Virus-like particles: nano-carriers in targeted therapeutics

Abstract

Over the years, scientists were trying to figure out the best possible targeted drug delivery approaches to cope up with the limitations of the conventional strategies. With the advent of nanotechnology in the field of medicine, treating severe diseases such as cancer can be tackled through systematic targeted drug delivery strategies using nano-carriers. Virus-like particles (VLPs) are self-assembling particles composed of capsid proteins without the viral genome. The VLPs act as a nano-carrier and offer a higher surface to volume ratio with larger capacity of drugs and can be engineered with specific ligands to deliver to the targeted site. This chapter will mainly focus on the merits of VLPs as targeted therapeutics over other conventional approaches along with designing strategies, immune responses, and recent applications in the treatment of various diseases with the notion of VLPs being the game changer in the field of targeted therapeutics. © 2020 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.