In-Plane Ordering of a Genetically Engineered Viral Protein Cage

Protein cages architectures can be used as nanoscale building blocks to fabricate higher order structures. We show here that in-plane ordering can be induced in films of a genetically engineered viral protein cage bound electrostatically to a planar surface. Surface pressure measurements were used to follow the kinetics of adsorption of the virus nanoparticle at the air-water interface for a range of sucrose and nanoparticle subphase concentrations. Atomic force microscope (AFM) images indicated that with optimal subphase conditions films transferred to solid supports exhibited regions of hexagonal packed 2-D arrays. Potential applications of these monolayer assemblies of protein cage architectures include their use as scaffolds to immobilize functional groups at a surface or as templates for building multilayer films.