Glycan-Targeted Virus-like Nanoparticles for Photodynamic Therapy

Virus-like particles (VLPs) have proven to be versatile platforms for chemical and genetic functionalization for a variety of purposes in biomedicine, catalysis, and materials science. We describe here the simultaneous modification of the bacteriophage Q beta VLP with a metalloporphyrin derivative for photodynamic therapy and a glycan ligand for specific targeting of cells bearing the CD22 receptor. This application benefits from the presence of the targeting function and the delivery of a high local concentration of singlet Oxygen-generating payload.