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Viruses
Special Issues
The Application of Viruses to Biotechnology 3.0
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The Application of Viruses to Biotechnology 3.0

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "General Virology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2025 | Viewed by 6250

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Carla Varanda

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. ESAS, Instituto Politécnico de Santarém, Quinta do Galinheiro, S. Pedro, 2001-904 Santarém, Portugal
2. CERNAS-Research Centre for Natural Resources, Environment and Society, Coimbra, Portugal
3. MED–Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE–Global Change and Sustainability Institute, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal
Interests: plant pathology; plant virology; molecular diagnosis of plant pathogens; sustainable plant protection; virus-induced gene silencing; gene expression; CRISPR-Cas systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Patrick Materatski

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Virology, MED–Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development & CHANGE–Global Change and Sustainability Institute, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal
Interests: plant pathology; plant virology; molecular diagnosis of plant pathogens; sustainable plant protection; RNAi; virus-induced gene silencing; siRNAs; gene expression; CRISPR-Cas systems
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Viruses are capable of causing devastating diseases in several organisms; however, they are simple systems and can be manipulated to be beneficial and useful for several purposes in different areas. In medicine, they have been used for a long time in vaccines and are now being used as vectors to carry materials for the treatment of diseases, such as cancer, in specific target cells. In agriculture, they are being studied to introduce desirable characteristics in plants or render resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. They have been exploited in nanotechnology for the deposition of specific metals and have been shown to be of great benefit to nanomaterial production. They can also be used for different applications in pharmacology, cosmetics, electronics, and other industries. Additionally, they have been used in gene therapy to deliver specific genes into organisms. Thus, viruses are no longer only seen as bad pathogens. They have shown enormous potential, covering several important areas in our lives, which they are making easier and better. While they have already proved their potential in some industries and areas of research, there is still a long road ahead. In this Special Issue, our aim is to contribute to the current knowledge on virus use and to highlight recent significant advances in the use of viruses in several fields.

Dr. Carla Varanda
Dr. Patrick Materatski
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Viruses is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • viral vectors
  • plant protection
  • gene therapy
  • virus-based vaccines
  • viral nanotechnology
  • phage display
  • viral gene delivery
  • virus-mediated gene editing
  • virus-like particles (VLPs)

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Related Special Issues

Published Papers (4 papers)

