Study: Directed evolution of engineered virus-like particles with improved production and transduction efficiencies. Image Credit: Dragon Claws / Shutterstock.com A recent study published in the journal Nature Biotechnology discusses the development of a novel system for the directed evolution of engineered virus-like particles (eVLPs) with enhanced transduction and production capabilities.
What are eVLPs? The ability to efficiently and safely deliver macromolecules into cells in vitro and in vivo is crucial for various emerging treatment modalities. Although adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors can successfully deliver gene-editing agents in vivo , they are associated with several limitations. Therefore, additional delivery methods are needed to overcome these limitations.
VLPs comprise viral scaffolds that package and deliver cargo messenger ribonucleic acids (mRNAs), proteins, or ribonucleoproteins (RNPs). VLPs offer efficient transduction, tissue tropisms, reduced off-target editing, and transient cargo expression. Previously, the current study's authors developed eVLPs that enable efficient gene editing and protein delivery in vitro and in vivo .
Within these systems, cargo proteins are fused to retroviral Gag proteins in eVLPs, which direct cargo localization into viral particles as they form. The cargo-Gag linker contains a sequence to be cleaved by a retroviral protease after particle formation, which subsequently releases the cargo inside the particles and into the t.
