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Centre National De La Recherche Scientifique

European Molecular Biology Laboratory

Pascal Fender

Jadwiga Chroboczek

Imre Berger

Frédéric Garzoni

Frederic Garzoni

The present invention relates to new adenoviral coat protein based delivery vehicles. They are based on a modified penton base protomers that assemble into VLPs. Exposed areas of the penton base proteins can be modified to allow the VLP to specifically bind to any target and/or to comprise any desired peptide epitope. Additional cargo, for example drugs, proteins, or nucleic acids, can reversibly or irreversibly attached to the VLP via engineered fibre protein fragments. The present invention relates to such engineered penton base protomers, engineered proteins comprising an adenovirus fibre protein N-terminal fragment specifically binding to an adenovirus fibre protein binding cleft of a penton base protomer, VLPs comprising the engineered penton base protomers and optionally engineered proteins comprising an adenovirus fibre protein N-terminal fragment specifically binding to an adenovirus fibre protein binding cleft of a penton base protomer, nucleic encoding the engineered proteins, the VLPs as well as methods of producing the proteins and VLPs.

Adenoviral coat protein derived delivery vehicles

An engineered adenovirus penton base protomer, wherein the penton base protomer comprises a first RGD-loop, a second RGD-loop, a variable loop (V loop), an Adenovirus fiber protein binding cleft, and an N-terminal domain; wherein at least one of the first RGD-loop, the second RGD-loop, and the V loop comprises at least one inserted non-adenoviral antigenic polypeptide; and wherein the engineered adenovirus penton base protomer is capable of assembling into virus-like particles (VLPs).

The invention concerns transfecting peptide vector, a composition containing said vector and their applications for treating and preventing diseases in human beings and animals. Said vector for transfecting a chemical substance selected in the group consisting of nucleic acid sequences, proteins, peptides and pharmacologically active substances, contains besides said chemical substance, at least a transfecting peptide derived entirely or partially from an adenovirus fibre and comprising at least a zone consisting of at least 50% hydrophobic amino acids selected in the group consisting of alanine, valine, phenylamine, isoleucine, leucine, proline and methionine.

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Grenoble, France

Pascal Fender