Search

Purpose: Glioblastoma prognosis remains grim despite maximal, multimodal management. Recent literature has demonstrated an increase in research devoted to experimental treatments, particularly those relying on the foundations of active immunotherapy with promising results. We hypothesize that the utilization of bioengineered recombinant vault nanoparticles coupled with glioma-associated antigens, such as the NY-ESO-1 peptide, may be capable of stimulating native dendritic cell (DC) maturation and inducing an anti-tumor response., Methods: Immature DCs were cultured from the bone marrow of 4-6-week-old C57BL/6 mice. The three treatment groups consisted of: (1) DC and media, (2) DC with mCherry vault, and (3) DC with NYESO and vault. DC maturity was assessed via flow cytometric evaluation of CD11c, CD86, and MHC-II. Increase in CD86 Median Fluorescence Intensity (MFI) was analyzed in the CD11c+CD86+MHC-II+ population to determine the extent of maturation RESULTS: Our findings suggest that CP-MVP-NY-ESO-1-INT recombinant vault nanoparticles are efficiently bioengineered with exceptional integrity, are quickly internalized by immature DCs for antigen processing, and result in DC maturation., Conclusion: This study reports our preliminary results, which demonstrate the feasibility and progress regarding our immunotherapeutic technique utilizing NY-ESO-1 packaged vault nanoparticles to prime DCs for subsequent anti-cancer therapies.

"Vaults" are ubiquitously expressed endogenous ribonucleoprotein nanoparticles with potential utility for targeted drug delivery. Here, we show that recombinant human vault nanoparticles are readily engulfed by certain key human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), predominately dendritic cells, monocytes/macrophages, and activated T cells. As these cell types are the primary targets for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection, we examined the utility of recombinant human vaults for targeted delivery of antiretroviral drugs. We chemically modified three different antiretroviral drugs, zidovudine, tenofovir, and elvitegravir, for direct conjugation to vaults. Tested in infection assays, drug-conjugated vaults inhibited HIV-1 infection of PBMC with equivalent activity to free drugs, indicating vault delivery and drug release in the cytoplasm of HIV-1-susceptible cells. The ability to deliver functional drugs via vault nanoparticle conjugates suggests their potential utility for targeted drug delivery against HIV-1.

Natural vault nanoparticles are ribonucleoprotein particles with a mass of 13 MDa that have been found in a wide variety of eukaryotes. Empty recombinant vaults are assembled from heterologously expressed Major Vault Protein (MVP), forming the barrel-shaped vault shell. These structures are morphologically indistinguishable from natural vault particles. Here, we describe the packaging and purification of exogenous proteins into these recombinant vault particles by mixing with proteins attached to the INT domain that binds to MVP.

Vault nanoparticles represent promising vehicles for drug and probe delivery. Innately found within human cells, vaults are stable, biocompatible nanocapsules possessing an internal volume that can encapsulate hundreds to thousands of molecules. They can also be targeted. Unlike most nanoparticles, vaults are nonimmunogenic and monodispersed and can be rapidly produced in insect cells. Efforts to create vaults with modified properties have been, to date, almost entirely limited to recombinant bioengineering approaches. Here we report a systematic chemical study of covalent vault modifications, directed at tuning vault properties for research and clinical applications, such as imaging, targeted delivery, and enhanced cellular uptake. As supra-macromolecular structures, vaults contain thousands of derivatizable amino acid side chains. This study is focused on establishing the comparative selectivity and efficiency of chemically modifying vault lysine and cysteine residues, using Michael additions, nucleophilic substitutions, and disulfide exchange reactions. We also report a strategy that converts the more abundant vault lysine residues to readily functionalizable thiol terminated side chains through treatment with 2-iminothiolane (Traut's reagent). These studies provide a method to doubly modify vaults with cell penetrating peptides and imaging agents, allowing for in vitro studies on their enhanced uptake into cells.

