Construction Of Hybrid Nanostructures Composed Of Viral Nanoparticle Of SV40 And Inorganic Nanomaterials

Integration of natural biological and inorganic nanomaterials opens new possibilities of the applications of inorganic nanomaterials in fields of biology and medicine. Noble metal nanomaterials and carbon nanomaterials have attracted extensive attention owing to their unique properties and great potentials for a multitude of applications such as imaging, delivery, photothermal therapy, sensing, and so on. Here, we have used the virus-based nanoparticles(VNPs) of simian virus 40(SV40) as templates for the construction of hybrid nanostructures with gold nanoparticles(Au NPs), Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles(Au@Ag NPs) and carbon dots(C-dots) respectively.Firstly, biomineralization has been used to construct hybrid nanostructures of SV40 VNP and noble metal nanomaterials. In order to mineralize inorganic nanoparticles inside the viral protein cage, we encapsulated a preformed nanoparticle as the seed, followed by further growth of a homogeneous or heterogeneous outer layer. We have succeeded in mineralizing a series of Au and Au@Ag core-shell nanoparticles(within 10 nm in diameter) with narrow size distributions inside the SV40 VNPs without modification of the protein cage. The novel biomineralization strategy, which is featured with encapsulation of a preformed seed and further growth of an outer layer, has enriched the methods for fabricating hybrid nanostructures of protein cage and inorganic nanomaterials. The as-constructed hybrid nanostructures could be used to develop highly sensitive biosensors and multifunctional nano devices.Secondly, a co-assembly method has been used to construct SV40 VNP-carbon dot hybrid nanostructure. After the assembly process, co-assembled nanostructure of the major capsid protein VP1 of SV40 and C-dot was confirmed to form through a series of analysis including sucrose density gradient centrifugation, UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. Additionally, intermolecular interaction analysis using the bio-layer interferometry technology showed high affinity between VP1 and C-dot, which maybe the driving force of the efficient co-assembly of VP1 with C-dot. The hybrid nanostructure of SV40 VNP and C-dot can be used to construct multimode theranostic probes combining fluorescence imaging, photoacoustic imaging and target photothermal therapy.