Abstract: Nanosized biological containers that are “ghosts” of viruses for which capsids are independent of their endogenous viral nucleic acid cores, provide nano-particles of uniform size, and known numbers of sites for attachments of ligands. These containers can be filled with a fluorescent, magnetic, x-ray absorbent, nucleotide components or a radioactive particle and used as nanoscale markers.

Abstract: Identification of the molecular targets of a drug or toxin is the first step in understanding how the drug or toxin works, an important advance in learning how to improve a drug or assess the risks due to a toxin. The primary action of a drug usually involves binding to a protein; secondary actions may express themselves in the form of side effects and in some cases may be due to binding to other proteins. Consequently, it is useful to identify all physiologically relevant sites of action of a drug or toxin. A simple method for obtaining a list of the potential targets of a drug, toxin or other biologically active substance (referred to collectively as ligands) involves a multistep process. The first step is screening a protein or peptide library to identify library members that exhibit high affinity for a particular ligand. The second step involves searching of sequence data bases for proteins that contain the sequences of the library members shown to have high affinity for the ligand.

Abstract: Nanostructures are made that include at least one species of assembly unit that is an antibody assembly unit in which at least one joining element, structural element or functional element is an antibody or antibody fragment. Antibody assembly units may have more than one antibody element. In addition, the antibody assembly units may contain non-antibody structural, functional or joining elements. The nanostructure is suitably prepared using a staged assembly method. In this method, a nanostructure intermediate having at least one unbound joining element is contacted with an assembly unit having a plurality of different joining elements. None of the joining elements of the assembly unit can interact with itself or with another joining element of the same assembly unit.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods and assembly units for the construction of nanostructures. Assembly of nanostructures proceeds by sequential, non-covalent, vectorial addition of an assembly unit to an initiator or nanostructure intermediate during an assembly cycle, a process termed “staged assembly.” Attachment of each assembly unit is mediated by specific, non-covalent binding of a single pre-determined joining element of one assembly unit to a complementary joining element on a target initiator or nanostructure intermediate. Each interaction of a joining element is designed such that the joining element does not interact with any other joining element of the assembly unit. Self-association of the assembly unit is therefore obviated: only one assembly unit can be added at a time to a target initiator or nanostructure intermediate.