Intracellular trafficking and endocytic uptake pathway of Pepper vein banding virus-like particles in epithelial cells.

Plant virus-like particles (VLPs) have emerged as a novel platform for delivery of drugs/antibodies. The aim of the present investigation is to establish the entry mechanism of flexuous rod-shaped virus particles into mammalian cells. Far-Western blot analysis, pull-down and ELISA were used to characterize vimentin and Hsp60 interaction with VLPs.