Nanoscale materials offer promising new platforms for the tissue-specificdelivery of therapeutic cargo. Through appropriate surface modification,multiple copies of a desired targeting group can be displayed to direct thesecarriers to cell surface markers of interest. The use of hollow structuresallows drug molecules and radiolabels to be sequestered within the assemblies,protecting them from premature degradation and masking their influence onbiodistribution. To realize this potential, we have developed a series ofsite-selective chemical reactions to convert the protein shell of a virus intoa coordinated set of targeted delivery agents. Peptides, antibody fragments,and aptamers have been installed on the external surfaces, and the inside ofeach capsid has been modified to house high-relaxivity MRI contrast agents andF-18 labels for PET imaging. The new protein modification strategies that haveenabled the construction of these carriers will serve as the focus of thispresentation.

Generation of targeted multivalent delivery vehicles from chemically modified viral capsids

241st National Meeting (2011)

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