In vitro encapsulation of heterologous dsDNA into human parvovirus B19 virus-like particles.

Virus-like particles (VLPs) have vast potential for applications in nanoscience and nanomedicine. These biological nanoparticles may be used for medical imaging, vaccination, or tissue-specific delivery of drugs or other bioactive molecules. VLPs of Human parvovirus B19 (B19 V) can be assembled in vitro from the recombinant VP2 protein. In this research, we describe a simple method for the encapsulation of heterologous linear dsDNA fragments of different sizes into B19 V-VP2 VLPs, in which the DNA and denatured VP2 protein are co-incubated and the assembly process is conducted by one dialysis step. Characterization of the particles by qPCR demonstrated the encapsulation of dsDNA, and indicates that the length of the dsDNA is critical for the encapsulation process. The strategy presented here opens the possibility to use this VLPs as a delivery system with future therapeutically applications.