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17 pages, 2508 KiB  
Article
Abolishing Retro-Transduction of Producer Cells in Lentiviral Vector Manufacturing
by Soledad Banos-Mateos, Carlos Lopez-Robles, María Eugenia Yubero, Aroa Jurado, Ane Arbelaiz-Sarasola, Andrés Lamsfus-Calle, Ane Arrasate, Carmen Albo, Juan Carlos Ramírez and Marie J. Fertin
Viruses 2024, 16(8), 1216; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16081216 - 29 Jul 2024
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1227
Abstract
Transduction of producer cells during lentiviral vector (LVV) production causes the loss of 70–90% of viable particles. This process is called retro-transduction and it is a consequence of the interaction between the LVV envelope protein, VSV-G, and the LDL receptor located on the [...] Read more.
Transduction of producer cells during lentiviral vector (LVV) production causes the loss of 70–90% of viable particles. This process is called retro-transduction and it is a consequence of the interaction between the LVV envelope protein, VSV-G, and the LDL receptor located on the producer cell membrane, allowing lentiviral vector transduction. Avoiding retro-transduction in LVV manufacturing is crucial to improve net production and, therefore, the efficiency of the production process. Here, we describe a method for quantifying the transduction of producer cells and three different strategies that, focused on the interaction between VSV-G and the LDLR, aim to reduce retro-transduction. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Application of Viruses to Biotechnology 3.0)
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14 pages, 2568 KiB  
Article
Development of a Fully Protective Pandemic Avian Influenza Subunit Vaccine in Insect Pupae
by Ana Falcón, Susana Martínez-Pulgarín, Sergi López-Serrano, Edel Reytor, Miguel Cid, Maria del Carmen Nuñez, Lorena Córdoba, Ayub Darji and José M. Escribano
Viruses 2024, 16(6), 829; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16060829 - 23 May 2024
Viewed by 1889
Abstract
In this study, we pioneered an alternative technology for manufacturing subunit influenza hemagglutinin (HA)-based vaccines. This innovative method involves harnessing the pupae of the Lepidoptera Trichoplusia ni (T. ni) as natural biofactories in combination with baculovirus vectors (using CrisBio® technology). [...] Read more.
In this study, we pioneered an alternative technology for manufacturing subunit influenza hemagglutinin (HA)-based vaccines. This innovative method involves harnessing the pupae of the Lepidoptera Trichoplusia ni (T. ni) as natural biofactories in combination with baculovirus vectors (using CrisBio® technology). We engineered recombinant baculoviruses encoding two versions of the HA protein (trimeric or monomeric) derived from a pandemic avian H7N1 virus A strain (A/chicken/Italy/5093/99). These were then used to infect T. ni pupae, resulting in the production of the desired recombinant antigens. The obtained HA proteins were purified using affinity chromatography, consistently yielding approximately 75 mg/L of insect extract. The vaccine antigen effectively immunized poultry, which were subsequently challenged with a virulent H7N1 avian influenza virus. Following infection, all vaccinated animals survived without displaying any clinical symptoms, while none of the mock-vaccinated control animals survived. The CrisBio®-derived antigens induced high titers of HA-specific antibodies in the vaccinated poultry, demonstrating hemagglutination inhibition activity against avian H7N1 and human H7N9 viruses. These results suggest that the CrisBio® technology platform has the potential to address major industry challenges associated with producing recombinant influenza subunit vaccines, such as enhancing production yields, scalability, and the speed of development, facilitating the global deployment of highly effective influenza vaccines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Application of Viruses to Biotechnology 3.0)
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22 pages, 4867 KiB  
Communication
A Lac Repressor-Inducible Baculovirus Expression Vector for Controlling Adeno-Associated Virus Capsid Ratios
by Jeffrey Slack, Christopher Nguyen and Amanda Ibe-Enwo
Viruses 2024, 16(1), 51; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16010051 - 28 Dec 2023
Viewed by 1663
Abstract
The baculovirus expression vector (BEV) system is an efficient, cost-effective, and scalable method to produce recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) gene therapy vectors. Most BEV designs emulate the wild-type AAV transcriptome and translate the AAV capsid proteins, VP1, VP2, and VP3, from a single [...] Read more.
The baculovirus expression vector (BEV) system is an efficient, cost-effective, and scalable method to produce recombinant adeno-associated virus (rAAV) gene therapy vectors. Most BEV designs emulate the wild-type AAV transcriptome and translate the AAV capsid proteins, VP1, VP2, and VP3, from a single mRNA transcript with three overlapping open reading frames (ORFs). Non-canonical translation initiation codons for VP1 and VP2 reduce their abundances relative to VP3. Changing capsid ratios to improve rAAV vector efficacy requires a theoretical modification of the translational context. We have developed a Lac repressor-inducible system to empirically regulate the expression of VP1 and VP2 proteins relative to VP3 in the context of the BEV. We demonstrate the use of this system to tune the abundance, titer, and potency of a neurospecific rAAV9 serotype derivative. VP1:VP2:VP3 ratios of 1:1:8 gave optimal potency for this rAAV. It was discovered that the ratios of capsid proteins expressed were different than the ratios that ultimately were in purified capsids. Overexpressed VP1 did not become incorporated into capsids, while overexpressed VP2 did. Overabundance of VP2 correlated with reduced rAAV titers. This work demonstrates a novel technology for controlling the production of rAAV in the BEV system and shows a new perspective on the biology of rAAV capsid assembly. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Application of Viruses to Biotechnology 3.0)
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8 pages, 2841 KiB  
Brief Report
Enhanced Recombinant Protein Expression in Insect Cells by Natural and Recombinant Components of Lepidoptera Hemolymph
by Javier López-Vidal, Susana Martínez-Pulgarín, Diego Martínez-Alonso, Miguel Cid and José M. Escribano
Viruses 2024, 16(6), 944; https://doi.org/10.3390/v16060944 - 12 Jun 2024
Viewed by 838
Abstract
Prior research has established the anti-apoptotic effects in insect cell cultures of Bombyx mori (B. mori) hemolymph, as well as the heightened production yields of recombinant proteins facilitated by baculovirus vectors in insect cells cultivated in media supplemented with this hemolymph. [...] Read more.
Prior research has established the anti-apoptotic effects in insect cell cultures of Bombyx mori (B. mori) hemolymph, as well as the heightened production yields of recombinant proteins facilitated by baculovirus vectors in insect cells cultivated in media supplemented with this hemolymph. In this study, we investigated the hemolymph of another Lepidoptera species, Trichoplusia ni (T. ni), and observed similar beneficial effects in insect cells cultivated in media supplemented with this natural substance. We observed enhancements in both production yield (approximately 1.5 times higher) and late-stage cell viabilities post-infection (30–40% higher). Storage-protein 2 from B. mori (SP2Bm) has previously been identified as one of the abundant hemolymph proteins potentially responsible for the beneficial effects observed after the use of B. mori hemolymph-supplemented cell culture media. By employing a dual baculovirus vector that co-expresses the SP2Bm protein alongside the GFP protein, we achieved a threefold increase in reporter protein production compared to a baculovirus vector expressing GFP alone. This study underscores the potential of hemolymph proteins sourced from various Lepidoptera species as biotechnological tools to augment baculovirus vector productivities, whether utilized as natural supplements in cell culture media or as hemolymph-derived recombinant proteins co-expressed by baculovirus vectors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Application of Viruses to Biotechnology 3.0)
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