Virus-Like Particle Applications in Biotechnology

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are non‐infectious, self‐assembling protein structures that mimic the architecture of native viruses without harbouring genetic material. Their precise nanoscale geometry and repetitive surface presentation confer exceptional stability and immunogenicity, making them versatile platforms for vaccines, targeted drug delivery, diagnostics and synthetic biology. VLPs can be produced in diverse expression systems, including microbial, insect and cell-free platforms, and can be decorated or loaded with antigens, enzymes or therapeutic cargos through genetic fusion or chemical conjugation. Beyond vaccinology, VLPs serve as modular scaffolds for enzyme compartmentalisation, molecular imaging and the construction of artificial organelles. Recent advances have expanded their application to crop bioengineering, immunotherapy and nanoreactor design, highlighting a convergence of structural virology, protein engineering and materials science that continues to transform biotechnology at both fundamental and translational levels.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Recent studies have elucidated mechanisms of shell assembly and cargo encapsulation within proteinaceous microcompartments. Work on intrinsically disordered linker proteins has revealed how repetitive key motifs guide the assembly of α‐carboxysome shells and ensure robust encapsulation of Rubisco, offering design principles for synthetic nanocages. Minimal gene sets introduced into plant chloroplasts have yielded functional carboxysomes capable of concentrating CO₂ around Rubisco, demonstrating the feasibility of constructing compact carbon‐fixing organelles in crops. Foundational research on modular decoration platforms has established a plug‐and‐display system using spontaneous isopeptide bond formation to attach diverse antigens to VLPs in a single mixing step, markedly accelerating vaccine development by ensuring quantitative and stable antigen display without compromising capsid integrity.

Virus-Like Particle Applications in Biotechnology publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in virus-like particle applications in biotechnology across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Virus‐like particle (VLP): A self‐assembling protein shell mimicking viral capsids but lacking viral genome.

Self-assembly: The autonomous organisation of proteins into defined nanoscale structures.

Immunogenicity: The capacity of a substance to provoke an immune response.

SpyTag/SpyCatcher: A peptide–protein pair that forms a spontaneous covalent bond, used for modular attachment of cargos to protein scaffolds.

Carboxysome: A bacterial microcompartment that encloses CO₂‐fixing enzymes within a protein shell to enhance photosynthetic efficiency.

References

1. Intrinsically disordered CsoS2 acts as a general molecular thread for α-carboxysome shell assembly. Nature Communications (2023).
2. Carboxysome encapsulation of the CO2-fixing enzyme Rubisco in tobacco chloroplasts. Nature Communications (2018).
3. Plug-and-Display: decoration of Virus-Like Particles via isopeptide bonds for modular immunization. Scientific Reports (2016).
4. Virus-like particles: preparation, immunogenicity and their roles as nanovaccines and drug nanocarriers. Journal of Nanobiotechnology (2021).
5. Protein-based antigen presentation platforms for nanoparticle vaccines. npj Vaccines (2021).