PLENARY SPEAKER: DR FRANK SAINSBURY
Dr Frank Sainsbury is a research leader in physical virology at the Griffith Institute for Drug Discovery, Griffith University. His research group is primarily interested in virus capsids, pushing the boundaries of how they assemble and what can be learned from using them as biochemical reaction vessels and delivery vehicles. Dr Sainsbury trained as a plant virologist at the John Innes Centre in the UK. His work there included the invention of protein expression systems in plants that have supported Phase III clinical trials of influenza vaccine candidates and led to a major UK innovation award. Since returning to Australia to take up an ARC DECRA Fellowship at UQ in 2014, he has developed an innovative program of research into the assembly, engineering, and uses of virus-like particles. He was since awarded a CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform Fellowship to explore the directed assembly of virus coat proteins into protein cages with non-natural geometries. In 2023, he was awarded an ARC Future Fellowship to use a synthetic virology approach to evolving virus capsids for applied uses in agriculture and health.
Engineered virus capsids as nanoscale containers and compartments
Virus-like particles (VLPs) assembled from the coat proteins of virus capsids have emerged as useful nanoscale structures for applications in biotechnology and nanotechnology. From well-known applications like vaccines and gene delivery vectors, their potential for encapsulation also enables biocatalytic nanoreactors, drug delivery, and templating inorganic materials. As a platform for industrial applications, VLPs offer a unique combination of high fidelity self-assembly, amenability to engineering with molecular precision, and production that is biocompatible and scalable. My research group aims to understand capsid assembly in order to apply rational engineering principles to VLP assembly in vivo and in vitro, biomolecular cargo encapsulation, and biohybrid materials. We use a diverse range of cross-disciplinary techniques, which are supported by key collaborations. I will present recent work on improving the programmable self-sorting of biomolecular cargos in vivo, re-directing capsid assembly using DNA scaffolds, and interfacing VLPs with peptide-stabilised emulsions. The key message of these exciting outcomes is that the most productive and impactful research synergy can be found where it is least expected.
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