Running rings around protein cages: a case study of artificial TRAP cages

Abstract

Proteins that constitute the capsids of viruses are well known for their ability to assemble into cage-like containers. Such containers can carry out useful tasks such as the delivery of cargoes to cells. Here we briefly review our work on naturally-occurring protein cages which were re-engineered to serve as containers. We focus on a completely artificial “TRAP-cage” and review its potential applications as a vaccine candidate and smart drug delivery system.