Phage Assembly Using APTES-Conjugation of Major Coat p8 Protein for Possible Scaffolds

Filamentous phages have been in the limelight as a new type of nanomaterial. In this study, genetically and chemically modified fd phage was used to generate a biomimetic phage self-assembly product. Positively charged fd phage (p8-SSG) was engineered by conjugating 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) to hydroxyl groups of two serine amino acid residues introduced at the N-terminus of major coat protein, p8. In particular, formation of a phage network was controlled by changing mixed ratios between wild type fd phage and APTES conjugated fd-SSG phage. Assembled phages showed unique bundle and network like structures. The bacteriophage based self-assembly approach illustrated in this study might contribute to the design of three dimensional microporous structures. In this work, we demonstrated that the positively charged APTES conjugated fd-SSG phages can assemble into microstructures when they are exposed to negatively charged wild-type fd phages through electrostatic interaction. In summary, since we can control the phage self-assembly process in order to obtain bundle or network like structures and since they can be functionalized by means of chemical or genetic modifications, bacteriophages are good candidates for use as bio-compatible scaffolds. Such new type of phage-based artificial 3D architectures can be applied in tuning of cellular structures and functions for tissue engineering studies.