Self-Assembled Virus-Like Particles from Polyferrocenylsilane-Based Polymers and Viral Capsid Proteins: Fabrication, Surface Engineering and Applications

Objective

The capsid proteins of viruses have been shown to organize around a variety of non-biological polyanions, in a similar way that proteins assemble around RNA genomes, to form virus-like particles (VLPs). Metal-containing polymers such as polyferrocenylsilane possess additional interesting physical and chemical properties and may yield VLPs possessing very different morphologies and more diverse functionalities on co-assembly with capsid proteins. In a similar manner to almost all nanoscale objects, VLPs generally exist in the solid state but not in the liquid phase, because the scales of these systems are typically larger than the range of attractive interactions between such nanostructures. This situation comes with limitations regarding both storage and product formulation. Due to the recent development of liquid proteins via the surface engineering techniques, interest in the phase behavior of bionanomaterials has grown rapidly. The proposed research focuses on the fabrication and surface engineering of responsive VLPs through the self-assembly of polyferrocenylsilane-based copolymers and viral capsid proteins. This project is highly interdisciplinary and the project objectives will be accomplished by the proposed award of a Marie Curie Fellowship to a highly talented young scientist from China, Dr. Hongjing Dou. She has considerable expertise in the area of bionanomaterials and in biomedical science. The proposal involves her working at the School of Chemistry at the University of Bristol in the UK together with Prof. Ian Manners, who has expertise in the field of synthetic metallopolymers such as polyferrocenylsilanes and also self-assembly, and cosupervisor Prof. Stephen Mann, an expert in bio-inspired chemically-derived routes to complex materials and a pioneer of solvent-free liquid proteins and viruses, to achieve the ambitious project goals.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

• natural sciences biological sciences microbiology virology
• natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins
• natural sciences chemical sciences polymer sciences
• natural sciences biological sciences genetics RNA
• natural sciences biological sciences genetics genomes

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

• FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF - Marie Curie Action: "International Incoming Fellowships"

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IIF
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

MC-IIFR - International incoming fellowships (Return phase)

Coordinator