Vault nanoparticles packaged with enzymes were synthesized as agents for efficiently degrading environmental contaminants. Enzymatic biodegradation is an attractive technology for in situ cleanup of contaminated environments because enzyme-catalyzed reactions are not constrained by nutrient requirements for microbial growth and often have higher biodegradation rates. However, the limited stability of extracellular enzymes remains a major challenge for practical applications. Encapsulation is a recognized method to enhance enzymatic stability, but it can increase substrate diffusion resistance, lower catalytic rates, and increase the apparent half-saturation constants. Here, we report an effective approach for boosting enzymatic stability by single-step packaging into vault nanoparticles. With hollow core structures, assembled vault nanoparticles can simultaneously contain multiple enzymes. Manganese peroxidase (MnP), which is widely used in biodegradation of organic contaminants, was chosen as a model enzyme in the present study. MnP was incorporated into vaults via fusion to a packaging domain called INT, which strongly interacts with vaults' interior surface. MnP fused to INT and vaults packaged with the MnP-INT fusion protein maintained peroxidase activity. Furthermore, MnP-INT packaged in vaults displayed stability significantly higher than that of free MnP-INT, with slightly increased Km value. Additionally, vault-packaged MnP-INT exhibited 3 times higher phenol biodegradation in 24 h than did unpackaged MnP-INT. These results indicate that the packaging of MnP enzymes in vault nanoparticles extends their stability without compromising catalytic activity. This research will serve as the foundation for the development of efficient and sustainable vault-based bioremediation approaches for removing multiple contaminants from drinking water and groundwater.

The full potential of vaccines relies on development of effective delivery systems and adjuvants and is critical for development of successful vaccine candidates. We have shown that recombinant vaults engineered to encapsulate microbial epitopes are highly stable structures and are an ideal vaccine vehicle for epitope delivery which does not require the inclusion of an adjuvant. We studied the ability of vaults which were engineered for use as a vaccine containing an immunogenic epitope of Chlamydia trachomatis, polymorphic membrane protein G (PmpG), to be internalized into human monocytes and behave as a "natural adjuvant". We here show that incubation of monocytes with the PmpG-1-vaults activates caspase-1 and stimulates IL-1β secretion through a process requiring the NLRP3 inflammasome and that cathepsin B and Syk are involved in the inflammasome activation. We also observed that the PmpG-1-vaults are internalized through a pathway that is transiently acidic and leads to destabilization of lysosomes. In addition, immunization of mice with PmpG-1-vaults induced PmpG-1 responsive CD4(+) cells upon re-stimulation with PmpG peptide in vitro, suggesting that vault vaccines can be engineered for specific adaptive immune responses. We conclude that PmpG-1-vault vaccines can stimulate NLRP3 inflammasomes and induce PmpG-specific T cell responses., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

We report a novel approach to a new class of bioengineered, monodispersed, self-assembling vault nanoparticles consisting of a protein shell exterior with a lipophilic core interior designed for drug and probe delivery. Recombinant vaults were engineered to contain a small amphipathic α-helix derived from the nonstructural protein 5A of hepatitis C virus, thereby creating within the vault lumen a lipophilic microenvironment into which lipophilic compounds could be reversibly encapsulated. Multiple types of electron microscopy showed that attachment of this peptide resulted in larger than expected additional mass internalized within the vault lumen attributable to incorporation of host lipid membrane constituents spanning the vault waist (>35 nm). These bioengineered lipophilic vaults reversibly associate with a sample set of therapeutic compounds, including all-trans retinoic acid, amphotericin B, and bryostatin 1, incorporating hundreds to thousands of drug molecules per vault nanoparticle. Bryostatin 1 is of particular therapeutic interest because of its ability to potently induce expression of latent HIV, thus representing a preclinical lead in efforts to eradicate HIV/AIDS. Vaults loaded with bryostatin 1 released free drug, resulting in activation of HIV from provirus latency in vitro and induction of CD69 biomarker expression following intravenous injection into mice. The ability to preferentially and reversibly encapsulate lipophilic compounds into these novel bioengineered vault nanoparticles greatly advances their potential use as drug delivery systems.

