Abstract - "Viral Nanoparticles (VNPs): Tools for Application in Biomedicine"

The use of nanomaterials has the potential to revolutionize materials science and medicine. Currently, a number of different nanoparticles are being investigated. Viral nanoparticles (VNPs) derived from plant viruses, such as the Cowpea mosaic virus and Potato virus X, can be regarded as naturally occurring nanomaterials. From a materials scientist’s point of view, VNPs are attractive building blocks for several reasons: the particles are monodisperse, can be produced with ease on large scale, are exceptionally stable, and biocompatible. VNPs are “programmable” units, which can be modified using genetic modification or chemical bioconjugation methods. Viral nanotechnology is a young and emerging discipline. VNPs are promising candidate materials for the development of “smart” devices for applications in medicine. VNPs are of tremendous interest for applications in tissue-specific imaging or targeted drug-delivery. Chemotherapy for cancer and vascular disease is generally not targeted, thus many undesired side effects occur. Targeting drugs specifically to sites of disease while avoiding healthy tissues, is expected to reduce toxic side effects, improve quality of life, and is an important goal in biomedicine. I will highlight examples that demonstrate the feasibility of targeting VNPs to sites of disease in vivo. VNPs can be interlinked with targeting ligands, imaging modalities, and therapeutic moieties. Such ‘smart’ multifunctional devices are expected to find applications in targeted chemotherapies.

Speaker Biography

Dr. Steinmetz’s major area of professional interest lies within the interdisciplinary field of viral nanotechnology. She specializes in the design and development of complex viral nanoparticle formulations for biomedical applications such as imaging and targeted drugdelivery. Since 2007 she has been a post-doctoral Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA. Dr. Steinmetz was recently awarded a Pathway to Independence Grant (K99/R00), funded by the NIH/NIBIB. Previously she was holding an American Heart Association Post-doctoral Fellowship. Dr. Steinmetz has been a Marie Curie EST Fellow at the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK from 2004-2007 working towards her PhD in Nanobiotechnology. Her PhD work focused on the design of 3-D materials using viral nanoparticles as building blocks. In 2006 she was won the Bryan Harrison Prize, was honored to participate in the 56th Lindau Meeting of Nobel Laureates, and was chosen to be a finalist for the European Young Chemists Award. She has been named winner of the New Researcher category for the 2007 Biosciences Federation Science Communication Awards recognizing the effectiveness of her work communicating nanobiotechnology. Her early training was at RWTH-Aachen University in Germany, where she specialized in molecular biotechnology and plant virology. She received her Diploma (equivalent to Masters) in Biology with Honors in 2004, and was awarded the Springorum Denkmunze (University medal for top graduate). Dr. Steinmetz has authored 20 publications and is Editor of the Book “Viruses and Nanotechnology” published in the CTMI series.