Open AccessProgrammable icosahedral shell system for virus trapping
Author(s) -
Christian Sigl,
Elena M. Willner,
Wouter Engelen,
Jessica A. Kretzmann,
Ken Sachenbacher,
Anna Liedl,
Fenna Kolbe,
Florian Wilsch,
S. Ali Aghvami,
Ulrike Protzer,
Michael F. Hagan,
Seth Fraden,
Hendrik Dietz
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
nature materials
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 14.344
H-Index - 483
eISSN - 1476-4660
pISSN - 1476-1122
DOI - 10.1038/s41563-021-01020-4
Subject(s) - icosahedral symmetry , virus , trapping , virology , shell (structure) , hepatitis b virus , nanotechnology , modular design , materials science , biology , biophysics , chemistry , crystallography , computer science , ecology , composite material , operating system
Broad-spectrum antiviral platforms that can decrease or inhibit viral infection would alleviate many threats to global public health. Nonetheless, effective technologies of this kind are still not available. Here, we describe a programmable icosahedral canvas for the self-assembly of icosahedral shells that have viral trapping and antiviral properties. Programmable triangular building blocks constructed from DNA assemble with high yield into various shell objects with user-defined geometries and apertures. We have created shells with molecular masses ranging from 43 to 925 MDa (8 to 180 subunits) and with internal cavity diameters of up to 280 nm. The shell interior can be functionalized with virus-specific moieties in a modular fashion. We demonstrate this virus-trapping concept by engulfing hepatitis B virus core particles and adeno-associated viruses. We demonstrate the inhibition of hepatitis B virus core interactions with surfaces in vitro and the neutralization of infectious adeno-associated viruses exposed to human cells.