Vaults are naturally-occurring ribonucleoprotein particles found in nearly all eukaryotic cells. They were named for their morphological resemblance to the vaulted ceilings of gothic cathedrals. These ubiquitous nanoparticles are quite abundant with 10(4)-10(6) copies found in the cytoplasm depending on cell type. The structural shell of the particle can self-assemble from 78 copies of a single protein, the major vault protein. This finding has allowed vaults to be bioengineered, resulting in a variety of new functions and capabilities directed toward overcoming many limitations posed by current gene and drug delivery systems. In this study, we demonstrate that recombinant vaults, with the addition of a cell penetration peptide, TAT, can be rapidly delivered to cells in vitro with significantly elevated binding and uptake efficiency. This TAT-vault nanoparticle could be a valuable tool for improving the retention and penetration of therapeutic drugs at tumor sites.

Vault nanoparticles were engineered to enhance their escape from the endosomal compartment by fusing a membrane lytic peptide derived from adenovirus protein VI (pVI) to the N-terminus of the major vault protein to form pVI-vaults. We demonstrate that these pVI-vaults disrupt the endosomal membrane using three different experimental protocols including (1) enhancement of DNA transfection, (2) co-delivery of a cytosolic ribotoxin, and (3) direct visualization by fluorescence. Furthermore, direct targeting of vaults to specific cell surface epidermal growth factor receptors led to enhanced cellular uptake and efficient delivery of vaults to the cytoplasm. This process was monitored with fluorescent vaults, and morphological changes in the endosomal compartment were observed. By combining targeting and endosomal escape into a single recombinant vault, high levels of transfection efficiency were achieved using low numbers of vault particles. These results demonstrate that engineered vaults are effective, efficient, and nontoxic nanoparticles for targeted delivery of biomaterials to the cell cytoplasm., (© 2011 American Chemical Society)

Vaults are naturally occurring ribonucleoprotein particles with an enormous interior volume, large enough to encapsulate hundreds of proteins. They are highly conserved and are present in nearly all eukaryotic cells ranging from 10(4) to 10(7) particles per cell. Recombinant vaults can be produced in vitro and engineered to allow cell targeting and protein packaging. These nanometer-sized particles have many desirable characteristics that may give them advantages for use as drug delivery vehicles. Using photoactivatable green fluorescent protein (PAGFP) labeled vaults, we demonstrate that the particles rapidly diffuse throughout the cytoplasm following single pixel photoactivation in live cells. Their in vivo movement remained relatively unchanged despite exposure to a variety of cellular stresses, suggesting that vaults are largely unconstrained in the cytoplasm. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) was observed from polyethylene glycol (PEG) fused hybrid cells that expressed either CFP or YFP labeled vaults, indicating that vaults can exchange major vault protein (MVP) subunits in vivo. Investigation into the mechanism of this exchange in vitro using recombinant vaults demonstrated that they were capable of rapidly separating at the particle waist and reassembling back into whole vaults, supporting a half vault exchange mechanism. This data suggests a means whereby vaults can functionally interact with their cellular environment and deliver materials packaged within their interior.

Native vaults are nanoscale particles found abundantly in the cytoplasm of most eukaryotic cells. They have a capsule-like structure with a thin shell surrounding a "hollow" interior compartment. Recombinant vault particles were found to self-assemble following expression of the major vault protein (MVP) in a baculovirus expression system, and these particles are virtually identical to native vaults. Such particles have been recently studied as potential delivery vehicles. In this study, we focus on immobilization of vault particles on a solid substrate, such as glass, as a first step to study their interactions with cells. To this end, we first engineered the recombinant vaults by fusing two different tags to the C-terminus of MVP, a 3 amino acid RGD peptide and a 12 amino acid RGD-strep-tag peptide. We have demonstrated two strategies for immobilizing vaults on solid substrates. The barrel-and-cap structure of vault particles was observed for the first time, by atomic force microscopy (AFM), in a dry condition. This work proved the feasibility of immobilizing vault nanoparticles on a material surface, and the possibility of using vault nanoparticles as localized and sustainable drug carriers as well as a biocompatible surface moiety.

