Elongated Flexuous Plant Virus-Derived Nanoparticles Functionalized for Autoantibody Detection

• Published in: Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 9; no. 10; p. 1438
• Main Authors: Yuste-Calvo, Carmen, López-Santalla, Mercedes, Zurita, Lucía, Cruz-Fernández, César F., Sánchez, Flora, Garín, Marina I., Ponz, Fernando
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 10.10.2019; MDPI
• Subjects: Amino acids; Animal models; Antibodies; Autoantibodies; autoantibody; Autoimmune diseases; Blood; Capsids; Cloning; Colitis; Dextran; Dextrans; diagnosis; Drinking water; Elongation; Enzymes; Epitopes; hsp60; Hsp60 protein; Hypersensitivity; ibd; Immunoassay; Inflammation; Inflammatory bowel disease; Microscopy; Monoclonal antibodies; Multiple sclerosis; Nanoparticles; Peptides; Plant viruses; Plasmids; Proteins; Sodium sulfate; Virus-like particles; Viruses; vnps
• ISSN: 2079-4991; 2079-4991
• DOI: 10.3390/nano9101438

Nanoparticles derived from the elongated flexuous capsids of Turnip mosaic virus (TuMV) have been shown to be efficient tools for antibody sensing with a very high sensitivity if adequately functionalized with the corresponding epitopes. Taking advantage of this possibility, TuMV virus-like particles (VLPs) have been genetically derivatized with a peptide from the chaperonin Hsp60, a protein described to be involved in inflammation processes and autoimmune diseases. Antibodies against the peptide have been previously shown to have a diagnostic value in at least one autoimmune disease, multiple sclerosis. The functionalized Hsp60-VLPs showed their significant increase in sensing potency when compared to monoclonal antibody detection of the peptide in a conventional immunoassay. Additionally, the developed Hsp60-VLPs allowed the detection of autoantibodies against the Hsp60 peptide in an in vivo mouse model of dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis. The detection of minute amounts of the autoantibodies allowed us to perform the analysis of their evolution during the progression of the disease. The anti-Hsp60 autoantibody levels in the sera of the inflamed mice went down during the induction phase of the disease. Increased levels of the anti-HSP60 autoantibodies were detected during the resolution phase of the disease. An extension of a previously proposed model for the involvement of Hsp60 in inflammatory processes is considered, incorporating a role for Hsp60 autoantibodies. This, and related models, can now be experimentally tested thanks to the autoantibody detection hypersensitivity provided by the functionalized VLPs.