Icosahedral Virus Particles as Addressable Nanoscale Building Blocks

Abstract

Grow your nanochemical dendrimers! Cowpea mosaic virus (see relief image derived from the X-ray structure) can be isolated from its host plant in gram quantities and participates in selective chemical reactions at specific sites of the icosahedrally-arrayed coat protein. Mutant structures can be easily engineered, propagated, and isolated to provide particles with tailored reactivities. Applications for these particles in areas from catalysis to materials science can be conceived.