Nonviral methods of gene delivery possess several advantages over that of viral-based vectors, including having increased safety. However, the ability to achieve effective transport of therapeutic molecules across host cell membranes via nonviral methods remains a significant goal. Cell-derived nanoparticles known as vaults have been proposed as novel candidate transfer vehicles for various foreign molecules. Recombinant vault particles enter cells via macropinocytosis or phagocytosis but lack demonstrable membrane penetrating activity. To explore the feasibility of improving vault penetration into target cells, we incorporated the membrane lytic domain of adenovirus protein VI (pVI) into the interior of recombinant vault particles via fusion to the vault poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (VPARP) interaction domain. The membrane lytic activity of the pVI domain was retained upon incorporation into vault particles. Moreover, internalization of vault-pVI complexes into murine macrophages promoted co-delivery of a soluble ribotoxin or a cDNA plasmid encoding GFP. These findings indicate that vault particles can be modified to enhance cell transfer of selected biomolecules.

As a naturally occurring nanocapsule abundantly expressed in nearly all-eukaryotic cells, the barrel-shaped vault particle is perhaps an ideal structure to engineer for targeting to specific cell types. Recombinant vault particles self-assemble from 96 copies of the major vault protein (MVP), have dimensions of 72.5 x 41 nm, and have a hollow interior large enough to encapsulate hundreds of proteins. In this study, three different tags were engineered onto the C-terminus of MVP: an 11 amino acid epitope tag, a 33 amino acid IgG-binding peptide, and the 55 amino acid epidermal growth factor (EGF). These modified vaults were produced using a baculovirus expression system. Our studies demonstrate that recombinant vaults assembled from MVPs containing C-terminal peptide extensions display these tags at the top and bottom of the vault on the outside of the particle and can be used to specifically bind the modified vaults to epithelial cancer cells (A431) via the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), either directly (EGF modified vaults) or as mediated by a monoclonal antibody (anti-EGFR) bound to recombinant vaults containing the IgG-binding peptide. The ability to target vaults to specific cells represents an essential advance toward using recombinant vaults as delivery vehicles.

Background: Generation of robust cell-mediated immune responses at mucosal surfaces while reducing overall inflammation is a primary goal for vaccination. Here we report the use of a recombinant nanoparticle as a vaccine delivery platform against mucosal infections requiring T cell-mediated immunity for eradication., Methodology/principal Findings: We encapsulated an immunogenic protein, the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of Chlamydia muridarum, within hollow, vault nanocapsules (MOMP-vaults) that were engineered to bind IgG for enhanced immunity. Intranasal immunization (i.n) with MOMP-vaults induced anti-chlamydial immunity plus significantly attenuated bacterial burden following challenge infection. Vault immunization induced anti-chlamydial immune responses and inflammasome formation but did not activate toll-like receptors. Moreover, MOMP-vault immunization enhanced microbial eradication without the inflammation usually associated with adjuvants., Conclusions/significance: Vault nanoparticles containing immunogenic proteins delivered to the respiratory tract by the i.n. route can act as "smart adjuvants" for inducing protective immunity at distant mucosal surfaces while avoiding destructive inflammation.

One of the central issues facing the emerging field of nanotechnology is cellular compatibility. Nanoparticles have been proposed for diagnostic and therapeutic applications, including drug delivery, gene therapy, biological sensors, and controlled catalysis. Viruses, liposomes, peptides, and synthetic and natural polymers have been engineered for these applications, yet significant limitations continue to prevent their use. Avoidance of the body's natural immune system, lack of targeting specificity, and the inability to control packaging and release are remaining obstacles. We have explored the use of a naturally occurring cellular nano-particle known as the vault which is named for its morphology with multiple arches reminiscent of cathedral ceilings. Vaults are 13-MDa ribonucleoprotein particles with an internal cavity large enough to sequester hundreds of proteins. Here, we report a strategy to target and sequester biologically active materials within the vault cavity. Attachment of a vault-targeting peptide to two proteins, luciferase and a variant of GFP, resulted in their sequestration within the vault cavity. The targeted proteins confer enzymatic and fluorescent properties on the recombinant vaults, both of which can be detected by their emission of light. The modified vaults are compatible with living cells. The ability to engineer vault particles with designed properties and functionalities represents an important step toward development of a biocompatible nanocapsule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]