The study of toxicity and pathogenicity risk of Potato Virus X/Herceptin nanoparticles as agents for cancer therapy

Abstract

Background: Nowadays, viral nanoparticles (VNPs) have attracted a lot of attention, although some are concerned that VNPs may reflect on viral entry of virus into animal or plant cells. In the present study, it aimed to investigate the pathogenesis of VNPs formed by Herceptin (Trastuzumab) and the viral nanoparticles derived from the filamentous plant virus Potato Virus X (PVX-HER) in host plant. Methods: Flow cytometry was used to evaluate the toxicity of plant virus alone (free-PVX) in two HER2+ cancer cells and normal cells. Furthermore, the pathogenesis of PVX-HER was tested by ELISA, Western blot, and RT-PCR. Results: The results indicated that PVX-HER failed to cause disease in the host plant. Furthermore, cancer and normal cell lines could evade the apoptosis and necrosis by the free viral nanoparticles (free-PVX). This study suggests that the problem of toxicity considered as a challenging factor in most nanoparticles was not observed in this plant virus nanoparticle. Conclusions: Finally, the safety of the environment was confirmed. The present research is the first study which focused on VNPs based on safety perspective that can be used for drug delivery carriers.