초록 |
Certain naturally occurring proteins consist of a number of subunit building blocks that are capable of self-assembling to form nanoscale cages. These protein nanocages have high surface/volume ratios and other favorable properties, including high stability, low toxicity, biocompatibility, biodegradability, and capacity for easy genetic and chemical modification. Moreover, these bottom-up structures are highly symmetrical and have extremely homogeneous size distribution, and particularly highly repetitive structure, one single modification is identically displayed in a controlled fashion around the entire particle. Thus, these nanocages have attracted considerable research attention and have been manipulated for various applications. This study describes the engineering these qualities of protein nanocages and the use of protein nanocages as biomimetic platform. |