Maize rayado fino virus virus-like particles expressed in tobacco plants: A new platform for cysteine selective bioconjugation peptide display

Abstract Maize rayado fino virus (MRFV) virus-like-particles (VLPs) produced in tobacco plants were examined for their ability to serve as a novel platform to which a variety of peptides can be covalently displayed when expressed through a Potato virus X (PVX)-based vector. To provide an anchor for chemical modifications, three Cys-MRFV-VLPs mutants were created by substituting several of the amino acids present on the shell of the wild-type MRFV-VLPs with cysteine residues. The mutant designated Cys 2-VLPs exhibited, under native conditions, cysteine thiol reactivity in bioconjugation reactions with a fluorescent dye. In addition, this Cys 2-VLPs was cross-linked by NHS-PEG4-Maleimide to 17 (F) and 8 (HN) amino acid long peptides, corresponding to neutralizing epitopes of Newcastle disease virus (NDV). The resulting Cys 2-VLPs-F and Cys 2-VLPs-HN were recognized in Western blots by antibodies to MRFV as well as to F and HN. The results demonstrated that plant-produced MRFV-VLPs have the ability to function as a novel platform for the multivalent display of surface ligands.