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. 2018 Jul 23;9(7):370. doi: 10.3390/genes9070370

Table 1.

Function, structure, and production of the most commonly used protein-based nanoparticles (PNPs).

PNP Native Organism Biological Function Geometry Number of Subunits Size (Diameter) Heterologous Production Ref.
Virus-like particles (VLPs) CCMV 1 Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus capsid protein Plant virus Icosahedral 182 28 nm Plants; yeast;
Escherichia coli; Pseudomonas fluorescens
[11,28,29,30]
CPMV 2 Cowpea mosaic virus capsid protein Plant virus Pseudo icosahedral 120 Large (L) and 120 Small (S) 28 nm Insect cells; plants [31,32]
HBc 3 Hepatitis B virus capsid protein Human virus Icosahedral 180 or 240 30 nm or 34 nm Mammalian cells; insect cells; plants; yeast; E. coli; cell-free [33,34,35,36,37,38]
MS2 Enterobacteriaceae Bacteriophage Icosahedral 180 26 nm Yeast; E. coli; cell-free [39,40,41]
P22 Salmonella typhimurium Bacteriophage Icosahedral 420 60 nm E. coli [42]
E. coli Bacteriophage Icosahedral 180 28 nm Yeast; E. coli; cell-free [43,44,45]
Non-viral PNPs Dps 4 (mini-ferritin) Archaea; Bacteria (e.g., Listeria innocua) Involved in oxidative and starvation responses Tetrahedral 12 9 nm E. coli [46,47]
E2 Bacillus stearothermophilus Core of the pyruvate dehydrogenase multienzyme complex Dodecahedral 60 24 nm E. coli [48]
Encapsulin Archaea; Bacteria Involved in oxidative stress response Icosahedral 60 or 180 20–40 nm Mammalian cells; yeast; E. coli [49,50,51,52]
Ferritin (maxi-ferritin) Archaea; Bacteria; Eukarya Iron storage Octahedral 24 12 nm Mammalian cells; insect cells; yeast; E. coli [53,54,55,56,57,58]
Hsp 5 Archaea; Bacteria; Eukarya (e.g., Methanococcus jannaschii) Chaperone Octahedral 24 12 nm E. coli [59,60]
Lumazine synthase Archaea; Bacteria; Eukarya (e.g., Aquifex aeolicus) Mediates the biosynthesis of riboflavin Icosahedral 60 15.4 nm E. coli [61,62]
Vault protein Eukarya Involved in signaling and immune responses 39-fold dihedral 78 Major vault protein Diameter: 40 nm
Length: 67 nm
Insect cells; cell-free [63,64,65,66]

1 Cowpea chlorotic mottle virus, 2 Cowpea mosaic virus, 3 Hepatitis virus, 4 DNA-binding proteins from starved cells, 5 Heat shock proteins.