and applying engineered VLPs for molecular imaging, drug delivery, and multifunctional theranostics in cancer research.

Keywords: bio-imaging; cancer; drug delivery; theragnosis; virus-like particle.

Publication types

Review

Grants and funding

Financial support was provided by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF-2019R1C1C1007379 and NRF-2022R1A5A2018865) grant funded by the Korea government (MSIT).